# 5.7 Chevy engine......need help



## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

Hey everyone. Well, was out plowing last night and was pulling out into traffic and I goosed the gas pretty hard and now I have an engine knock. Any thoughts? Bearing, rod??? 134,000 on the clock. It is a 2000, with the 5.7 vortec, old body style. What would you guys suggest I do? My mechanic is looking at it first thing in the morning, so I should know more then and will update. If I do a reman, what brand should I go with. The truck only gets about 5,000 miles put on her a year, so keep that in mind when suggesting as to the warranty is concerned. 
Please send me your thoughts!!


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## Milwaukee (Dec 28, 2007)

alright did you check oil?

how high rpm it went when you hammered.

cheapest is put thick oil for while you have enough money to buy reman engine.


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## Mike N (Dec 21, 2008)

Kinda hard to diagnose a knock over the internet. Are you sure it's coming from inside the engine and not some belt driven accessory like the water pump, or maybe even a cracked flywheel or exhaust manifold? I'd say wait until your mechanic isolates the noise before you assume you need an engine.


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## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

Milwaukee;928584 said:


> alright did you check oil?
> 
> how high rpm it went when you hammered.
> 
> cheapest is put thick oil for while you have enough money to buy reman engine.


I was waiting for someone to ask about the oil. lol. Yes, it was full of oil. I dont know what the rpms where. It deffanitly wasnt excessive.


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## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

Mike N;928592 said:


> Kinda hard to diagnose a knock over the internet. Are you sure it's coming from inside the engine and not some belt driven accessory like the water pump, or maybe even a cracked flywheel or exhaust manifold? I'd say wait until your mechanic isolates the noise before you assume you need an engine.


Yeah, I know its hard to diagnose a knock without hearing it for yourself. It is deffinitly coming from inside the engine.


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## Milwaukee (Dec 28, 2007)

ok what weight oil? Could be thin oil cause bearing on rod touch crankshaft under load.

do you change oil often?

Worst thing is just have mechanic replace all rods bearing on crankshaft.


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## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

Milwaukee;928608 said:


> ok what weight oil? Could be thin oil cause bearing on rod touch crankshaft under load.
> 
> do you change oil often?
> 
> Worst thing is just have mechanic replace all rods bearing on crankshaft.


Thanks for the info. Yes, we are good about changing the oil. We did just buy the truck and changed the oil when we got it, put about 200 miles on it, and we noticed the oil pan started leaking (pan was rusty). We took it in and had the pan replaced and of course new oil again. We have maybe 400 miles on the new oil. Im not sure what weight oil the garage put in it when they did the pan. I think we put 10w30 in it when we got it. 
You want to talk about thin oil, my ford v10 takes 5w20!


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## DJ Contracting (Dec 16, 2003)

If your brave enough you could pull the spark plug wires off (one at a time) to isolate which cylinder the noise is coming from, if it is a rod bearing it will change the tone of the knock hope this helps. Another thing that could be making noise is the flex plate bolts could be loose that can simulate a rod knock.


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## terrapro (Oct 21, 2006)

Sounds like it could be pre-ignition/detonating, sometimes you only really hear it under load. 

Is your coolant low? It might be a head gasket or something else in the head like bent rod, burnt valve seal, or a bad spring.


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

Hopefully there's nothing wrong mechanically/internally. Those are very good engines, with an extremely strong track record. Something else to consider is a bad motor mount and now something is hitting.


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## dheavychevy38 (Nov 19, 2008)

X 2 on check your coolant.


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## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

Coolant is fine. You can hear it more when it's under a load, but you can still hear it sitting at an idle.


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## terrapro (Oct 21, 2006)

rb8484;928762 said:


> Coolant is fine. You can hear it more when it's under a load, but you can still hear it sitting at an idle.


Probably exaust leak or rod knock then.


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## DJ Contracting (Dec 16, 2003)

rb8484;928762 said:


> Coolant is fine. You can hear it more when it's under a load, but you can still hear it sitting at an idle.[/QUOT]
> 
> Well under a load eliminates the flex plate bolts if I remember correctly


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## terrapro (Oct 21, 2006)

DJ Contracting;928771 said:


> rb8484;928762 said:
> 
> 
> > Coolant is fine. You can hear it more when it's under a load, but you can still hear it sitting at an idle.[/QUOT]
> ...


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## dheavychevy38 (Nov 19, 2008)

That would eliminate the bolts but if it;s crack ? thats another story. Did the performance change at all ?


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

While checking the flex plate bolts you can inspect the flywheel for cracks....


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

2COR517;928815 said:


> While checking the flex plate bolts you can inspect the flywheel for cracks....


And if you're going to do that don't pull the trans pull the motor... because it needs to come out, its hurt.

Likely had a leaky intake gasket a time or two in its past and was run with coolant in the oil which takes the rod bearings out eventually if not caught in time. Happens somewhat often.


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## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

Well, took it in and everyone said it sounds like a rod. Decided to just bit the bullet and put a new reman it it. Took it in today at lunch time and they already have the old engine out. Should have it back tomorrow!! Everyone I talked to said it would be mid week or next week before they could get to it. This place said they could drop a new one it and have it back to me sometime on Tuesday. Plus the price was better than expected.....$1995 installed. Cant afford to have a truck down this time of year!!


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## RichG53 (Sep 16, 2008)

What kind of Warranty are they offering you ????


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## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

RichG53;929986 said:


> What kind of Warranty are they offering you ????


3 year....pretty standard from what I have found. 100,000 mile unlimitied years for $50 a year if I chose to go that route.....first year is included.


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## wirenut (Jan 16, 2004)

who's motor is it ? gm


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## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

wirenut;930223 said:


> who's motor is it ? gm


Its an Accurate engine. I priced a GM reman at it was $2400 plus the labor.


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

What does that include? I presume rocker covers & oil pan. Intake? Injectors? Distributor?


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## Milwaukee (Dec 28, 2007)

rb8484;930225 said:


> Its an Accurate engine. I priced a GM reman at it was $2400 plus the labor.


Accurate engine

Can you give us review in next month and tell us how engine do?

$1,995 not bad for reman engine.

I check their website they don't have GM 5.7L how you get? Special order?


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## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

Milwaukee;931153 said:


> Accurate engine
> 
> Can you give us review in next month and tell us how engine do?
> 
> ...


Yeah, I saw that on there site before I called, but they said they had some in stock. He told me that they keep a good stock of common truck engines especially in the winter for the plow guys.


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## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

2COR517;930260 said:


> What does that include? I presume rocker covers & oil pan. Intake? Injectors? Distributor?


No, does not include pan, valve covers, balancer


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## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

Well, I got the truck back today. Dropped it off at 1pm on Monday and picked it up today at 11am. Pretty quick service! I called them at 10am on Monday and they said bring it in. 
Total bill was $2500 installed for it. They ended up putting a new water pump in, new coolant hoses, temp sensor, new oil pressure switch, cap, rotor, plugs, and sent the injectors in for service. Drove it back the 50 miles and it ran like a champ! So far, I am extreamly pleased with the work they did. Looks like we are going to get 1-3" tonight, so I will be able to put her back to work! We didnt have any plowable snow for the last 2 days, so it worked out well timewise.


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## RichG53 (Sep 16, 2008)

Be nice to it ...(Break in )... ... Drive like Grama.... For awhile...


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

RichG53;933684 said:


> Be nice to it ...(Break in )... ... Drive like Grama.... For awhile...


NO!!!

Drive it like it's stolen! Do they dyno run them? Or is it up to you to break them in?

Read this post all the way through, and all the links. You don't want/need to redline it, but you do need to load it down and get into it.


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## rb8484 (Aug 8, 2009)

2COR517;933697 said:


> NO!!!
> 
> Drive it like it's stolen! Do they dyno run them? Or is it up to you to break them in?
> 
> Read this post all the way through, and all the links. You don't want/need to redline it, but you do need to load it down and get into it.


No, I have to break it in. You said read "this post" What post are you refering to??


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

That would help, wouldn't it 

http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=81592&highlight=breakin


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## Thermos017 (Dec 16, 2009)

have any of you ever bought a new gm? the proper break in for a new gm is to not load it too much, and to never maintain speed/rpm's for the first 500 miles. it should also be allowed to warm up to temp before any driving. I would imagine that a rebuilt should see the same procedure. if you drive it like grama, you'll have to do a 2k break in, and if you drive it like you stole it you'll cut the life of the engine in half. the purpose of the break in is to get the parts wearing together evenly. under or over exerting the engine will cause different parts to wear at different times, leading to a failure well before it should. chances are that failure will come as soon as the engine is out of warranty. (or does that only apply to fords? )

on another note, depending on the severity of the knock in the old engine you may have been able to save it with synthetic. the 97 1500 i drive had a rod knock when i started working for the company. it wasn't a terrible one, but it could be heard standing anywhere in front of the truck(not so much behind). the boss didn't want to repair the engine, so i switched it to castrol syntec 10w30 (used to run 5w30). the switch was intended to extend the life of the dieing engine just a little longer, but after the second oil change with synthetic the rod knock is completely gone and there seems to be plenty of power.


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