6G Celicas Forums

So I was driving and my oil light started blinking, few minutes later, I started hearing this weird grinding/knocking sound at high rpms so I slowed down to around 50
Then I put the car In nuetral and reved up, sane sound
I lost some power and the the car shut off,
I thought I ran out of gas so I filled few gallons in (I luckily stoped in front of a shell)
Started it up and hears LOUD squeaking along with the knock,

Checked my oils and i was OUT/EMPTY

So I put in 4 quarts of "golden state sae 30" (that's all they had)
Drove it to my work and now my car stopped squeaking but still hear a knock!
The oil is 'dirty but full' ....

What could it be?
No oil leaking from the bottoms, muffler is dry nothing out of the ordinary beside the knock

Keep in mind that I rebuild the engine 5000 miles ago so could it be that I messed up somewhere?
And after the rebuild, I didn't change the oil until 1300 miles like the Haynes manuel said

This post has been edited by Malhar95: Dec 3, 2010 - 1:06 PM

sounds like you wrecked the bottom end again by running it with no oil.

you spun a rod or main bearing. your crank is toast. if you spun a main then you need the mains line honed. it will almost be cheaper to get a new shortblock if thats the case.

so its a high chance that i need to replace my bearings??

if thats the case, do i have to rebuild the motor again, or can i just lift the car up, take the oil pan off and work from the bottom?

I spun a couple bearings once and just had the crank turned and polished again. I had to pull the engine though to get to the rod bearings. Replaced them, refinished the crank, and then sold the car in perfect running order a couple years later.

Not too sure in your case but it seems quite possible. Also, it seems like you did spin a bearing...at least. If you decided to tear into it again, just check the oil pump to make sure it didn't get chewed up.

but how can my bearings go bad so fast?
i rebuilt the engine 3000-5000 miles ago

because you ran it without oil.

Im sorry but why didnt you think that you should have pulled over when your oil light started to flicker??? usually when its that light it means your oil is low/ you have no oil pressure

People never seem to learn that when the oil light comes on, it means shut the car off that very instant. It's not just a low oil light.

oh cuz my brother was driving it to work with me on the passenger...he told me abt the light AFTER i was stopped at a gas station

operator error, you can only blame your brother and yourself then. the light comes on for a reason. your fault for letting it get that low.

it is possible to have the crank turned and then use oversized bearings. but you can NOT just throw in a new set of bearings. that journal MUST be perfectly polished. when the bearing spun, that means the bearing bonded with the crank and spun in the rod. you really should replace the rod, and teh crank or you take a chance of it happening again

so what does it mean if your oil light comes on for a second or two when you turn the car on? I recently noticed this happening.

So the story changes now?


This usually happens in the cold but really does not matter what time of year it is, its just low oil pressure on start up, takes a minute for the system to pressurize, mine does it too, your good as long as it does not stay on

Omfg this thread is ****ing epic!!! Umm how can your bearing go bad so fast??? Hmm try re reading your initial post you checked the oil and you were bone dry, let alone after you saw the oil light go on you slowed down put it in neutral and reved the engine. What would posses you to do that? Im sry bro but your engine is ****ed, as soon as you saw the light you should of stopped the car immediatly and added oil, and even then its prob still too late. Please never rev your engine when you see an oil light go on again. Also these cars are 10-15 years old now they burn/leak oil you should atleast be checking your oil once every week or 2...oil is most important thing for your engine.

well im aware that i did mess up, even though i wasnt the one driving, i should have done something...

but rite now my problem isnt 'whos fault was it' its 'what should i do? and would could be wrong'


here's a quick video i took that day.


few more questions i have:

1. if i have to change the bearings, can i do them from the bottom? and ifso, how (a quick step by step process)?
2. would it be cheaper if i just buy a used engine?

note: i called up the place where i got the parts for my previous rebuild, and they said that they can replace all the parts that failed for free so i wont have to buy new ones.

so i knw for a FACT, that its a rod knocking,

could this mean that the rod is bent or damaged? or just the bearings?

can i do the repairs without taking it apart? like from the bottom?

please need help asap

you CAN replaace bearings by taking the ol pan off, but its recommended you pull the crank and have it turned down, because if the car was driven any significant distance theres a good chance the journals were gouged

again if the car was driven much you may have bend a rod, knocking is very stressful on the engine. and if you keep driving it may let the rod go = new engine

ah dang man! sorry to hear the news! idk how much it costs to rebuild motors, but shouldnt u be able to pick up another 5s for cheap on here? bt since youre getting replacement parts u may be ok pricewise