HELP!!!! ROD knock???

[sochinkyeyesshut]

my engine just started to knock today... it has always knocked a bit cause of the timing chain but this time it was alot louder and it does when i have it on light throttle... and also when i go to a stop the oil pressure light blinks... when i give it gas it goes away....( i am soo sad... i am gonna see if is in fact rod knock or not but i am leaning towards it is... i pulled the valve cover off and noticed that the front cylinder intake camshaft looks alot different than all the others... it looks as if it was grinding itself against the rocker arms... anyone can help me with this pls... here are some pictures of the camshaft... thanks for looking guys i know that my camshafts look wrong like there has been major dry friction... i put assembly lube and everything on them... oh BTW these are Brian Crower stage 2 cams with 264 dur and 12mm lift

[ILikeMy240sx]

classic sign of oil starvation. Bottom end is probably knocking due to lack of oil.

You know what your oil pressure is?

[sochinkyeyesshut]

no but i checked the oil level and it was right on the high mark... do you think its a major problem>?? am i gonna have to tear my bottom end apart?thanks for the fast response.

[efrain240sx]

well if you have low oil pressure chances are that you're oil pump is going out, and yes oil starvation is a major problem and as for having to tear down you're engine I would just to check if I didn't make any major damage to the insides of the engine.

[ILikeMy240sx]

Sorry, I meant lack of oil pressure... not just oil level.

Sounds like you got lots of work cut out for you. Take out the lower oil pan and see if you have bronze material everywhere. That's your main and rod bearings.

[sochinkyeyesshut]

ok ill take it off today... so if i replaced my oil pump do you think everything will be ok or would i have to replace my rods and stuff too???-Dara

[sochinkyeyesshut]

also do you think my cams are salvageable??? i sure hope so... oh and where would i find new rocker arms? or are they good as well??-thanks soo much

[SlowS13Silvia]

The pictures of the cams aren't working, but it sounds like you oil pickup/strainer has snaped off. This will cause low oil pressure any time when you accelerate, and starve your engine of oil. If you allready hear a knock your looking at some engine rebuilding time, but you should catch it today so no further damage is done.

[LayNLow240]

yeah i was goin to say the same. could be broken pickup, could be an oil pump thats on its way out.im intrested to see the pics though, since they arent there anymore.

[sochinkyeyesshut]

as far as the pics goes... yahoo photo sucks... well it was of my cams... thanks to everyone for clarifying it is cause by oil starvation... and for the oil pump it was going out so it didnt pump as much oil as i needed...<couldv'e been avoided if i had an oil pressure gauge>... but i am going to have to redo my main bearing, rod bearing and thrust washer... also anyone know what i would need to buy to get this thing going again???-Dara

[SlowS13Silvia]

cant really tell without looking at the inside of the engine...