is my engine doomed

[pathfinder20]

had a mech did an inspection of my new-to-me 01 pathfinder, he said there's clunking sound coming from engine, which is usually big issues and advised me to get rid of it sooner than later.

is it pretty much doomed? anything I can do as a diy'er. I'm pretty handy.

uploaded couple of videos on youtube here.

video of engine bottom
https://youtu.be/k4ciXwqXKUU

video of engine bay
https://youtu.be/jDriCptH5hk

thanks in advance.

[AZhitman]

Have you heard the sound?

First, do an oil change. Check the drain pan for "glitter" in the sun.

If it's clean, get a compression test (we can show you how, or have another mechanic do it).

Pull all the plugs, let's get a look at the condition of those - could be as simple as a dead cylinder.

How many miles? Any leaks? Oil level ok?

[pathfinder20]

it's a 2001 pathy with 68k original miles. I just got it from a reseller on craigslist with no service history.

heard the noise but I couldn't tell if it indicates any problem. These videos shows the noise.
video of engine bottom
https://youtu.be/k4ciXwqXKUU

video of engine bay
https://youtu.be/jDriCptH5hk

Just drained the oil, did see some really really fine shiny particle at the bottom of the drain pan. They're like microscopic size.

some leaks around the oil pan area.

[AZhitman]

Yeah, that sounds like bottom end. I assume it increases in frequency with RPMs?

Odd to find an 01 with that low of miles. Do you know the seller? Did you hear it on the test drive?

Sometimes, an accessory (belt-driven) will make a knocking sound if the pulley bearing is shot. However, it definitely was louder under the car, which leads me to think it's bottom end damage.

You can also remove one plug wire at a time, which will kill one cylinder. If the knock goes away when you pull the plug wire, that's the cylinder with the bad bearing - no combustion in that cylinder means less force on the bearing, which means no knocking sound.

A few options - You can drive it as-is until it dies (which could be 10 miles or 10k miles). A takeout motor from a wrecked Pathy is likely going to have far more miles on it, but that resolves your knocking issue.

[PalmerWMD]

What Greg said.
Keep driving it look for agood deal on a used engine in the meantime..
Then when it goes ( which may still be ways in the future) you have it ready.

Surprising that such a low mile VQ should have such an issue considering the kind of abuse I've seen them take w/ no problem..

[Wrierblock20]

If you just bought it talk to the seller and if they don't handle it look up your states lemon laws, my Pathy is a 98 just hit 200,000 Miles Bought it with 192,000 (Last year) off craigslist aswell. My AC just died recently I'm doing a overhaul on that, expected though.

[Buzzman]

Might want to check the power valve screws.
power-valve-screws-t614196.html

[QCtech]

Do you still have it? It sounds like a lifter not getting oil. Some other things that produce the same sound are: a cracked flywheel(flexplate),there was also some item with the tensioner of the timing belt I read somewhere. In another engine of someone at work that was doing this sound, the bolt of one of the pulleys of the timing chain had sheared and it was doing a loud clanking sound like this. Since your engine is still running and you say you only saw specks of metal, do not run it anymore. Drop the pan and the the front timing belt cover and you would probably find the problem. If it is the timing chain tensioner or anything related to it, it is a cheap alternative to change in such a low millage engine.

I would not wait for a good engine like this to get totally destroyed to then replace it with one used. You can still save this one with some searching and finding the problem. Also as someone already mentioned , check your inlet valve screws and do a compression check. This situation is also still fixable for much less than a new or used engine. This engine is relatively easy to take out and rework. Let us know what happened.