Think my engine just failed

[domin8]

Possible engine failure on my Tahoe. Just turned over 95k miles today. This truck is turning out to be garbage. Worst part is I'm now stranded 1,100 miles from home in Laramie, WY. Will find out more tomorrow.

Irony is that there are no indicator lights such as a CEL or warning messages coming up on the DIC. Just had cruise control set at 80, went to climb the canyon between Laramie and Cheyenne. Shortly after transmission shifted down, a loud knocking started coming from the engine bay. I slowed down and pulled over as soon as I could, which happened to be at a rest area. I looked over the truck and didn't see anything wrong. No leaks. Fluids are good and full (oil change done saturday with a wix filter and Valvoline 5w30 max life oil). Belts are good. Nothing visually noticeable, except a low pressure reading for the oil, but I didn't check that thoroughly because I was afraid of the noise causing massive damage. Sound is coming from driver side of engine. I sure hope my engine didn't give out. Maybe bad gas? I did fill up in Laramie and got no further than 15 miles. Gas station was Conoco, which is a top tier fuel. I filled with 88 octane, which is mid grade. Did that because of a tune I have which is for mid grade. Noise is not consistent, like a valve or lifter, but does get louder with engine speed. While I was looking over the truck somebody walked by and said it sounded like a pulley could be failing, but couldn't see anything.

I had the truck towed to the Chevy dealer in Laramie and my wife, son, dog, and I are staying at the Holiday Inn down the road. Hopefully the bad news I get tomorrow isn't devastating.

Does anybody have any suggestions our ideas as to what it could be?

 

[Regency]

Maybe it could be the place who did the oil 5-6 years ago when we had our grand cherokee and we started smoking on the freeway and luckily had no damage so maybe it could be there fault btw the whole car was engulfed in thick gray smoke now we have free oil changes for life haha

 

[domin8]

I don't see how. I change my own oil, and I've never changed the oil on a Jeep-anything.

 

[Regency]

Maybe it's not just a suggestion

 

[domin8]

Are you trying to say that I may be without oil? If so, that's not the case. I checked that after I pulled over. Oil level is full.

 

[Regency]

Basically yeah just trying to help

 

[domin8]

I understand. I appreciate your ideas.

 

[SunlitComet]

i think either a pump malfunction or bearing issue.

 

[domin8]

Pump, as in oil pump?

When you say bearings, do you mean main bearings at crank?

Either way, either of those are telling me it's going to be expensive. If the pump failed, which is what I speculate, them I can see this being expensive head work. If it's the crank bearings, it's still going to be expensive. Either way, I'm not happy. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thank you for your input.

 

[Regency]

No prob wish you the best

 

[SunlitComet]

Oil pump or a crank/rod bearing.also look into the possibility a torque converter/ flex plate bolt loose. Inspect-able thru cover on bell housing. Oil pump failure could be internal too and not cause a problem down stream.

 

[iwaslowr]

Sorry to hear of the misfortune domin8. Is the engine sputtering/misfiring when running? Any smoke coming from the tailpipe when the engine is running? Since the noise is isolated to the driver side are you able to determine if the source is possibly the alternator, power steering pump or water pump? Did you happen to record the sound?

 

[domin8]

Sorry to hear of the misfortune domin8. Is the engine sputtering/misfiring when running? Any smoke coming from the tailpipe when the engine is running? Since the noise is isolated to the driver side are you able to determine if the source is possibly the alternator, power steering pump or water pump? Did you happen to record the sound?

It was too cold for me to bother with recording the noise on my cell phone. It was 43° and foggy at the time. I was in shorts, t shirt, and sandals. Definitely not prepared to handle this problem in that weather. Current weather is 31°.

As for other problems, I doubt it's the water pump. It was replaced right after I bought the truck 18 months ago. I also doubt it is the power steering pump since I was still able to turn the wheels with ease while the noise was occurring. As for the alternator, it appeared to be working perfectly normal too. I looked for movement in all of the pulleys and didn't see any. I didn't think to check the exhaust, but nothing obvious caught my attention.

 

[SunlitComet]

were you not supposed to get a call back from dealer already?

 

[domin8]

Nothing yet. I walked up there this morning to figure or wtf. Truck was sitting in the same spot the tow truck left it at. Service department said they were tied up at the moment with work that came in prior to my truck. As I was going back to the hotel I got a call that said they were going to get it looked at as soon as a tech they want to look at it finished his current project. Apparently he was just finishing putting in another engine in another truck and was going for a test drive. Once he got back he would look at my truck anne they would tell me what's up. However, after diagnosis he would start on another truck that was also there before mine. That's fine with me as they will need time to collect parts before working on my truck. Right now, I just care about the diagnosis. That'll give me the info I need to determine if I'm sending my wife and kid home on Grey Hound.

 

[CEN2MENTAL95]

anything overheating????? (temp gauge climb at all?) how bout tranny temp oh wait u have a tahoe

 

[domin8]

No overheating that I could tell. Water temp gauge stayed right in the middle. As for the tranny, temps were also nice and cool between 140-160 degrees. NNBS Tahoes have a trans temp readout in the DIC. My Tahoe not only has the trans cooler in the radiator, but also the GM auxiliary trans cooler in front of the radiator. I've also added the engine oil cooler, which required a new radiator to support it. That was done several months ago.

I've also been asked about the AC somewhere else, so I'll add here the same thing that I told that person. AC was not on. Vents were on a lower setting, under 50%, with recirculate. Temp dial was at the coldest setting. The air was very cold coming out of the vents. Aux was on, and my wife was using the control panel in the back seat to keep herself and my son cool.

 

[SunlitComet]

any instant change in oil pressure before and after cooler install? just adding to the list of variables.

 

[JennaBear]

Yuck, based on your description, sounds like a rod. Hope they get you back on the road soon!

 

[domin8]

any instant change in oil pressure before and after cooler install? just adding to the list of variables.

Nothing noticeable. The only real difference adding the cooler did was increase oil capacity by almost 1 quart.