wlkelley3
wlkelley3 Dork
11/20/12 9:41 a.m.

Which means just about all of you.
Friends son has an issue with his little truck. Vehicle is a 94 GMS Sonoma w/2.2L 2wd. Symptom -

It jerked and quit while driving and then blew smoke out of exhaust when it stopped. Noticed oil spilling out when parked in front of the house. Tow truck driver tried to turn it over, he thought it sounded like the timing belt broke.

Question - is this an interference engine? What do you guys think? Smoke and oil makes me think more is damaged than timing belt.

mndsm
mndsm PowerDork
11/20/12 9:44 a.m.

if it's puking oil, there's a hole somewhere. Kinda sounds like a rod let go, mighta punched the pan, or the block.

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
11/20/12 9:46 a.m.
mndsm wrote: if it's puking oil, there's a hole somewhere. Kinda sounds like a rod let go, mighta punched the pan, or the block.

+1 if the timing belt broke there would be little to no smoke and there shouldn't be any oil leaking out.

Grtechguy
Grtechguy UltimaDork
11/20/12 9:55 a.m.

Yeah...new engine time. Perfect time for a 350.

With a 5spd and 2:73? rear end. close to 30mpg should be obtainable.

KATYB
KATYB Dork
11/20/12 10:48 a.m.

timingbelt on a 2.2? chain. doubt it would break. seen em make all kinds of racket but break nope

dean1484
dean1484 GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
11/20/12 10:51 a.m.

Motor sounds toast

curtis73
curtis73 GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/20/12 10:53 a.m.

Its a chain. Chains tend to give you about a year of warning before they break. They sound like a couple of bolts spinning around in a coffee can because they get loose and rub the timing cover.

Puking oil suggests broken rod, or it could have developed a horrific leak somehow and ran out of oil.

Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/20/12 11:24 a.m.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsO9WEwitfo

N Sperlo
N Sperlo UltimaDork
11/20/12 11:27 a.m.

Doubt its interference, so I doubt timing is the suspect. The engine probably committed suicide and its time to pick up another at the yard or on Craigslist.

N Sperlo
N Sperlo UltimaDork
11/20/12 11:30 a.m.

Oh, and I have a 2.2 Cadavalier. I've run the E36 M3 out off it and never had a timing problem.

wlkelley3
wlkelley3 SuperDork
11/20/12 3:19 p.m.

Thanks guys and gal. I don't know much about this engine and wasn't sure if belt or chain. Guessed belt because most of that era is belt on those size engine. Which is why I came to the experts to ask. Thought oil dripping and smoke would be something more serious but I haven't seen it yet. My friend and his son aren't car savvy, just transportation to them so 350 swap out of the question. Guess I'll go look at it and try to find the hole in the block. Not sure if they will have someone put an engine in or sell it and get another vehicle. Sounds more like vehicle replacement time to me, knowing them.

wlkelley3
wlkelley3 SuperDork
11/21/12 9:32 p.m.

OK, update since I went over and looked at it. The description of failure was not quite accurate. The smoke when it quit was white smoke out the tailpipe and the oil leak wasn't even close to being what was described. Plus oil level is now a little high, didn't lose oil. Checked it out. Slim to no compression. Took the valve cover off and see why everyone said chain. It's OHV not OHC so chain makes sense. Rocker arms work when turning over so that isn't a problem. Pulled 2 of the spark plugs and they are very clean, too clean. Like they've been steam cleaned. Guessing head gasket let go. The father-son non-car guys have decided they want to fix this with my help. They want to learn about engines. So the 3 of us will do the head gasket next month. Truck isn't main transportation so not a big rush. Considering the father just designed and built the deck on my house with me as helper, I don't mind doing this with them.

petegossett
petegossett GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
11/22/12 7:09 a.m.

Sounds like a win-win!

novaderrik
novaderrik UltraDork
11/22/12 7:40 a.m.

a head gasket on a 2.2 is probably about the easiest head gasket you will ever do. that engine design goes back to sometime in the stone age, so everything is brutally simple and parts are cheap.

wlkelley3
wlkelley3 SuperDork
1/7/13 8:47 p.m.

UPDATE We have finally completed this project. Seems it had more than one issue going on. Pulled the head and found the head gasket in good shape, no obvious signs of water leakage there. So we replaced the head with a reman and the new radiator. While we were there also replaced the water pump and thermastat. Found that a nut was missing on the fuel injection unit and a bracket not connected. Fixed those on re-assembly. Got it running but still down on power a lot. Then the engine siezed. Found that the timing chain tensioner was broke and the engine jumped time. Replaced the tensioner and re-timed the engine and it runs great. Apparently the tensioner has been going out or has been broke for a while and the timing chain jumped teeth one at a time till it wouldn't run. Was about 90 degrees off when we took the timing cover off. No wonder it wouldn't run. The owner says it has never had as much power as it does now since he's owned it. No more oil and water mixing and runs great. Was interesting working with a couple guys that aren't car guys. The owner is a mechanical engineer and was kinda fun listening to him state that it's no wonder that mechanics think engineers are dumb. He said he learned a lot and has more appreciation for the people that work on mechanical things. His father, my friend said he learned a lot and understand why mechanics charge so much now but still prefers to sticking with working with wood, which is his hobby.

SnowMongoose
SnowMongoose Reader
1/7/13 11:07 p.m.

mndsm
mndsm PowerDork
1/7/13 11:10 p.m.

Winning!

N Sperlo
N Sperlo UltimaDork
1/8/13 6:40 a.m.
Grtechguy wrote: Perfect time for a 350.

I see you fixed it. Yea, that engine can be pretty peppy. Makes those vehicles easy to fly. Literally. Good work, Sir.

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
5CR4i0V7sYOBTAzz5952kiRA6XJGK3r08llO2QypQnM3Zl5CzkAxcEBZ80YIOfn4