I would suggest then that you remove the engine and start tearing it down. That shouldn't cost anything if you have access to a cherry picker or A frame (or swing set and block and tackle).

This way you can figure out exactly what you will need to rebuild. Then you can decide whether to rebuild yourself or get another engine. If you decide to rebuild, you can do it slowly and buy parts as the money becomes available.

 

Necro-posting this thread, because I'm close to maybe driving this car, provided the ION deal falls through...

My main goal is to stifle the knock until I buy another engine... That is all... Now it will be difficult to change the engine if I lock this one up completely, from what I understand, so I'm gonna try and avoid that, but snow is getting here, and having turned my ranger around backward on wet roads, in 65 degree weather, I'm admittedly a lot scared to drive it in snow... If I don't get the ION, all this car needs(other than an engine) is tires... My plan is to try and thicken the oil up some more so that it either quits knocking entirely, or only does so under extreme conditions... As you guys recall, I already have 20w-50 in the engine, you're probably wondering how i plan to accomplish this...

For now, the plan is to drain a quart, top up with 85w-140... The engine will still have additives(detergents and such) from the 75% motor oil, and it should be thick enough to cushion the bad bearing, hopefully... Worst thing to happen is a thrown rod, in which case I'm not planning on reusing the block at all... If I have to add oil, I have nearly a quart of 20w-50, plus what I can drain from the sump, and when I change it, I'm going to instead try a SAE 40 or 50, with the other stuff added as necessary to quiet knock down...Thicker at temp while not being a brick when cold... I have a line on three engines, each for $300, all with 90 day warranty, as soon as I scrape together the dough... The tough part will be changing the engine, from what I read, the entire subframe needs dropped...


But I have a plan now...

 

The topic of running thicker oil in saturns has been beaten to dead horse status.

So I'd like to stand the dead horse back up to ask a few more questions.

1) You KNOW GM didn't put in any more robust of an oil pump than they had to. Might this be a concern when you get to crazy high viscosity stuff?

2) Similarly, with the oil being forced through the oil filter under pressure, and the viscosity of that oil being crazily higher than the filter was designed for, might you not be creating an flow restriction with regards to how much of that super thick oil you can get through that filter (designed for a flow rate using much thinner oil) per unit time----and thus to the engine internals per unit time?

3) Could you also possibly literally blow out an oil filter from the significant increase in pressure expected to be across it from the super-heavy oil mix?

Unc, I'm talking about stuff above 20W-50....

 

1.) yes, the oil pump would be a concern when thickening the already pretty thick oil, and the car is getting slower to crank, even with only 20w-50 oil in it... Probably going to add a block heater if this works at all..

2.) and yes I could theoretically be creating flow restrictions by going to an even thicker oil, eventually resulting in damage to cam, rockers, etc...

3.) im not worried about blowing the oil filter out, now saying its impossible, but I'm doubtful I could damage the metal casing... Might mess up the insides though...


Guys, I'm not asking this engine to live for very long, not trying to get another 100k... But the snow is getting ready to fly, and I need something winter friendly NOW... My truck won't go worth a damn, and I am not willing to wreck it trying to cross the three major hills between home and work... I tried selling this car, receiving nothing more than empty interest, and I lack the money to replace the car or even just it's engine at the moment... So, out of purely need, I try once again to get it to limp along for me...

 

I guess, from both what derf recently said, and reviewing this thread, you have known for some time what is wrong with this engine and that it is of no value to anyone so why would some one want to purchase a car with a blown up engine? Because that is what it is, a spun bearing is a blown up engine!
And that there is no possible way in the world that pretending that by some how running thicker oil and having it go as far as the end of your driveway with out tossing parts out of it on to the road will it even remotely be any kind of reliable.
You do not have a winter friendly car.
You do not have friendly car
You have a car with terminally mechanically damaged engine and that it has lasted this long you are more than fortunate.
If you have an engine lined up with a 3 month warranty on it you should contact who ever has it, have it delivered and start unbolting things on it now, not tomorrow or the next day.
The weather is turning crappy and you have no choice in the matter, you have screwed off this long living a fairy tail and if you are planning on being able to drive it at all it is time to climb out of the cloud you are dreaming on and get with it.
Dang!!! Go back and read the 7 pages of this thread.
It is not fixable and has not been since the bearing was spun.
Wishful thinking is just exactly that. Wishful.
Good luck

 

The main and only issue is money... I don't have $380(300 plus tax and core) lying around for the engine, and even more so, don't have the additional $3-400 to have it installed... I lack the know how or the tools to get the job done in my driveway... If I had the cash or could borrow it(I owe everybody some amount or another, can't afford another payment), it would be happening in about three days... As it stands, I don't make enough to pull the money from anywhere the sun shines on(or places it doesn't), and the only way I could maybe get it is to sell my truck for exactly the amount I need(taking a huge loss and leaving myself with no vehicle until the car is repaired)... I thought about crushing the car, and using the money to try making my truck winter ready(-ish), but the car won't bring enough to pay for a set of snow tires and a used limited slip unit for my axle...