Blew Up A 1999 Es300

[pauleyman]

I'm not an incapable mechanic but I'm not a professional either. I've repaired/rebuilt many an engine, transmission etc. That being said here is the story.

My moms 1999 ES300 had some trouble codes, I replaced what was wrong except one item. Narrowed it down to a knock sensor which is apprently common on these cars. Not a big issue to replace as some of you may have read, remove and replace intake maniffold etc. Fairly simple. Car ran great for about 60 miles. All the codes gone etc then something mechanical let loose. Lots of white/grey smoke that lingers and it is knocking like crazy. Doesn't sound like a rod knock, more like something is being hammered on. Only thing I can think of is I dropped a piece of hardware down an intake port. I doubt it as I'm careful with items like that and the ports are stuffed the moment they are exposed. It would have to be a washer or something on top of a stud for me to have missed it. I haven't torn it down yet so I'm not 100% positive about anything. Just ticks me off. Any comments welcome. Does anybody know the interchangeability of 1mzfe motors across models/years?

[George_Jetson]

If you could borrow a borescope, you could pull the spark plugs and see if there is anything in the cylinders. But I would really doubt that you dropped anything in there, (i would suspect that you would know it before you drive 60 miles). My first quess would be the intake manifold gaskets leaking coolant. Have you checked the oil? Check the spark plugs for signs of coolant.

If you need another engine, I would suggest doing a search on ebay for JDM engines. You can pick up a good, low mileage engine, complete with all accessories cheap. I have used these engines several times and strongly recommend them.

[pauleyman]

The thought I had messed up the gasket crossed my mind. I'm going to pull the intake manifold and have a look. The oil is fine, no contamination. The oil and coolant are the first things I checked. The front plugs looked wet when I pulled them but I'm not sure from what. I was in a hurry and didn't investigate very closely. Now that I think about it oil would be obvious, this did look more like coolant. Even if it was the gasket it wouldn't explain the knocking unless I dumped so much coolant in it that it did some damage. The coolant level does not suggest this if it is indeed coolant leaking into the cylinders. I wish I knew somebody with a borescope. It isn't exactly a tool on the autozone tool list.

[George_Jetson]

What color are the front plugs? Does it smell like fuel? I would pull the manifold, check all of the plugs, and run a compression check. With the results of these checks it will be easier to determine the next steps. Remember you want to keep track of which plug is which, and the compression of each cylinder. As far as a borescope, do you know any avid hunters? Maybe on of them could hook you up with a scope.

It would not take much coolant to cause knocking on a high compression engine. Take your time, at this point it is important to accurately collect information.

[pauleyman]

Agreed. I had planned a compression and leakdown test. Plugs were black. Not necessarily indicative of anything though as the car did not run well. We'll see what happens when I get the manifold off and run some tests. Time consuming unfortunately. Thanks for your comments, it's the direction I was going anyway.