I think im screwed, Rod Knock

[Aero]

Ok so heres the story. About 5-6 months ago it was time for an oil change and I was really busy at the time so i took my car to OilZone to have it done there. Whenever somebody else changes my oil i usually stand around and watch them, but this time i ran to the bathroom and when i came back the car was done. I was in a hurry so i just paid and hopped into my car and left.

About 2 days later I kept smelling oil inside the car, so i pull off to the side of the road and pop the hood. First thing i notice is oil all over like everything under the hood and that my oil cap is missing! So imediatly i get really pissed off and drive back to OilZone.

When i get back to OilZone, the same guy who changed the oil was there and i told him about the problem and he was like "oops, sry, ill get that fixed right up" . So i pull the car in and he gets me a replacement oil cap and i tell him to check the oil to see how much i lost, he checks it and says its fine, i only lost a little he says. Then he whipes the engine down and it looks ok again. I told him that i wanted him to log in their computers that this happened because i realized that if anything went wrong, id come back and they would fix it. He walked over to the comptuers and did some stuff for a minute and i figured he logged the event. All seems well for about 1-2 months. Now all of a sudden i start hearing a knocking noise from the engine, it starts out as a faint noise and is hardly noticable, after like a week the noise gets tons worse, now its loud enough to hear from inside the car if the stereo is off and if i watch the RPM's it drops a hundred or 2 like every second or 2 at idle. Definatly not good.

My friend is a mechanic so i asked him to take a quick look at the car and he explains to me that the engine has Rod Knock and that its gonna cost an arm and a leg to fix, might even need to replace the engine. He expalined that it probly has something to do with me being a quart and a half low on oil (that could have only been lost when the cap was off). So i tell him the OilZone story and he tells me to go back to oilzone and explain my story to them.

So, now im back at oilzone and they cant find any record of the missing oil cap. And the guy who did the initial oilchange was fired. WONDERFUL! oilzone says that theres no way that missing that much oil could cause this and they are saying its a mazda problem and they mazda is gonna have to fix it cuz it not their fault. There is no way this is a mazda problem, i have yet to hear of anyone having this problem with their MP3. Hell, i probly have the lowest milage MP3 around, its only got about 28,500 on it and ive had it for 5 years.

So anyway, the car has no mazda warrenty, and oilzone says they wont fix it, so it looks like im gonna have to fix it myself. Should i try to have it repaired or just get a new engine? I relize that i could probly get it fixed by oilzone if i got a lawyer but i dont really have the time/money to pay for one. I work 40 hours a week and go to school 30 hours a week. I NEED my car, its the only one i have and i gotta get to work/school. I just thought id post here and see if any of you have any idea what the quickest way for me to get the car back up and running properly again is. Also, how long do you think an engine will drive with rod knock? Im trying not to drive it for anything but work or school and pretty much right now its getting like 20-30 miles per day at this piont. If im gonna be paying for a new engine or repair it its gonna take me atleast a month or 2 to get taht much money together.

 

[AznXstazy]

well first i have a lower mileage car than you 26,150 about hehe. just had to make that clear. second i would try to fill back up on oil n keep it at the right level this time. next rod knocking should only have to replace the block of the car if im not mistaken, but im not a mechanic so i really not sure of that. but the rods are connected to the pistons which are in the block so thats y i say the block. hiring a lawyer and paying him all that money will be about the same amount needed to replace your whole engine... if you can pm someone named roni, she has a wrecked mp3 i think her engine or at least her block is ok. if u can try to get that from her she lives in new jersey i think. mayb you can pick it up for cheaper. pm her. thats all about i can help you with.

 

[Aero]

Thanks for the info. I was on my way to work today and the car made a really loud POP and now the car sounds like a really loud lawnmower. So i pulled over and the car is just sitting in a parking lot and i will have to get it to a mechanic the next time i have off work. This sucks, couldnt have happened at a worse time either Oh and after the loud POP noise, the check engine light finally came on

 

[65racecoupe]

So...

You didn't bother to check the oil yourself?

 

[Aero]

After the oil change that started this whole thing, i didnt check the oil because i figured it was done correctly, i mean thats all they do is change oil. After they replaced the cap, i was gonna check it but i was late for work and it kinda slipped my mind. So i will freely admit, its somewhat my fault, but then again, had they done it right the first time i wouldnt have had to check it.

I totally understand that this whole thing is partially my fault, im just pissed cuz i love my car and i think that once i get an estimate to get the car repaired its just gonna cost so much money. I had to vent

 

[dan00k]

how can you have a car that isnt even possible being 5 years old when it didnt come available til i think may of 01? anyway put that aside but i did have an mp3 and well...i had the dealer replace 2 engines under warranty because i have read on here that there sometimes is an oil starvation problem when cornering hard. of course i heard rod knock at around 3k in 1st and 2nd and then any throttle in 3rd and above. not sure if ur dealer will replace it depending on ur warranty but i know in my case i had an engine go for 27k on the first engine and then the second engine only lasted 7k...when i got rid of the car it had just shy of 75k and was running strong so im not sure if i started not driving as spiritedly as i used to or maybe mazda was having some problems with this and might have fixed the issue or not which i doubt but i had no problems for 40k miles on the engine i last had. just thought id tell you some insight on what experience i had w/my mp3. maybe this can help you out and maybe its not the oilzone's fault which id be doing like you and blaming them but maybe its more than just what they did...maybe this was a problem b4 that and they just didnt help it out any at all.

 

[Aero]

K, 5 years was a type-o, 4 is right next to 5

Anyway, are you trying to say that this is a common problem and you think that possibly the dealership i bought the car from might be able to help me out, even if the car is out of warrenty? Again, thanks for responding.

 

[dan00k]

well if its out of warranty then ur first comment of you thinking ur screwed is probably right...cause all of mine happened inside of the regular warranty you get w/the car that is the 3yr 36k, which i got the 75k ext warranty but never needed it for anything after the 36k. but yea the dealer might know something about it but they are gonna **** you on everything as far as fixing it...i know alone the block and everything is about 4k and then labor on top of that is another 800...so its gonna be around 5k just to have a new motor and labor done for it if you take it to the dealer...you might wanna look around and see if anyone has a good block like someone mentioned roni on here and see if you can get that from them or not.

 

[Aero]

Ok, thanks alot for the info. I had a feeling that it would take alot to get the engine repaired, which i think is why a few people have told me it would be cheaper to just pull the engine and have a new one put in.

If you havnt noticed by now, i dont know much about cars, so i gotta ask, would the engine located here: http://corksport.com/store/category/9bpg/J-spec_engines.html (FS-ZE), would that be like a direct replacement? I realize thats kinda a stupid question, but if after i have a mechanic give me a quote on how much its gonna cost to repair, if its near this amount im better off just getting a new engine if that is all i need.

So pretty much if anyone could answer that question for me it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[AznXstazy]

those are jdm. to get the to work if im correct you would have to have jdm ecu and rewired wire harness. it would be alot more problems to fix if not done correctly the first time. its better off if u just get a motor from a mp3 from here.

 

[Meydron]

Just an observation, but why havent you changed the oil again in 6 months? Your supposed to change it every 3 months so if your doubling that time period without checking it at all there are many reasons it could be low.

 

[TurfBurn]

I believe mazda upped all the warranties to 5 years 60,000 miles powertrain... which the block qualifies as...

rod knock can fubar the rods and crank... it sound like you may have lost a piston now so you are likely no out a rod, a crank (that can probably be machined back to spec), pistons, and the block.

I would go to town on OilZone and see what you can do... you can try and see if Mazda covers it but the moment you tell them about the oil cap or anything like that they will automatically not cover it.

 

[Dpwhitehead1]

ok...you should be covered under warranty...my motor did the same thing on my 03 mazda..the warranty is 5 years 60k. i believe..i am past that...anyways,..the oil cap or something drained my oill..basically what will happen, is you take it to your service shop..complain about the engine making noise..like you have no clue what happened...they will tell you it needs a new warranty..if you are in the warranty still, which you should be, everything will be fine, they will just need some kind of paper/whatever showing that you got your oil changed on a regular basis... then they will do it..i didnt seem to have a problem with it..and it was done in 2 weeks..so that was hot. I would suggest doing that..and btw..u said that the guy that originally did your oil got fired...did you ever ask why???maybe it was like he left oil caps off or something...anyways..check it out.hope it helps.OH yea, and they put a brand new motor in...its the warranty policy.

 

[deaconfan34]

ok i know you said you had a mechanic friend look at the car but from what it sounds like he only listened to the motor and told you what he thought it was. there are things that can easily be mistaken as rod knock that he might have misdiagnosed. You could have a broken tooth on a cam gear. You need to take the motor to your mechanic friend or whoever and get them to take some things off and actually look instead of listen. You are worried about getting a new block when you might only need a new gear.

If it is rod knock the last guy was correct. You will need new pistons, rods, block, crank, bearings, and all that fun stuff.

Now if you dont plan on making any power out of this motor you can change the rod that is messed up and replace the one piston for that cylinder and get the crank machined. But if you plan on making any form of a performance motor with the block you have in there now you will want to replace everything.