Coming home from Walmart tonight, prior to shutting off the car, I opened my door and heard this really weird noise coming from the engine. Gave it some throttle, and it sped up with RPM. Popped the hood open, got the tools out and removed the belt. Noise still evident. Checked the oil, level was good, checked the trans oil, level was good, red, and smelled good. Took the eng oil dipstick inside to get a better look at it, noticed some slight discoloration to the oil. Grabbed one of my rare earth magnets and placed it next to the dipstick. THE OIL MOVED WITH THE MAGNET! No, the magnet did not touch the dipstick. So, drained her blood, dropped the pan and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I did grab a couple of rod end caps and noticed some side to side play with most of them. That'* all I am able to do right now. Tommorow after first or 4th coffee, will start on the top side removing valve covers, UIM, LIM, heads etc.
Lets hope the curse has not struck again.

good luck mike, dont want the curse striking again

what pearl_bonnie02 said....

what kind of noise?

I hope it is nothin' serious Mike. How did the pick-up screen look?

Pick up screen had some stuff on the screen, never did really look at it. Gonna be going back out here in a bit to tear it down.

Do you have to pull the engine to tighten the end caps?

No, they're exposed with the oil pan removed. But it'* pointless. If they're loose, the bearings are already shot.

Wow, not too bad. 3.5 hours and a couple of breaks, I have both heads off. Not seeing anything major so far. Gotta dig out one of my big sockets so I can turn the engine over by hand.

Can someone dig some numbers out? Mainly pertaining to piston play inside the chamber, end cap side to side play? Stuff like that.

I would do pictures, but I'm in emergency mode where I concentrate on tearing down. Sorry Haro.

Should be back again in about 1/2 hour or so with findings...

Why did you pull the heads?