1991 Toyota Corolla What did I do? Mess my lifters up?

SABASTIANHAWK

MEMBER
1991 TOYOTA COROLLA
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
308,000 MILES

Ok here is the skinny. I have a 91 Corolla. I noticed that my oil was low, so I added a quart. No big deal done this before. It has over 308k on it so using a quart every 3 month or oil change isn't too bad I figure. Anyhow I closed the hood then had to run to Wal-Mart which is about 10 miles away, by the time I got there it was studdering and acting like it was gonna die at any moment. I managed to get out of trafic and into the parking lot, to discover I'd forgotten to put the oil cap back on. Yeah I felt like a complete moron. I put oil back in it but now it sucks gas like there's no tomorrow and it sounds horrible. Like a mini tank. There is a loud ticking, tapping, almost knocking kind of sound. What did I break? And more importantly how hard is it to fix and how much? It runs but I don't run it unless I really have to. Any info at all would be most helpful. It's my only car so I'm rather depandant on it.

1 Reply

MMPRINCE4000

MECHANIC
8,549 POSTS

Several possibilities, the oil could have got into the many electrical connectors causing all sorts of problems, so remove connectors one at a time and use electronics cleaner to clean each connector.

This engine will quickly blow volumes of oil out the fill cap. Remove valve cover and inspect cam lobes for knicks or excessive wear, inspect timing belt for oil contamination.

Check shim clearence, .008 on intake and.010 on exhaust (cold engine). Remove one cam bearing cap and inspect cap for grooves. Caps are marked with direction arrow (points toward front of engine) and numbered, so make SURE you put cap back in same exact position, DO NOT EXCEED 8ft lbs of torque on cap bolts.

Did oil light come on?

If so then in addition to above, remove oil pan and look for matal particles in bottom, or better yet, drain oil in pan, swish a magnet around in oil, if you get a large amount of metal particles, then you most likely have a main/rod bearing problem.

If you determine problem is bearing, then best approach would be to buy a used engine from junk yard and replace.

But start by cleaning ALL the electrical connections.