I drive a 1998 Toyota Camry LE with the 2.2 4cylinder. My car has 100,150 miles on it. I took my car to the shop to have spark plugs done because I was lazy. Come to find out the park plugs would barley go in on cylinder #2. It was very tight according to my mechanic and he put 3 different spark plugs in to make sure the spark plugs were not faulty. They came out of the engine all eaten up. He said the problem was a 9/10 and my engine will need to be rebuilt or replaced soon. I have done a ridiculous amount of maintenance on this car, all new belts, coolant flush, trans fluid change, oil changes, spark plugs, window regulator, exhaust leak. Valve cover gasket replacement. Oil pump cover replaced, water pump replaced. I would hate to have this car die after the blood sweat and tears put into it. I recently put in oil additive after discovering this problem. I drive like a grandma and barley put the car over 3k rpm. The knock was described as bottom end knock. It seems to go away after the car gets up to temp, only happens on cold starts. Personally I really can’t hear a knock, maybe if I have the hood open and I put my ear to it but not really. What would you all recommend I do? Mechanic said just ride it till it dies. He said he’s afraid it’s gonna blow up. Thank you all!!
I drive like a grandma and barley put the car over 3k rpm.
that's not necessarily a good idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeEMB5mR95Q
What would you all recommend I do? Mechanic said just ride it till it dies. He said he’s afraid it’s gonna blow up.
It would be unusual for a Toyota engine to develop that kind of problem at 100K miles but there's a lot of opportunity over a 25-year period for poor maintenance and abuse.
If the sound is actually a bottom-end knock that means bad bearings and yes the engine will self-destruct. How did the mechanic determine the sound was coming from the bottom end? Usually that kind of knock becomes louder when the engine is under load such as accelerating or going uphill.
