Here is my story:

I bought this car about 2 months ago it is a 1994 camaro auto. Recently the left side of the engine has been making a swishing sound(blown head gasket?). So my friend said we should adjust the rocker arms before assuming that or a bad lifter. We tried the method while running, loosing the rocker arm until audible tick then set preload. Well half way down the block the car started running rough and cut out. So we tried the non running method with spinning the pushrod and tried starting it. The car turned for a while before starting and when it did it only idled for like 3 seconds. So we tried the non running method again but the pushrods for the intake side and the exhaust side were the same height(I though one was supposed to be down and the other one up) so that's when I stopped. I got it towed to our shop and the mechanic said he would torque them down to spec( I didn't know there was a torque setting). After that he couldn't get the car to start and had a really bad backfire out of the throttle body. So after many times tring to start it and checking spark and fuel he said he pulled the oil pan and there was coolant in my oil. So basically he thinks I had a blown head gasket and that caused me to spin a bearing. I don't understand how this happened so fast. I was running fine at first with ONLY a rough idle and bad mpg but I thougt it just needed a tune up. It also had an idle surge after warmed up and got a little hot when idling(220). Besides that im stumped. I really don't have much money. Probably have to sell my bike. I mean isn't there something else to do. I feel like my mechanic is acting sketchy on me because he said I have to get a new motor put in. BTW I changed my oil 300 miles ago and it didnt have coolant in it yet. What do you guys think? What should be my next step?

 

james buddy...holy man, what a sh#@ show. did ya check the dip stick for water before any of this? was there white smoke bellowing out of the tail pipe? swishing (or ticking?) sound made ya think rocker arms...ok but i think ya made em worse to the point it wont run. there is a great sticky for that by cam69er i think. before that tho ya need to find out where the water is comming from. lets say a head gasket. i'd replace both....but before that the spun bearing is major. did the mechanic really lift the motor to take the pan off then take all the rod caps off to find a spun bearing..like ya said sketchy. lets say he is right....id sell the bike, take the motor out and rebuilt since you got all that going on. good luck j. maybe its worth getting it towed to a better guy that makes u feel a lil more comfortable. soooo ummmm hmmmm what year is the bike? nah jj.

 

sounds like me man. and the more often you get the car hot, the more likely it is to spin a bearing. i was driving mine after a cam swap and the temp gauge never moved, so i had no reason to believe it was getting hot. got back home and had antifreeze boiling. needless to say, sounds like spun a bearing too so i'm preparing for a tear down and 355 build. didn't want to do it this soon, but i guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do

 

i hear what ur sayin whammer but 220 isnt that hot in the way that the 1st fan dont kick in till around there, second fan around 235. hard to believe i know.

 

my point is, that mine got that hot without telling the computer it was that hot

but you could get the car in the air and pull the oil pan and check the stuff yourself if you don't trust the mechanic

 

Yeah the motor is dead. I asked to look at my oil pan and he showed me. So basically I'm just going to sell this car because I just don't have the time or money to fix it. Anybody want to take it off my hands for 1800?

 

Hate to kick you when your down, but a 94 sixor in running condition is barely worth 1800. Sorry dude. Sell the bike and the car and buy yourself a kick **** Z

 

Did you see the water in the oil ?? Does the mechanic want to do the rebuild ? Just curious if your getting the wee#%^ or not. Unlikely the main spun a bearing but possible. You can do the head gasket change fairly cheap. Did the engine have a loud Deep Knock ? How did the oil pressure look ?