I own a '95 Corolla DX, and I decided to play in the mud... Needless to say, my car got flooded, and I had to get pulled out of the mud by a random passing stranger. Nice man... Anyways, I start it up after an hour or so, and I hear this clicking. It sounds like a fan hitting something, but it wasn't. Someone later told me it sounded like a blown head gasket, I checked the oil, and it was brown milky. If this is a blown head gasket, how much would it cost for labor and repair? If not, what does it sound like?

Also... Anyone know what I can tell my mom? I need a good excuse for this problem... Thanks.

tell your mom your a dumbass...

tell your mom your a dumbass...

lol... She knows that. But one screw up she said, and my cars gone. So I'm trying to get it repaired behind her back.


No input on the problem?

I'm starting to doubt you blew the headgasket. I think what happened is that water entered the intake and leaked past the pistons into the oil pan. I always liked to torture lawn mowers by pour water in the carburetor while it was running and ended up with a milkshake in the crankcase.

Change the oil and filter. Just go with regular dino oil for now. Drive the car for a bit and keep an eye on the temperature gauge and see if it runs ok. Keep and eye on the oil and see it stays its normal color. If the milkshake color comes back, then you did blow your headgasket. Change your air filter too. If it gets wet, it'll clog up as well.

A headgasket repair can cost around $500-$800 at most repair shops. But never use an aftermarket headgasket on a Toyota. They blow very easily. Make sure to get a headgasket kit directly from Toyota and give it to the repair shop to install.

I agree with KCG. Replace the oil and coolent. And keep an eye on both for discoloration and level

Alright, thank you all. I never noticed my temperature spiking, so I will go ahead and replace the filter and oil. Although, It is a fairly new filter. Not even 3 months.

Also, a man at Autozone told me to run Diesel fuiel where my oil should be, for about 30 seconds to clean out the sludge. Is this right?

Yeah. Diesel's oily enough that running it for 30 seconds won't do any harm. Transmission fluid is another way of cleaning it. After doing that, I would change the oil after 500-1000 miles. Then go with a high quality oil of your choice.

Well, I changed the oil and filter, and ran it with a little deisel gas (in place of oil, then drained,then replaced with new oil.) I still have the clicking sound. And it clicks faster when i touch the gas pedal. Any more ideas?

What part of the engine does the clicking seem to be coming from?

What part of the engine does the clicking seem to be coming from?


If you're looking at it facing the windshielf... The noise is coming from the upper left area. Near the engine block (I'm not good on terms, the area where the cylinders are). The left area of that.

Wow. I'm stumped. It could be a number of things. You probably have a spun rod bearing. Maybe it's just piston slap. Does the noise lighten up when the engine warms up? If you can get video of the noise, that'd be great. I'm also curious to know how many miles you have.

Wow. I'm stumped. It could be a number of things. You probably have a spun rod bearing. Maybe it's just piston slap. Does the noise lighten up when the engine warms up? If you can get video of the noise, that'd be great. I'm also curious to know how many miles you have.

The autozone guy told me it sounded like a piston hitting something. I have near 165,000 miles on this engine, nothing has been replaced. And the noise is there the entire time... I think it is something with a piston, seeing as how it goes faster when I accelerate, and relaxes when I slow down/idle.

Make sure something is not caught up in the belt areas or that your belt has not stripped. If it sounds faster as yopu drive, does it make the same sounds in park as in drive?

And come on - lighten up on the kid. This is a help someone forum - not a kick ass and take names forum! Give the dumbass a break! Besides, he must be pretty smart to find this place and post!

I guess it just takes one to know one.

You should spend more time learning proper grammar than spend your time flaming other users. I'm sure you've done a lot of dumbass mistakes as well. So have I. Cut the kid some slack and maybe try to be a good citizen post something helpful and intelligent for a change.

Thanks for the support, it is much appreciated.

Despite what I did, I am a pretty intelligent kid... Given a Chiltons, a car garage, and LOTS of patience and time... Do you think I could repair whatever it is? (I'm taking it for a diagnosis on Thursday).

I'm sure it can't be that hard...

Make sure something is not caught up in the belt areas or that your belt has not stripped. If it sounds faster as yopu drive, does it make the same sounds in park as in drive?

Yes, it does make the same sound.

Have you been keeping an eye on your oil condition and your coolant level? Just make sure that "milkshake" doesn't come back.

Water in your engine can hydrolock it too. So, you could've bent a piston rod as well which may be causing the noise. But that's just a guess and hope that's not the problem.

He didn't really need that post anyway...

Have you been keeping an eye on your oil condition and your coolant level? Just make sure that "milkshake" doesn't come back.

Water in your engine can hydrolock it too. So, you could've bent a piston rod as well which may be causing the noise. But that's just a guess and hope that's not the problem.

And what if it is a bent piston rod....?

Cost, labor difficulty, etc...

The engine would have to be pulled apart. If one was to get that far into the engine, then you might as will rebuild it. This could cost about $3000. Maybe $2000. If you find out your engine is fucked, you could just have another engine swapped in for much cheaper than rebuilding. A used engine with about 30,000 miles might cost you $1000 or less plus the labor to install it.

The engine would have to be pulled apart. If one was to get that far into the engine, then you might as will rebuild it. This could cost about $3000. Maybe $2000. If you find out your engine is fucked, you could just have another engine swapped in for much cheaper than rebuilding. A used engine with about 30,000 miles might cost you $1000 or less plus the labor to install it.


Think I could do it myself...? (rebuild)

Hey. If you study the repair manual and really put your mind to it, you could. I did my first headgasket job on my 84 Toyota Van. I put over 8,000 miles on it since then and haven't had a problem. I had to replace the fuel pump too.

Another possibility of the noise is a spun rod bearing. They tend to make noise if they go bad. If it's not too late, you could probably have it replaced and be fine. But if you wait too long, it'll chew up your crankshaft and that'll have to be replaced too. What I would do is take the car to a mechanic and have him find out where the noise is coming from. Don't want you to jump into a big project and later find out it's just something simple.

Hey. If you study the repair manual and really put your mind to it, you could. I did my first headgasket job on my 84 Toyota Van. I put over 8,000 miles on it since then and haven't had a problem. I had to replace the fuel pump too.

Another possibility of the noise is a spun rod bearing. They tend to make noise if they go bad. If it's not too late, you could probably have it replaced and be fine. But if you wait too long, it'll chew up your crankshaft and that'll have to be replaced too. What I would do is take the car to a mechanic and have him find out where the noise is coming from. Don't want you to jump into a big project and later find out it's just something simple.


My plans were to take it in on Thursday (pay day) and get a diagnoses. And if it was too expensive, to buy the parts on my own and a Chiltons. Time and patience... Nothings impossible... right?

After talking with many people, and everyones input here, I've come to the conclusion that I am fucked. So... My english teacher has been offering me his car for awhile now, a mint condition 1991 Nissan Sentra, with replaced clutch and AC.... Around $1,500. Any comments?

Nissan Sentra? FUCK YEAH! My brother's friend has a 90 with a 4 speed. Then he drove a 91 5 speed for a while and went back to the 90 because it actually had less miles. I got to drive the 91 and it's a fun car to drive! The 4 cylinder has plenty of power to get it going. If that's a better route to go, go for it. My brother's friend beats the shit out of his 90 and it hasn't given him any issues that I know of. Shifting at 6500 RPMs is extremely fun to do as well. But don't make that a habit or you will damage your engine.

Here's a little sample for ya. My brother was driving in this one.

http://kc.cognitivelube.com/JustinBurnout.avi

You'll need the DIVX codec though.

I would wait until I found out what is wrong. May be something cheap.

Yeah, good point there.

Alright, thank you everyone for your help. I think what I'm going to do is just get the Sentra, seeing as how my car is screwed up, the cost alone of finding out the problem, and due to the fact that it has other problems (struts are shot). Thanks again for all your help.

I own a '95 Corolla DX, and I decided to play in the mud... Needless to say, my car got flooded, and I had to get pulled out of the mud by a random passing stranger. Nice man... Anyways, I start it up after an hour or so, and I hear this clicking. It sounds like a fan hitting something, but it wasn't. Someone later told me it sounded like a blown head gasket, I checked the oil, and it was brown milky. If this is a blown head gasket, how much would it cost for labor and repair? If not, what does it sound like?

No real SOLUTION here, just some ?? to wonder about...

How deep in the mud did you get? Doesn't sound like it should have been deep enough to really cause problems in itself if you were able to 'get pulled out of the mud by a random passing stranger'. Depends what this stranger was driving...

Was it just muddy or was this a deep water puddle? The 'brown milky' sounds like you have probably got water into the oil somehow. Did it suck water into the intake when you were stuck?

Did you over-rev the engine trying to get out of the mud when you were stuck?