new to this forum - can't find help on other forums

So, i have a 1996 supercharged riviera and it has been parked for a couple months waiting to be fixed I''m hoping someone here can help me figure out what is wrong with it or refer me to a good mechanic in the los angeles / pasadena / glendale area that will not charge me ridiculous amounts.
So here goes:

I was driving my car home (it has approx. 95K miles) and i heard a knocking sound. My car NEVER overheated throughout this whole ordeal, but my rpm''s starting going up and down and my car suddenly would not go past 25mph. I stopped the car and had it towed home. When i looked at the car, i noticed the whole pulley and belt for the supercharger had friggin dissapeared and there were metal shavings in the oil. BUT the car still turns on and i had to move it back and forth across the street for a couple weeks for streetcleaning. I since found a place to park it but still don''t know for sure what is wrong with the car. I''m scared to have it looked at by a shop cuz i have to pay towing there and if i don''t like his prices i have to pay to tow it back and all that. I was thinking it was a rod knock or something that i have to have the engine rebuilt. The best price I got on a rebuild so far is $2500 (not including parts i may need) So hopefully someone knows from the symptoms what is wrong and even more hopefully someone can fix it! This car is my baby and the first car i actually bought myself. If anyone can help me, even a little i would REALLY appriciate it!

wow...that sounds really bad....

*waits for Eric to show up....*

yeah i know. Where did you get your thermostat from ? how much did it cost? also, do you know where to get a good, nicely priced 3.4" supercharger pulley? this is all for AFTER i get the thing fixed of course

Thermostat:

http://intense-racing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=IR&Product_Code=TST-1x0&Category_Code=CS


Pulley:

http://intense-racing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=IR&Product_Code=IMH-090&Category_Code=BE

Metal shavings in the oil... Engine/rods knocking...

Good luck. I'd guess your eng is toast, sorry.

thanks Chicken for the links - ill prob. wind up getting those before i get my car fixed. haha. i got a good quote on rebuilding today of $1500 plus parts so woohoo kinda! wish it was $800 instead I figured i would need the engine rebuilt but someone had given me hope and said maybe it only needed top end rebuilt - but with metal shavings, some internal components probably were damaged and im doomed to have an expensive fix

So how do you know there are metal shavings in the oil? Also, beware a "cheap" rebuild, you usually get what you pay for.

when u pull the dipstick out you can see shavings pretty much right away - not huge chunks though - only other price i got was $2500 but thats way too much right now

Maybe better off to find a used 3.8 and drop in...

[quote=#1BearsFan"]Maybe better off to find a used 3.8 and drop in...[/quote] I agree if there's metal shaving in the oil it's more than likely ruined most if not all of the internals! Had this happen 2 a sbc 350 I had the internals were totaly trashed it was the motor that came with the car. Now it has a sbc 355 pushing close 2 500hp at the crank.

my bad that 355 is in my 86 monte carlo not the riviera lol but I wish it was!

i agree with the idea of the used engine alot of yards offer a good warr. on the used engines you can check in your area on carpart.com the swapping is pretty easy if youve ever done one before otherwise you may want to talk to local high schools or tech schools with an automotive course and see if they would be willing to do the swap for a nominal fee for you

Late to this thread, but it sounds to me like the 'knocking' was merely a failing bearing on a belt tensioner pulley. It happens rather frequently. I'd start by replacing the tensioner pullies and put on new belts, then see how it does.

Metal shavings in the oil? I've never seen that come out on a dipstick... get your oil changed and try again. This is one of the most reliable lower ends of just about any modern engine.

Derek has a good point, but how about when you were moving the car back and forth to parking spaces later on? Was it still knocking then? If you have the time, drain your oil and send a sample to Blackstone Labs for an analysis.

Hey everyone, thanks for all the replies! it does knock when i had to move across the street, it gets louder as it accelerates. The shavings were pretty small and thin, you think it is enuf do damage internals?? I think i will take deekster_caddy's advice and change the pulleys and belts and do and oil flush - hopefully that will work - if not, i got some REALLY good prices on motors at a yard, just have to find a shop to install. If anyone knows of a person or shop that does that in southern CA, please let me know in case thats the route i need to go. My husband said he wants to try to install - but he mainly works on hondas - so im thinking someone that knows american cars would be better.

96rivgirlla wrote:

Hey everyone, thanks for all the replies! it does knock when i had to move across the street, it gets louder as it accelerates. The shavings were pretty small and thin, you think it is enuf do damage internals?? I think i will take deekster_caddy's advice and change the pulleys and belts and do and oil flush - hopefully that will work - if not, i got some REALLY good prices on motors at a yard, just have to find a shop to install. If anyone knows of a person or shop that does that in southern CA, please let me know in case thats the route i need to go. My husband said he wants to try to install - but he mainly works on hondas - so im thinking someone that knows american cars would be better.

About your screen name....something just clicked in my head....

Bummer....I thought I was talking to a gorilla...

If your man can work on a Honda, he can surely work on a Buick.

Good luck!

So, i wanted to to send an oil sample to Blackstone, but there is no more oil in my car. it has been sitting wating for me to save up $ for like a year and a half - so i guess oil is supposed to be gone by now? im trying to learn everything i can bout these cars so i don't get ripped off again by a mechanic - when i first got this car 3yrs ago i got duped into paying $500 to have my belts replaced. BUT NOW i know enough to know what mods i need to do and sumwhat how to maintain properly

Here's something to try -

Take all the belts off and see if it still knocks. If so, it could be damage for real. (Don't let it run very long since it's got no water pump)

HAHAHAHA - chicken is hilarious. I guess just ill let him take a go at the swap - is there any kind of guide or book to this that would help? or maybe sumone has posted a "how to swap ur 3800" thread i havn't seen? after i try changing oil and belts, hopefully i wont need it - but in case..

It's been sitting for a year and a half and now there's no oil in it? Hold on a minute... there could be much more serious problems to deal with.

If you check the oil right now, is there any on the dipstick? It's really not worth getting the oil analyzed if it's that bad. Sounds more and more like it ran out of oil and you've got a more serious problem to deal with.

it's a long shot, but have a read through this topic. if you have the same problem it would explain the knocking, broken pulley, and missing oil. otherwise you have a more serious problem. oil should not disappear even if there is a small leak.

welcome to the forum too!

I think you may be SOL if there's no oil in the crankcase and it's knocking. Sitting a year won't make any diff to the oil level.

Sounds like time to pick up a used L67 and swap.

With no mention of obvious oil leaks, like a bad front or rear seal, seems likely to me it was simply run low on oil. How often did you check your oil level before this problem?

Ill look at it when i get home (supposed to be wrking rite now) but i had the oil changed every 3K EXCEPT this time - it was a month overdue when it happened and i hadnt check the oil levels since the last oil change it had. I know, chock it up to being 19 at the time and very unknowledgable about cars in general.