Community Forums

bioguy · 06-21-2015, 04:30 PM

well did not do that but the sound is way bigger than the dipstick could ever make. Did check oil and no sign of damage on the stick.

oran42348 · 06-21-2015, 04:57 PM

From your description of the noise it is internal engine..however I have a 454 rattleing noise which is thought to be exhaust muffler baffle related.Hope it is something simple for you to fix. Keep us posted...

jsides · 06-22-2015, 08:30 AM

Definitely please keep us informed, we are all curious as to what it is. We that have had big blocks are all thinking of various things it might be. Good luck.

ga traveler · 06-22-2015, 08:37 AM

I had the oil pump changed on a 1978 Argosy with the 454. They removed the mount bolts and jacked the engine up, and removed the oil pan with the engine in the motorhome.

bioguy · 06-22-2015, 10:17 AM

Thanks for the info. Hope it is that easy. I forgot to look it over before I left it at the shop and will see when it gets here. Not today I would say as we are getting severe storms now darn......

propane · 06-23-2015, 07:41 PM

Flexplate cracks are hard to see and will sound tinny.

MotorPro · 06-24-2015, 05:41 AM

If the balancer was bad enough to shake hard enough to crack a wind age tray it would have knocked all the bearings out long before that. I have been in dragsters that shook so hard I was almost knocked out but they never cracked a wind age tray. I would do a lot of looking and listening with a stethoscope before I pulled it apart.

MotorPro · 06-24-2015, 05:44 AM

Also check that they didn't jack up by the oil pan. I have seen that cause the crank to hit pan.

bioguy · 06-25-2015, 07:59 AM

Well let me answer some thoughts from you guys. We looked at the flex plate as the noise was happening but not it. No time has the oil pan been delt with. I sure hope I do not have any bearing problems as the engine was so smooth to me anyway in a huge motor home and I never felt the vibration. The balancer out ring off rubber was about 3/8" out of verticle when you looked at it from underneith so I know that it was not doing any good. I also ( when installing new belts ) saw that the water pump was shot and very loose and once again hard to notice with no leaking evident. All that has been replaced.
I installed a new ballancer yesterday and the sound was still there. I drained about a quart of oil out to inspect but no real problems but a bit sheany and could be from crank hitting wind guard. I the took pan off as far as I could and looked into deep part of pan with scope and could see the strength ribbing that is on guard over deep part of pan. I then looked into the front following the guard to the center of the pan and low and behold I found a crack that went around and you could see that the crack was higher on one side in a spot than the other and following it through I saw a roundish burnished impact area consistant with a crank hitting it and the crack continued meandering to the other side. SOOO, I sure hope with the new pan that I get today and install Fri will end this so I can see whats happening going down the road from the top side of a motor home as the bottom is getting to be a bit much. Problem now is Fri I have to unloosen the tranny from engine and see if I can raise the tranny enough to tip the pan out or have to actually slide it back the 4" aprox it needs to let the pan drop. Also hope enough drop has allready happened in the pan front to clear the crank as if not then I have to raise the engine and that would be hard as to how. I will take pics of the pan when it is out and post them.

bioguy · 06-27-2015, 03:28 PM

Well with a scope you see a small spot and it looks big. Burnished spot was a spot weld but the tang had cracked all the way but could not get that darn pan low enough to look into it or even see much or the lower end. Did see that a lower rod bearing was rubbing crank so I decided that taking pan off by taking a tranny apart to get it off was no good when away from my shop. After you remove tranny and slide it back to get the pan off, you are 1/3rd the way to removing the engine and then if I found that the pan was not the prob. I would have to reconnect the tranny and get it home. I have it home now via very large lowboy semi. I just reconnected the pan with half the bolts, installed a new filter and re-oiled the thing so I could drive it onto semi and to my shop when it was delivered out in my horse pasture. Will be tenting this vacation next week....ya . I will take engine out later this summer and rebuild what needs it and do some other things at the same time while out like recored radiator. This post will be long gone by that time but I will repost the same notation of pan removal so any that have been watching this will get the skinny on the final discovery.
Another note to anyone that has an older motor home with a 454, I would install new harmonic ballancer as the rubber gives in time not miles and it took out my end play and prob most bearings as one guy stated. I sure had hoped a 454 would last longer than 78K. Until later.

bioguy · 08-24-2015, 12:11 PM

Well what fun can a guy have.... Had to move tranny back about 10" or until bell housing hit top of doghouse but was enough to get the flex plate off but still had to drop pan back as far as poss to reach under and remove oil pump bolt as the pickup was lodged under the wind plate in pan. Then finaly the dreaded pan came out.....
Well the pan was fine, no bad wind gaurd. My thrust bearing was shot and the crank flange warn half way down, sooooooo its an engine pull job now. Culprit could have been a ballooning converter, sticking modualtor valve that over pressured the tranny or maybe but no likely a plugged tranny cooling line however I think it is the converter. These tranny's get very hot and ballooning is a problem and probably why I have seen so many of these 454's that have been rebuilt or replaced in low millage motorhomes and always wondered why that was needed. If the crank was not warn, I could have replaced the bearings from under without a pull but not the crank soooo I am about to have even more fun pulling this thing out the drivers door. The harmonic balancer was not the cause as I had thought as the rear thrust bearing only side was destroyed and that wore down the crank flange with it....I am going to rebuild engine, new anti ballooning converter and new flex plate. Sounds like fun doesn't it? I guess camping for me is over this summer.
Thanks for all your help and thoughts.