2000 camry 3.0L v6 knocking engine after engine failing with no warning signs

CountryNinja said:

I tried to upload file of the sound it was making but it said file to large.

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Upload the file to youtube and then post a link in this thread.

I'm gonna go ahead and say knock. Does it smoke? Have you drained the oil to look for metal? How much oil did you have to put it? Any leaks or long overdue for an oil change?

No smoke. No metal. It was basically empty sl 4 quarts no leaking. Im thinking rocker arms?

Not overdue for oil change it's right at oil change mileage

How long have you owned the car? Any history of burning oil? There is a lot of stuff that could've gotten messed up after running dry.

I've owned it for 4 months and the whole time I've owned it it hasnt had any problems no warning signs no noises nothing. I just had a mechanic two weeks ago tell me he was surprised with how well the car was running and how quiet it was. Next thing i know my engine lost all power on the highway and my power steering cut out as well. Not once was there a thought in my mind that something was wrong with the engine. I thought a possibility of my timing belt needing to be changed soon because of occasional squealing when taking off for 2 days before this happened but its mind blowing to me that the engine is so completely messed up with no warning signs or leaking or burning.

The serpentine belt was probably the cause of the squeal. That oil had to go somewhere. Hard to say more without tearing into it.

Isn't there a seal in the timing belt case between the timing belt and engine? Is that where the cam seal is on this engine? I just went over it again and its clearly leaking slowly from around the timing belt case.

So it had no oil in it until you added 4 quarts after it shut down? If so then it probably needs a lot of work to fix it. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Old Mechanic said:

So it had no oil in it until you added 4 quarts after it shut down? If so then it probably needs a lot of work to fix it. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

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In the 4 months of ownership, how frequently have you checked the oil level?

My opinion, if you added 4 quarts to bring the level up to the right amount, it was way too low to run the engine. You most likely had oil starvation, meaning you most likely have bearing problems now. The knocking noise is most likely rod bearing knock. Engines typically are pretty much toast if they are run without oil for any period of time, which is sounds like what you have there. That 1MZ-FE engine you have is a great engine, but it can't survive when you run it that low on oil to cause it to starve.

93celicaconv said:

The knocking noise is most likely rod bearing knock. Engines typically are pretty much toast if they are run without oil for any period of time, which is sounds like what you have there.

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+1 , sure sounds like that 93celicaconv.