I almost sold my Rodeo, continued....

Now I have TWO rodeos! I picked up a '99 LS with perfect interior and leather seats for less than $1K. It has 20" custom wheels with low profile tires. Not crazy about them but I think I can find some tires to go on that look more like they go on a 4x4 instead of a rice-mobile. Or, I can probably sell the wheels for enough to buy a good used set of wheels and tires.

The only hitch is, it has a rod knock. So, out comes the motor. I think I'll go for the quick fix and find a good used motor instead of rebuilding. I'll get some pics tomorrow.

Sweet...congrat's!

Post pics when you can.

How does one know it's rod knock and not the hydraulic tensioner? Is there a fool proof way of knowing (just curious)?

How does one know it's rod knock and not the hydraulic tensioner? Is there a fool proof way of knowing (just curious)?

Experience. I'm sure it's not the tensioner but I will pull the timing cover off before pulling the motor. The knock is to loud and it's constant. Tensioner noise is usually intermittent.

I figured you had the tensioner angle covered, but I'm still curious to see what you find. It'd be criminal, grand theft auto, if you only needed a timing belt job.

It's not the tensioner. I was hoping it was. O well.

Cleaned it out today. Leather seats are perfect. Other than the engine, it's mechanically sound. Good brakes, looks like new rotors recently. CV boots are all good. Steering linkage is tight. It is stuck in four wheel drive but that should be an easy fix. Came with a nice Pioneer CD player. I'm hoping to have the engine pulled next weekend. Can't wait to start driving it.

How's the tranny look?

How's the tranny look?

Transmission seems ok. I've only had it running for a total of a few seconds because I don't want to do anymore damage to the crank or rods. I'm probably going to pull the engine and crank and if the rods spec out ok, I'll have the crank welded and re-ground. If the rods are messed up, I'll have to pull the heads and have them re-conned.