storrjw
New LVC Member
I have a 2000 ls with the 3.9 in it. I was sitting in traffic tonight, not long mind you, only about 10 minutes. I had no over heating signs, no warning lights on, everything was just fine. The construction lady flipped the sign around from stop to slow and traffic started moving so I hit the accelerator to start moving and i heard a very loud snap/bang come from the engine compartment followed by very rough loopy/surging idle and almost no power to move the thing off the road and out of traffic. Idle speed dropped to below 500 rpms and sat there for about 25 seconds before it finally stalled out. When i attempted to restart the vehicle it sounded like a number of cylinders werent firing, and i could only get the engines rpms upto about 2500 before a slapping noise started. I mean it sounded like a big leather belt slapping the bottom of the car. I shut it off at that point and checked under the hood. Checked the oil, looks almost brand new in color and didnt see any metal filings in it or anything. There was no smoke coming out anywhere, no coolant leaks, no wiring shorting out, the plastic piping for the cooling system barely felt warm even. The noise is louder on the drivers side of the motor then the passenger side. I know there was a rattling/marbling noise coming from the drivers side head, so I am fairly certain something failed either in the head or in the combustion chamber but i am not sure. I know it is way out of time now, so i was wondering if it might be a problem in the timing chain, cause the noise is very prevelant in the front and on the drivers side of the motor. I know its not alot of info to go on, and if i could i would record the noises for you all so you can hear it, but that will have to wait for tomorow as the vehicle is almost an hour away from me right now. anyway thank you for your time and any ideas will be appreciated.
