Ok, update for you guys. I got everything buttoned up underneath last night at about 1:30am. I must say, getting the exhaust back on is a total nightmare. Trying to get the flanges connected between the cats and the manifold is murder! It took me easily 1.5 hours of ratcheting the bolts about 1/16 of an inch at a time. I had to use a special socket set I have that is really flat. It's an ingenious set really and it helped a TON with the exhaust, both removing and re-installing. I will take some pictures of some of the tools that helped me most through this part of the journey and post them here. That flat socket set was really amazing.
Anyway, went out today to finish the last few things so I could start it up (serpentine belt, spark plugs/coil bar, etc.). I put in Mobile Super Synthetic 10w-30 with a bottle of Lucas ZDDP additive and then fired it up. It sounded TERRIBLE! Here is a quick video:
I didn't get it in the video, but I climbed underneath and saw exhaust just pouring out of the the connection where I bolted up the exhaust last night. Needless to say I was quite discouraged. So I shut it off and went inside for our nightly family prayer before the kids go to bed. After about 20-30 minutes I just decided to go back out and start it up again and see if out of some miracle, something changed. Well it did! All those crazy sounds were gone! And the exhaust leak was gone! You can hear the difference here (but you can still hear the knocking sound):
I think what happened here is that when I hooked the exhaust back up last night, the metal was cold, and then today when I turned the engine on, it heated up the metal allowing the two ends of the pipes to flex and seat themselves together better. Then the pipes cooled down and contracted solidifying the seal. A good lesson learned here for working with exhaust pipes: Let them warm up and cool down before casting any sort of judgment on whether they are connected or not, especially in areas that don't use a gasket, like this case.
So we decided to take a late night test drive to see how things would go on the road. So my wife, daughter, and I piled in and went out for a drive (it was a beautiful night!). I am pleased to say that it drove better than it ever has. It had more pep and ran quieter and more smoothly than ever. I wonder if the timing was off because of the stretched chain and maybe that affected the performance of the engine. The knocking sound actually got really quiet after only a short time driving, almost inaudible really. After about 20 miles we headed back home. I recorded a video of how quiet the sound had become. I could barely even hear it:
I didn't record it in the video, but I poked around underneath with the stethoscope to see if anything had changed. I can definitely hear some "clicking" on the bottom of the bell housing with a similar. but a little more muffled, sound coming from the engine block at the rear of the engine, off to the side of the oil pan, same places I could hear the sound before I tore into the engine. It was much quieter this go around though.
So, my thoughts? About what I expected. I honestly fully expected the knocking sound to still be there after all this work on the bottom of the engine because nothing I found inside would explain the sound. I'm glad that everything was ok internally, but it means the exploration will continue.
As I posted earlier, I did spray paint the torque converter bolts so I will be able to see if the bolts are hitting the dust cover (the pain would be scratched off if so). This would indicate a cracked flexplate.
Needless to say, the test drive was great. It was a beautiful night and the Jeep performed well. The knocking sound is still present, but considerable less noticeable. Not sure why really, but it is what it is. We will keep going until we figure it out.
And just for kicks, here's a quick shot from our drive tonight of the super moon reflecting off the waters of the Great Salt Lake:
Thanks again guys. You have all been such a great support. I'm going to drive it for a few days and see if things change at all before I dive into the next project, which I think will be removing the valve cover to get a look at the push rods and rocker arms.
How's that for a great band name? Push Rod and The Rocker Arms?? Lol
Rod Bearing and the Crank Journals?
Cam Shaft and the Lifter Lobes?
Anyone?