Something's Not Quite Right

Last night Tom started me up and backed me out of the garage. After driving around the neighborhood for a few minutes, I was warmed up, but there was still some clatter from one of the lifters on the right side. Tom didn’t like what he felt and heard. There’s a low-frequency rumble from the rear end. He asked Ariel to come out and drive me around to see if she felt and heard the same rumble. Her first comment is that I don’t feel as powerful as before. Then she agreed something sounded different. Now it could be an exhaust leak, but it could also be something else. Uh-oh. Tom had to go to a meeting, so I was parked back in the garage for another day. Tom promised he’d be out tonight to check for exhaust leaks and then measure engine compression to make sure all valves are functioning properly.

His biggest fear is that a piece of the valve seat or head has made it’s way into the bottom end (crank or rod bearing) and is affecting clearance. He checked the walls of the cylinders and didn’t see any scratches that would indicate something broke loose, but you never know.