Well, I had to make one more trip down to VA this past Wednesday night. My son's 5th grade field trip to VA. Beach was Thursday and he's been looking forward to this for 3 years. One parent is supposed to go with each child and he wanted me to go. I left work at 5:30pm, changed clothes, packed a few clothes and then jumped in the old workhorse for the trip. 1/3 tank of gas--no problem, I'll wait 'til Jersey because it's 30 cents a gallon cheaper there....hear a little tick--no problem, been hearing it the whole motor's life and oil pressure is where it's been since forever, besides I put in a quart or so last week. Heading off down the road on I-84 west and cruising quite nicely, got my radio on and feeling good. Uh oh, there was a hiccup. I think I heard a clang that I hadn't heard before.....ohhh no, that's not supposed to sound like that. Was it a one time thing? What's that smell?? Is that just a belt burning or burnt oil smell? I don't know. BAM CLANG BANG!!!!! Ooooohhhhhhh, that's not good. Still running.....barely.....white smoke is all around me. It's coming from under the car and back in through the rear window that is down halfway, over the windshield from the openning in the hood and I think thru the vents! I can't tell, it's everywhere. I've made it a mile now, maybe I can turn around and get back home.......click-kunck.....RRRRRRRRRrrrrrrr....RPMs zero and coasting to a stop. Well, at that point I have stopped the white smoke from billowing out, so that was good!! Only problem is that the motor will not turn over and that is a problem for making power to drive.
When the motor goes KABLAMMO! then the 1UZ goes in! I'll start a rebuild thread as I move along. Yeah for summer project!
Well, it's 7:45pm, I'm 425 miles from home and my son is freaking out because I won't be able to make it home to go on the trip with him. Not so fast my friend!! I jump on Craigslist, find a '97 Jetta about 25 minutes away and buy it that night and leave CT at 11pm, drive all the way to VA and get in at 6:30am to go on the field with my son at 7:15am. He was so happy that I made it and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. We had a great time on the field trip.