So i've got real bad rod knock (not a tick) in the mornings. It's bad news, a calamity that I just wanted to share with everyone. It's probably rod bearings gettin worn out (I floor this thing at every light..) How long does my 2.0L have to live? How hard is it to pull the motor?

 

depends on how well its taken care of.

Engine should take about 2 hours for a first time pull.

 

if its a bad rod knock not long, i had a slight rod knock that i drove on for around 6 months before it went. if youve done engine pulls before, it should be a piece of cake. first time me and my buddy did it it was an hour and a half, then the last time I did it by myself I had it down to about 20 minutes cuz i was pissed as hell.

 

my work car has a knock (i think its piston slap, but im not sure) its not a quiet knock either, sounds like a diesel jetta.....the car has been that way since i bought it..i put 12,000 miles on it so far while beating the **** out of it and it still gets 30mpg and is faster then hell...
so, its hard to say exactly how long your car will last

 

Well good, it needs to last till summer and then it's rebuild time. I've been easy on it and if I keep the oil full it's less noisy. It's only bad in the mornings, my sister had a cutlass like that, and one morning the rod decided to exit the block a yard away from the car. They stay hot for awhile, melts the snow.

 

yeah i had the same issue as spud stated. Piston slap, piston slap subsides when the car warms to normal operating tempature. If it continues to make the noise after it is warm then it is the rod bearings.

 

just drop the pan and feel for the loose rod cap. i suggest plastigauge the entire rod bearing (4 of them) and replacing the rod bearings and rod bolts.
i did this on my sohc turbo motor when i got rod knock, only had 1 bad bearing, but i replaced all 4. took 2 hours, and something like 30 bucks to do. that is if the crank is within specs still. (hence the using plastigauge to find the clearances)