Chinook RV

Hey guys,


I started my engine this morning to move the Chinook to a different spot in the campground I'm staying in. Immediately on startup the engine was making a terrible knocking noise. Anybody have any clue what this might be?

https://youtube.com/shorts/hWGAQI9kJO8?feature=share

Never made this noise before. Drove it from south Carolina to Ohio without problems. Drove it to this campsite with no problems. It has been parked at this campsite without running for a month.

It has oil and oil pressure. No puddles on the ground but crawling underneath there is some leaks, one looks pretty bad.

Did some peaking around. Noise sounds like it's coming from around the area of the passenger side valve cover. There's also a pretty damn good oil leak coming down on the driver's side above the oil pan. Not pouring, but a pretty heavy, steady drip.

I have no clue, but from the sound, it maybe coming from the various items on the pulley/belt? I would try not to run the engine like that, and would tow it out to a mechanics unless you can visually see what is going on. Does not sound good at all.

Sounds like it might have blown a spark plug out of the head.

Well I was honestly hoping it had blown a spark plug. That would have been a simple fix. Unfortunately for me, I removed all 10 ignition coils and spark plugs and all of them were seated and torqued down properly still.

I found oil on the tip of one spark plug, one of the ignition coil boots was filthy brown, and one of them has a pretty serious Crack in it exposing some of the metal. The oil on the spark plug, and therefore in the combustion chamber, worries me.

I'll figure out how to test the coils to determine if any of them are bad, and I'll throw a new set of properly gapped spark plugs in and see what it does.

I got the engine back together today. Started it up, still knocking. Gave it some gas to see if it was changing with rpms and....

Felt and heard the inside of the engine self destruct. Oil all over the ground. Smoke everywhere. Engine is shot. So, that said, I'll probably just sell it as is for a gigantic loss.

Sorry to hear what happened. Is there a V10 that you can swap with from the junk yard?

Wow, really sorry to hear that happened.

I will say that out of all the v10s we have changed at work, none of them scattered the rotating assembly. It has usually been for something like the head gasket going out. I will offer this though, the v10 is Fords fleet preferred engine, meaning it is the engine they offer in bulk to big buyers at the best price which is why they made their way into a lot of different commercial chassis's. I have found in the past they engines themselves are relatively inexpensive and rather plentiful. I can imagine the frustration your feeling after so many hours of work, ( believe me, I know that feeling ) but after a little bit of time to wind down you may want to consider at least shopping around for reman-ed engines and shops to see if maybe a engine replacement makes sense for you. It may not, but I wouldn't rule it out right off the bat. Man, that sucks though....

I am not sure how close the cost really is, but I heard you can get a engine for $3k, and got one installed for 2-4k more. If you have the skill and time, it will just the cost of engine. I think that is worth it compare to sell the rig as a salvaged, unless the coach has been gutted and a lot of work is needed to bring it back to working condition even with a working chassis.

It would feel good to have a competently rebuilt V10 in my 1998 Premier, if mine wasn't already relatively low mileage(39,000). Even though mine is an earlier Triton, I find it to be a good strong reliable engine. I had all the plug holes sleeved to preclude plug blowout, and felt very confident since.

In view of the Chinook,s appreciated value, If the coach is in decent shape, a rebuilt engine would be a good investment.

Roly