Oldsmobile/Buick Repair: engine knocking, connecting rod bearings, oil pressure

Question
hi, my husband is a jackass and has been driving our car with very little to no oil in it and now the engine rattles rather than kncks but a little of both. Would you say that a head is blown or cracked or that it might be something else?


Answer
Hello Monica,
I would say it is something else.
The lifters are probably bleeding down and rattling, due to lack of oil pressure, but the knocking is probably from the excessive clearance beat into the connecting rod bearings on the crankshaft, from lack of lubrication, and will soon give up, and come flying through the side of the block.

Van