I need engine help
 

Hey guys, i need suggestions, last night i was on the highway and my car was making some weird noises so i pulled off to the side got off the fwy and it turned off on me, then i turned the car back on and it really struggled, took a few button press' to turn it on, then i finnaly got it on and i hear knocking, when i drove it home i couldnt really hear it knock in 6th going 65 mph on the hwy, my oil temp was about 240 so a little higher then usual, when i got home, no coolant in the car, some in the tubes but not the reservoir tank, added some, and today i woke up and still hear it knock, although its different because when i hit the gas, its syncing with how much gas i hit, basicly i have rod knock im pretty sure, if not then my clutch or flywheel is toast for some reason, but long story short

Ive got this car from copar smacked up and worked hard for 6 months to get it looking right and running, im good at the basic stuff and even know how to replace a clutch if i need to, should i
1- buy a used motor

2- rebuild the one i have with stronger internals

3- buy a built motor online and if so witch vendor/what motor would you go with

3- LS swap
The reason why 2 and 3 is an option is because i want to be FI in the future
If 2 is in your.opiniom the best choice can you link me a thread that you.think is most useful in building one/putting one together, the fact of compression ratios and all that stuff freaks me out because i dont want to do somthing wrong

You mentioned the coolant, what about the oil level? If it was low too, you may have done some serious damage to the internals. Having low coolant and/or oil should not have affected the clutch, so I would worry more about the engine at this point.

How many miles are on the car, and are there any major mods to it? Maybe someone else can chime in as well...

Keep us posted as to what you uncover.

So the oil level was fine thats the weird part to it, and i dont ******** when it comes to oil, i have royal purple in it.and just hit 3000.miles sense my last change, the car has 75k miles, the reason why i think it might be the clutch is because when i run the car a decent amount the clutch goes completely soft and sometimes feels like it rattles, but the car engage's and gets into gear just fine

And nothing major, just a fast intentions exhaust and K&N CAI (aka hot air filters, came with the car from copart with them) wish i had stillen long tubes but glad i didnt buy thoes yet

You need to tear down the engine and determine the extent of any damage before deciding what to do. If your oil temp stayed below 240*F, there's a chance that the engine didn't get too hot - but you won't know until you take a look at the inside.

Yes begin a tear down of your engine and go from there or have a reputable shop you trust diagnose your Z for you. Odds are if your oil temperature did not get extremely hot 245+* you may not have internal engine damage.

While cold; I’d fill coolant reservoir & perform a pressure test on the coolant system.
It had to go somewhere & should show up.

So my thing is i dont no any good shops that deal specifically with my engine, i have a shop that does good work and i take all my cars to him so i trust him, but he specializes in dodges, all he does is dodge, i was thinking of taking it to dynosty in Kentucky but thats a 6 hour drive, and im scared to drive a car with rod knock that far, i was thinking of putting a Z1 built lower end on the car and hoping it would fix the issue, i drained the oil and found only 1 quart of oil in the car, so im scard if i pay 3000 for a built lower, my upper block is messed up, thats were im lost, do i take it 6 hours away to dynosty or to my shop down the road? And if soemthing needed to be replace i was trying to put better internals, bearing etc etc, lower wise, but i dont no if i would have to have the shop tear it down completely just to replace something like that, or if i would have to replace a whole set not just one peice with aftermarket parts that can hold more power, thank you guys for ur response im totally lost and miss my z );

What would this accomplish exactly? Not trying to be an A hole but i was wondering what this would do beneficially for me, does that have anything to do with what to fix?

I just double checked it and had 1 quart of oil in it 😬 if it makes it any better it was royal purple, but to burn through 5 quarts in 1000-2000 miles?

Time for a rebuild or a new to you engine. These engines are not cheap to rebuild either. So, you can a new long block from Nissan, Buy a low mileage engine from the junkyard, buy a built engine (Be very careful who you buy from, lots of folks will build you junk), or find a reputable place to rebuild yours.

Your coolant leaked out somewhere. A pressure test where tell you where. That will give you a clue as to the condition of the engine.

If you need a new built engine go to IPP. They’re built to order so you are going to wait a few months.

And not to be an *** but if you heard knocking and couldn’t barely get it to start, why the hell did you drive it home, especially at 65 on the freeway.

We can only guess at what damage may have been done. Tear the engine down and inspect it - that's the only way you are going to get the correct answer to "Rebuild or scrap?".

A borescope exam of the of the cylinder walls is a relatively cheap & easy way to tell if you damaged the cylinders beyond repair but will tell you nothing about bearings and other internal parts.

Was this a salvage title car? What problems did it have before this incident?