Is this hole suppose to be here? # 4 cylinder
 

This engine has a ticking and knocking so I pulled and tore down to look. Is there suppose to be a hole here? The hole has some black sooty material inside.
http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...1999/002-8.jpg
Here is a link to another view you can zoom in on.http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...1999/005-5.jpg

i don't think its suppose to be there..

Apparently it is suppose to be there. There is one exactly like this on the #2 journal too.

nice sharp pic of the short block ! But ... holy cow - You tore down the engine to that extreme for a "ticking" ? Anyway , Yeah aren't those little holes oil passages ,for the journals lube.
Cylinder wall looks ok from here - how about the bearings surface ? Any scoring ect? Ticking is usually valve train related - top end , not bottom end .Knocking noise is worn/bad bearings . Probably not telling You anything You don't already know based on how far You've gone into Your motor already ! Let us know what You find :icon_idea:

The jist of things as they stand.
 

Yeah, I chased that ticking in the valve train. I had the lower intake off 3 times, replacing the lifters with a second used set and then with new set. I've determined after tearing it down that the engine suffered from a lack of lubrication. http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...99/008-5-1.jpg
I had the machine work done on the block but did nothing to the crank shaft. Once I got the block back I neglected to clean it myself. I did not clean the crank as I should have and I imagine the crank was blocked with some thick burnt oil. The second mistake I made was in installing this gasket covering the bypass valve.http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...99/006-6-1.jpg
The third problem was with this kink in the oil line.http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...1999/004-5.jpg
The lesson learned here is clean your block and crank.

Every machine shop USED to 'boil the block and crank' to clean the oil passges out. Wonder if...?
Probably not. Probably thanks to EPA

Not that I'll ever trust a rebuild shop, again. One screwing was enough. 'Performance Clinic' took a perfectly good used short block and turned it into crap. Cuz I assumed they were professional, just because they advertised on tv.
They went out of business soon after, of course.

For cleaning a block of gunk in an older engine a friend of mine dumped the oil & added 6 quarts of kerosene, unhooked the coil & cranked the engine for 5 seconds. Waited a few seconds then repeated that 3 more times (allowing the starter to cool down). He did that for a couple days & the kerosene came out like old motor oil.
It dissolves all the crud in passages, corners etc.
I'm not so sure I'd try that lol but it does go after oil deposits. Not so sure what the next step is to make sure you get it all out & adding oil but I was amazed at the condition of the kerosene.