A couple months ago the mother of our child was driving the blazer to work and it cut off on her about midway. She later had it towed back and didn't tell me until the next day. So at first I figured it was simply the fuel pump as I've had issue with the factory relays last winter. I simply swapped relays with another like one in the fuse box and it started up so figured maybe that relay was going bad now. I leave it be until the past week. So I put in a new relay and decide to change the oil since I had oil and a new filter. Pull the drain plug and maybe a quart or less comes out! WTH?!

Next I go to change the oil filter and first time ever for me... it's missing. So now I know the Blazer must have stopped due to lack of oil and my heart dropped into my stomach. I decide maybe I'll be lucky and put on the new filter and secured the drain plug and filled up with 4.5qts of 5w30. Battery dead so had to jump start. Good news was the engine cranked and after a couple tries, I was able to get it to fire up. Then the knock... knock... Dear God the knock.

I'm guessing a main bearing is severely worn at this point, I'm not 100% as this is the first time I've actually ran into this issue. Here is a YouTube video someone posted of their blazer which means it isn't mine but the knock they are experiencing is the EXACT same as mine now, YT Blazer Knock. Also it's loud at idle but when it has a load or the very short distance I drove it, the knock does not increase with rpms but rather gets quieter. Once back to idle in park it's loud.

So how screwed am I at this point and what are my options? I want to keep this Blazer and I can't afford another vehicle. So thank you for any and all inputs.

 

Replace the engine. Running with no oil will damage a whole bunch of internal engine parts, not just bearings. Even if you replace the bearings and the knock goes away, you're just going to have more problems down the road. Used engines are relatively cheap, but it's a pretty big job labor-wise, unfortunately.