The plow motor seems to work just fine. Pulled the motor today and pulled the oil pan off. Checked things over and could not find a problem anywhere. I grabbed the flywheel to turn the crank around and realized the dang thing came loose somehow. I am hoping that was the source of my lower end knock.

Oh Yea.!!!!! I loose or broken flywheel will sound just like a rod ready to come through the side of the block. I'de bet the farm that was your problem.

I will find out soon! I needed to replace a leaky frost plug on the back anyway. I am also throwing a new oil pump in it while I am at it. I did find a rod cap with a slight bit of blue, heat blue. I pulled the cap off and the bearing was not shiny. Is it normal for those to be a little dull on the crank side of things? Or they supposed to be shiny?

Dull when new but they will shine up after being ran for a bit. If they start showing copper color through them it is time to woory.

no copper color. They seem tight, no play.

I would think you should be fine.

Thanks for your knowledge.