Tell Me What Happened To My $$$ Engine...

[NXTIME]

To gauge the general consensus as to how my engine came to be in its current condition I thought I would ask SAU'ers their opinions. Give me your ideas as to the causes of what you see below. At the least, I might get a laugh out of it as that is all I can do at this stage.

Charlie.

[Beer Baron]

i'm guessing act of god?

[Denver]

hard to say with the pics supplied if you have some more you could show of the destruction thatd be handy, and what did the other pistons look like etc?

and could you describe what you where doing at the time, was it making nosie leading up to its death, stuff like that

[Angry]

HOLY f**k!!

[NXTIME]

I wasn't driving and unfortuntely I wasn't anywhere near the car. They are the only pics I have. Cyl #1 bearings are down to the copper, that piston & rod is from # 6. The rest appear to be fine.

[chrissso]

yerp, looks like your parping cuplate gave out.

Seriously though, looks like the piston jambed. Cant explain the other end though - unless it was a seesaw action...

Got me buggered.

[SteveL]

The clues are in the LH photo. The question is whether the debris/parts were found 'as shown' (ie with bolts separated as shown), and if that is the case, how is it that one bolt appears remarkably undamaged given the extensive damage to the conrod ??.

[R31Nismoid]

i think the bolts came from the rod that spat it... or did they?

what parts and stuff were used?

Pics dont say a lot without all the info

[Craved]

bearings down to copper suggest oil starvation then had the bearing seize, which forced the piston onto the side of the bore, jamming it there which forced the bolts out as the crank continued round..

[NissanFreak]

my opinoin is either

1) As stated by craved oil starvation caused a bearing to lockup

2) Rod bolts were not torqued to the correct specs meaning one of the bolts came loose causing the rod to jam on the crank as the crank turned it wedged the rod/piston against the bore and with no where to go the rod bent and i think it is safe to assume that the broken part of the conrods bigend is the part that put the hole in the block.

Just my 2 cents

[carl h]

my opinoin is either

1) As stated by craved oil starvation caused a bearing to lockup

2) Rod bolts were not torqued to the correct specs meaning one of the bolts came loose causing the rod to jam on the crank as the crank turned it wedged the rod/piston against the bore and with no where to go the rod bent and i think it is safe to assume that the broken part of the conrods bigend is the part that put the hole in the block.

Just my 2 cents

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i would have to agree with you on the 2nd one.

in that one pic it looks like there is a WHOLE rod bolt, so my guess is that something was not torqued down on that rod and when it loosened it ate the bearing and killed the rod.

that sucks a large one there mate, i would consult the engine builder and raise hell as that (to me atleast) looks like some one didnt check the torque specs on the rod bolts.

were those tomei rods?

[NissanFreak]

I know it doesnt help, but this is why I have a strong belief that workshops have their limitations since most of the specalist work engines/gearbox rebuilds is handled by a third party. I personally prefer to use

1) Dedicated engine builder

2) Good mechanic familiar with the car

3) Good tuner whether independant or a workshop

[AdamsR33]

In the pic on the left there is a bolt there that has been snapped, is the other half still in the big end cap? if so then theres your answer, the bolt broke opening up the bearings crankshaft came out of the conrod piston stopped then when crank came around again smashed into hanging conrod and bearing and hey presto! total utter CHAOS!

[AdamsR33]

Hey man sorry to see your 20k and your motor like that too. I'd see the engine builder too, and get him to explain WTF went wrong!

[Duncan]

BTW assuming you are going to follow this up with the builder, you need to get the motor and all bits back asap and take them to a 3rd party specialist, there are companies around who specialise in investigating and acting as specialist witnesses if it comes to that

[Amaru]

Were they REV conrods just out of curiosity?

[Abo Bob]

What rod bolts did you use?

[RPMGTR]

She's run a big end, driver has continued on, rod grabs and chucks itself out....Pretty usual RB behaviour.....

NB. The blueing on the rod big end is the givaway as to the event sequence........

[Blitz]

Were they REV conrods just out of curiosity?

Charlies motor was built in Japan, so no

[NissanFreak]

Well maybe the engine was just on its way out due to bearing wear, it is very hard to diagnose a failure like this on an engine which has been in use for some time.

NXTIME when you say you had a problem with the engine what was the problem? and what did the workshop do to rectify this?