Engine disaster

[John E.B.Goode]

Had engine out over winter, new oil seals, gaskets, thrust bearing etc. All back in. Turned over fine but reluctant to start. Eventually went, very rough and then died out.
After easy start, went again reluctantly, suddenly lots of banging. Turned off straight away, sounded like alternator hitting jubilee clip. Not that. Engine was jammed solid. Took out plugs to see if it would turn by hand, no 7 plug broken. Took heads off - oh dear !!
No 7 piston completely lunched, no 8 cracked. Head mangled and cylinder scored.
I see Rimmers do a cylinder liner, I'm thinking that may be an alternative to rebore. Engines done 57k, all others ok, std size.
How are sleeves removed/replaced. Is it a workshop job?

Anyone any ideas what went wrong, all marks line up, I never touched any timing, just gaskets etc.

TIA

John

[Guest]

Sorry to hear that John

I can't give you any advice but can be sure that there will be a lot of help forthcoming from those who can.

[Westfaling]

John
Re-sleeving a cylinder is a workshop job. It has to be pressed in and then bored to size. If the other bores are okay (no wear lip) you might be able to leave them alone but I'd have thought a honing and new rings would be worthwhile.
Regards
Nick

[jleyton]

Sorry I've got no answers but I did just want to sympathise with you. You must be absolutely devastated, you poor so and so

I suppose the only very vague consolation is that you'll be getting to know the engine better - and I don't mean that to be clever. There's bits of my car that I've taken to bits two or three times (not, I hasten to add because I've done anything wrong !) and each time it builds up my confidence in the car and my capabilities.

Was it a faulty new plug?

Good luck - I really hope it turns out ok for you.

Cheers

Julian

[John E.B.Goode]

Thanks for all your kind comments, silver linings and all that. The worst part is not knowing why

[jleyton]

Hi John

PM sent

Cheers

Julian

[richardthestag]

I had my whole block bored out and had standard piston size liners fitted.

Long story

Faversham classics (trevor et al) arranged the machining for me. Incredibly knowledgable and helpful.

regards root cause "no 7 plug broken" that bit worries me, there must have been something alien in the cylinder for the plug to get mangled though maybe a dropped valve could have done this. Were any valves bent? valves don't normall drop unless the collets were incorrectly fitted or the end broke off

You also mentioned that the engine was sized. any idea where it was siezed i.e. on cylinders 7 and 8? odd also the the problem occurs on both banks of the engine and rearmost cylinders. Were the chains intact still?

You will have put strain on the conrod and probably main bearing caps also so maybe an engineering shop could check the block out for you. My first block had broken main caps but the block was littered with stress cracks that rendered it boat anchor.

[John E.B.Goode]

Hi Richard

Not removed valves / cams from head yet but all valves in place, opening closing correctly. Chains still intact and cam alignment marks correct.
The siezing was due to all the shrapnel in the sump jamming the crank I suspect. Engine was running fine before I took it out, which just reinforces the old saying " if it ain't broke ---"

John

[Moraystag]

Christ you must be absolutely gutted mate my sympathys. Coul'nt have come at a worse time just at the start of summer. Will you now send it away to get done or will you give it another go.
All the best and hope you get it sorted out quickly

Mike

[richardthestag]

have you got any pics of the shrapnel you could post up or do you know where it came from?

Maybe one of the pistons jammed in the bore and caused it to break up ?!? anyway gutted for you

[flying farmer]

It sounds like you might have dropped something into an inlet port when rebuilding the engine. I dropped a washer into mine, and of course it went into the port with the open valve, and I had to turn the engine upside down on its stand, and blow the washer out with an airline.
Before this engine was stripped, it developed a misfire, the cause of which was a bent plug on no 4 which was replaced, and it ran fine for another 1000 miles until the jackshaft seized (unrelated failure). On stripping the engine, it was apparent that a previous owner had done the same thing, as I found half a washer jammed in the head gasket, and the chamber surface had big pits and gouges all over it, but the JP pistons that were fitted are very heavy and much harder than the head, and these were barely marked.
I think what saved this engine was the fitment of extra thick head gaskets, that gave room to fit the washer when it was flat on top of the piston, otherwise it would probably have gone the same way
Neil

[Staggard]

Hi I think Niel hit the mark with some small object in the inlet manifold sucked into the cylinder on starting. Sift through the debris see if there's somthing that does not belong. All the best Graham.

[StagManiac]

I hope you get the engine fixed without too much pain and expense. It will be interesting to hear what you find when you examine it internally.

Paul

[John E.B.Goode]

got half way through replying and lost what I'd written !!

Thanks for all your input, I think Neil probably has it but I did forget to mention there was water in the cylinders and oil. Heads and gaskets appear o.k. so thats puzzling!

So far - pistons and crank out, no 7 exhaust valve bent, others seem o.k. but haven't stipped the other head yet. No 5 piston has been slightly 'kissed' but no aparent damage. No 8 piston cracked.
A couple of mechanics have suggested I can polish out the scores in no 7 cylinder with flap wheels, I'm sceptical but they know better than me and it has to be worth a try.

Next step is try that and have the block crack tested ( thanks Richard, hadn't thought of that ) and see if crank needs re-grinding ( slightly scored on mains )

I'm thinking I should replace / refurb water pump while I'm at. Waterways are very gunged up and need some attention.

The one positive is that the bearings would have needed replacing very soon so its not all bad!!

Watch this space !!

John

[martin]

Hi John, that's a horrible thing to happen, good luck with the refurb. It rather sounds as if a timing chain has slipped a couple of teeth. Martin.