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Piston... MIA

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Re: Piston... MIA

I find it hard to believe that the engine ran fine one minute and then bam the piston goes.
a major failure like that you would think that there would be some kind of indication that something was going on, and you were only at idle when it happened?
 
Re: Piston... MIA

DNK said:
Ken, you sure that wasn't ah Audi motor?? :wink:
Click to expand...

It's that insurance mayhem guy - my best guess.
 
Re: Piston... MIA

hondo402000 said:
I find it hard to believe that the engine ran fine one minute and then bam the piston goes.
a major failure like that you would think that there would be some kind of indication that something was going on, and you were only at idle when it happened?
Click to expand...

"Sudden and Catastrophic" is the way I'd describe it....
 
Re: Piston... MIA

wow.
I have nothing to contribute, but wish you luck and have faith you'll figure it out.

jerry

surely the parts of the piston are in the sump?
 
Re: Piston... MIA

Andrew Mace said:
Just a thought: IF most everything else is ok and the block isn't horribly damaged in that cylinder, might it be possible to bore and sleeve that cylinder?
Click to expand...
That's what the machinist said, Andy; plus I do have that other block in reserve.
Thanks, Jerry and all. I've gotten to the acceptance stage of this situation. Now it's just a matter of making some decisions ....and paying for them, if you know what I mean.... And, if you're on this Forum I'm sure you do.. :rolleyes:
 
Re: Piston... MIA

Ken, you sure Bill ever put a piston in that hole? :wink:
 
Re: Piston... MIA

DNK said:
Ken, you sure Bill ever put a piston in that hole? :wink:
Click to expand...

I was <span style="font-size: 14pt">WAITING</span> for someone to drag me into this, you know it would be Don.

PB, methinks that block was sleeved when it was bored 20 over. Am I wrong. Doesn't that look like a sleeve in there?

Again, my heart hurts every time something happens to <span style="font-style: italic">BILL</span>. You might consider changing its name to <span style="font-style: italic">DON</span> or even <span style="font-style: italic">SHEDEVIL</span>.
 
Re: Piston... MIA

Bill, you know Don; he's a regular wisenhiemer, but we still love him.
As far as the liner, all the engines have them so I don't know if these were replaced or what..
Regardless, something like that would be waay down on my list of suspects of having anything to do with this deal.
 
Re: Piston... MIA

Come on Bill, look how many posts I waited.

Was hoping someone else had the cajones.
:wink:
 
Re: Piston... MIA

Ken,

Sorry to see this. I'm with TOC, that looks like hydraulic lock to me. I've only dealt with this twice and both times the rod was bent, visually obvious. Maybe you got spared because the piston blew up but have the rod checked. One car ran fine but made a tick, tick, tick noise that sounded like a stuck lifter but it was an OHC motor and the sound was coming from inside the block. Pulled it out, flipped it over and one of the rods had a u bend in the middle that shortened the rod enough that the skirt was hitting the crank throws and making the noise.
 
Re: Piston... MIA

I guess this is what was making the rattling noise that I described.
100_0308.jpg
 
Re: Piston... MIA

Any idea on what caused that piston to grenade like that??
Pre-ignition (detonation) maybe...
 
Re: Piston... MIA

That looks kind of familiar. Years ago we had 54 Pontiac with a 6 cylinder in it. One day I went out and started it up and there was a pop and then the whole car started rocking. I shut it down right way. The piston had blown up. We had that one cylinder rebored and an oversized piston put in. It didn't even last another 100 miles before it went belly up again. Since you have another block, I would use it and check any parts that you use from the old one really closely.
 
Re: Piston... MIA

martx-5 said:
Any idea on what caused that piston to grenade like that??
Pre-ignition (detonation) maybe...
Click to expand...
I'd have an easier time accepting that theory than the hydraulic lock theory.
I have 3 carbs. The middle carb that feeds cylinders 3 & 4 admittedly was flooding. I had all the air cleaners off as I was planning on checking the balance once I fixed the flooder. There wasn't any excess of gas in #'s 5 & 6.
 
Re: Piston... MIA

On the top of the picture, is that an impact crater or something on the pan? That would make me think detonation too if so.
 
Re: Piston... MIA

TR4nut said:
On the top of the picture, is that an impact crater or something on the pan? That would make me think detonation too if so.
Click to expand...
I don't see anything unusual in the pan. That picture was taken with out disturbing the contents. I dropped the pan as straight down as I could.


I copied this from a post on the other Forum and I have to say I agree with the scenario, especially after actually hear the goings on, first hand. As to what caused the initial fracture that got the domolition started... :confuse:

QUOTE
"I'm not nearly as well-versed in engine mechanics as many on this site but I can't say I'm all that surprised to see how small the pieces of the piston are.

Think about it, assume the engine is running at 1200 RPM (for simple math) when the piston fails. Every second the engine is running that connecting rod will move through the cylinder 20 times. Figure the engine only runs for 10 seconds in that state before being shutdown. That means the rod will still bang around up and down/side-to-side 200 times. To do that its moving fast so it has a pretty decent amount of momentum even given that its not all that heavy.

I would think it would bust up just about anything in its path."
Phil Beckman
UNQUOTE
 
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