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POW! Motor died!

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Old Oct 19, 2008 | 03:20 PM
  #1  
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Default POW! Motor died!

I was out cruising with the car and got on the gas in third. Punched the throttle at about 4000 rpms and at 5500 I heard a lound pow and the motor shut down. Coasted to the side of the road and looked under the hood. Everything seemed okay, the belt was still on and no visible oil anywhere. I cranked the motor over, but it would not start. I tried one more time and heard some grinding/metal noises and stopped. Had the car towed home and called it a night.
My first thought was a ringland or piston probably cylinder #5 or #7 as some others have experienced. I pulled out those plugs and they looked fine. Hop over to the passenger side and this is what I find.



Check out the one to the right.






This was the last plug I removed cylinder #8 right at the back. I also pulled both valve cover and everything looks fine. Not sure if the heads are damaged, I hope not. The only good part is its the end of the season here and most cars go into storage for the winter. This will give me plenty of time to get her fixed with a forged bottom and not have to worry about this again.
Before anyone asks the tune was set to 10.8 air fuel with 12 degrees of timimg running 94 octane with meth.
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Old Oct 19, 2008 | 03:48 PM
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reminds me of my failure. Broke the valve and made a mess. Sometimes blowing an engine is a good thing. I was glad I did!
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Old Oct 19, 2008 | 04:04 PM
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There's always good and bad in everything. I'm considering having Erik Koenig of HKE build me a forged 347 motor. By the looks of your signature you have one of his creations between your fenders. Are you happy?
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Old Oct 19, 2008 | 06:10 PM
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I couldn't be happier with Erik's work.
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Old Oct 19, 2008 | 06:52 PM
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looks like all ya need is a spark plug....you just saved a fortune!!!
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Old Oct 20, 2008 | 11:22 AM
  #6  
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when i had a supercharged 5.0 back in 93 (running 10.80's than) and when i later had a turbo t running 11.20s back in 95 i learned if you have boost, you must change the plugs on a regular basis..i dont care what the a/f ratio shows...you put a hell of alot more stress on the plugs and ignition system as compared to n/a...to be safe if you run the car hard plan on changing the plugs once a month...cheap insurance. just my .02
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Old Oct 20, 2008 | 05:09 PM
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I haveant changed my plugs since the spring of last year....but my motor is a forged one...were you referring to a stocker?? its runnin stronger than ever!!!!! I do suggest regular oil changes though....
the cleaner the oil is, the better off your bearings and other parts will be.
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Old Oct 20, 2008 | 07:36 PM
  #8  
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Originally Posted by 95vettski
I was out cruising with the car and got on the gas in third. Punched the throttle at about 4000 rpms and at 5500 I heard a lound pow and the motor shut down. Coasted to the side of the road and looked under the hood. Everything seemed okay, the belt was still on and no visible oil anywhere. I cranked the motor over, but it would not start. I tried one more time and heard some grinding/metal noises and stopped. Had the car towed home and called it a night.
My first thought was a ringland or piston probably cylinder #5 or #7 as some others have experienced. I pulled out those plugs and they looked fine. Hop over to the passenger side and this is what I find.



Check out the one to the right.






This was the last plug I removed cylinder #8 right at the back. I also pulled both valve cover and everything looks fine. Not sure if the heads are damaged, I hope not. The only good part is its the end of the season here and most cars go into storage for the winter. This will give me plenty of time to get her fixed with a forged bottom and not have to worry about this again.
Before anyone asks the tune was set to 10.8 air fuel with 12 degrees of timimg running 94 octane with meth.
That's mechanical (metal on plug) damage. Valve float, hits plug, kabloooowie!!
Reply
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Old Oct 20, 2008 | 08:25 PM
  #9  
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Originally Posted by Armycop
That's mechanical (metal on plug) damage. Valve float, hits plug, kabloooowie!!
Yep next step pull the head to inspect...
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Old Oct 21, 2008 | 09:59 AM
  #10  
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Sorry to hear about your breakage Bobby, the plugs do look a little white for the AFR you say you were running maybe you have a fuel delivery problem?? I would guess that you broke the top ring land out of the piston and this is what hit your plug. Sometimes running too rich on the stock pistons will do this because the ring land is just not thick anough and when you get too much unburnt fuel in the land it has to go somewere so it takes out the top of the piston. This would have a similar affect if it was lean hense the white plugs. Good luck with the new build.
Oh yea stock pistons don't like that much boost as you found out.
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