JUST the FACTS Here

[Audie1]

I'm not here to accuse anyone of anything, first and formost!.......This is just what happened to me, and are nothing but the facts! Read the mail that I sent out to a couple of the mentioned folks below. Was something not built correctly? Should I have trusted buying an engine off of here? Do I feel like kicking myself in the a$$....that would be a yes!.......Read below and you be the judge........

Jeff (65MalibuSS),
FYI.............I put in the engine that I had bought from you (the one you got from TurboV6sonoma, the one with zero miles on it that he had in his truck. The one that his Builder "D'Wayne" built). See the first picture below. It ran beautifully, had great oil pressure and all. After less than 200 miles of crusing I turn the boost all the way down to about 14#. I take it up to 14 then boom....no knock...just a rod coming out the side of my engine. That fast, no warning, just BOOM and smoke. 14 # should have never thrown a rod. I'm no Rookie with these TR's either. Not saying that anything is your fault here, just stating the facts.....See the result in the second picture below. I'm furious right now, and there is not $hit that I can do but suck it up I guess!

 

[bison]

That f'in sucks!

 

[GNBRETT]

Quality $300 block.... Eeeek....

 

[rmar]

That f'in sucks!

X2..........

 

[Pronto]

That stinks. I'm alittle confused though, you bought an engine built by one guy for another that never used it and sold it to another guy that never used it then you bought it and then it self destructs? It might have been worth a look inside before installing with that history.

 

[TurboV6Sonoma]

That stinks. I'm alittle confused though, you bought an engine built by one guy for another that never used it and sold it to another guy that never used it then you bought it and then it self destructs? It might have been worth a look inside before installing with that history.

Thats exactly it..... it was built then went into my truck for mock up (before my off center S2 got built and went in) and only had about 20-30 mins. of idle time on it total (which included breaking in the cam), I sold it to another member who had it for about 1 year (I cant say what he did with it because I dont know) who then sold it to Audie1.

 

[Audie1]

That stinks. I'm alittle confused though, you bought an engine built by one guy for another that never used it and sold it to another guy that never used it then you bought it and then it self destructs? It might have been worth a look inside before installing with that history.

Before installed the engine I put my intake on it, changed out plugs. Pistons were nice and clean. Primed oil pump with a SMC oil tool. I was going to send my old block to Weber Racing to be built, but moved into a new home and tried to save some $$$.............shame on me I guess. This engine stared right up and had great oil pressure. I was very careful and babied it to get it broken in (which I was still doing when this happened btw). I had just turned the boost down as far as it would go (around 14#). I eased into it and it let loose at about 13 or 14#. My visual and audible detectors did not even go off it happened so fast. Water temps ran around 175, oil about 30 to 40 # cruising. All new AC Delco Sensors. Running a TT chip for alky, but should not have affected anything with only 14#. The head gaskets would have went first, if I was being stupid and hammering it. Like I said, it ran great until I eased into it. Everything that I put on that engine was new, except the cam sensor (which worked fine). Eventually my plans were to run maybe 25# once I broke it in and tuned for 0 knock before upping the boost to any real level. What would make it throw a rod at that low of a boost level? Like I said I'm not stupid enough to hammer it before breaking it in, especially after spending all that time on it.....and it's not hardly my first go around either, been running TR's only since 93....What really sucks is the fact that VA is redoing my knee replacement once again very soon and my GN was going to partly be my motivation to heal quick enough to drive her again. Anyone that has had a TKR knows what I'm talking about.............F'ing Pain....So it will probably be at least 8 months after surgery before I could even contimplate pulling the engine out again and replacing it or what not..............not to mention the $$$ I just threw away............OH, it gets better, it was my 3 year anniversary today...........hope that is not a sign of things to come.

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

I have had that builder do a few motors for me, he is a buick guy and i cant for the life of me understand what went wrong He knows his stuff and owns his own machine shop. Lots of cars running fine with no issues.

Did you buy a long block, or a short block?

One picture is all we get, and your starting to throw friends of mine into a fire pit.

Please take more pictures, lets look at the rod that broke, and the top of that piston, plus the cyl walls.

Something went wrong, i feel for you buddy, but lets see what caused that block to explode.
I hate to see D'wayne and Ryan get kicked in the nuts for this.

BW

 

[Pronto]

Audie, sounds like you did the right thing and not beat on it but there obviously was something wrong that showed no symptoms. Maybe when it's taken out and inspected something will show the cause of the failure. Good luck with your knee replacement. I know a few people that have had them and know it's painful. Hang in there.

 

[TurboV6Sonoma]

Pistons were nice and clean.

One question did you take the heads off the motor? or do any work to it? also do you know if SSmalibu did anything to it?

If you didnt take the heads off how do you know the pistons were nice and clean?


Honestly I dont think this thread should be directed at me or the builder at all (you didnt buy it from me or him)! The motor was built 2 years ago and "I" sold the motor a year ago to SSmalibu. Not to say he did anything but I sure as hell dont know.

 

[65malibuss]

Nope I didn't do anything to it at all.
Just bought it as a spare in case my stock long block blew up but mine's still doing fine.

But as Audie said he's not trying to blame or accuse anyone.

I've heard about rods going through blocks but this is the first time I've ever seen pictures.

Has anyone seen this before?
What would normally be the cause?
What could the engine builder have done wrong that would cause this?
I always figured a rod out the side of a block would be due to over revving or severe detonation.

I would like to see more pictures of the combustion chambers, valves, pistons, and the rods where they broke.

I work with several hundred failure analysis engineers who specialize in diagnosing metal failure in engines and I'm sure with pictures I could get some pretty good opinions.

 

[SGRIM]

For it to throw the rod like that something was sure WRONG...

I agree the OP was not downing anyone just trying to figure out what happened...

 

[Grumpy]

Def sucks X 1000... I wonder if the block was "checked" before using it .. I mag everything ..block, crank and rods. I have run across cracked blocks .. NOT a lot but enuff so I check things over good before I use anything.
Nothing else to do now.. I think a lot of coulda's and maybe's will come out with all the experts on here.
PM'd ya ..

 

[Otto J]

Are both rod bolts still bolted in on hte broken rod? look closely at the long end of the rod,if the bolt is not in it anymore and the threads look good then the rod bolt was not tightened.

 

[Audie1]

I have had that builder do a few motors for me, he is a buick guy and i cant for the life of me understand what went wrong He knows his stuff and owns his own machine shop. Lots of cars running fine with no issues.

Did you buy a long block, or a short block?

One picture is all we get, and your starting to throw friends of mine into a fire pit.

Please take more pictures, lets look at the rod that broke, and the top of that piston, plus the cyl walls.

Something went wrong, i feel for you buddy, but lets see what caused that block to explode.
I hate to see D'wayne and Ryan get kicked in the nuts for this.

BW

Like I said from the start I am not blaming anyone, I did mention names as I was just stating facts. I had it towed back home and there it sits. Company came in for the week , doc appt today and just pissed in general. So I have not had a chance yet to disassemble anything yet.....but I will soon enough and post pics etc. Something freakish might have happened, I don't know. I bought the long block, verrified the head torq at 85ftlb, swapped out intakes and put mine on. Changed plugs, look into each hole (can't see too much) and saw new pistons and primed the oil pump. Other than that everything was carfully assembled and set. Also the water pump at first start up was pissing out of the weep, so I had to install a new water pump before I drove it. Drove great for about 100 to 200 miles until I took it up to 14#. Even if it were 25 lbs of boost the HG should have went first (appears to be a stock HG). Below are a couple of pics. One of the engine as I received it. The other was as I was putting everything together.

Here is a break down of the motor as it was first listed.

109 block
40 over forged Ross pistons
ARP main studs
Fully balanced
212/212 cam
Fully ported iron heads with stainless big valves.
silver powder coated oil pan, front cover, water pump, and intake manifold
black powder coated water pump and crank pulleys.
Grey powder coated valve covers with brushed aluminum fins.
this motor is complete from oil pan to intake and is a beauty. It does NOT include injectors, plenum, throttle body or sensors.
everything on this motor is new or fresh. NO Leaks.

 

[Audie1]

As I get time to pull the engine in the future, I will post up some more pics so that we as a collective, can figure out why the engine went south.

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

But as Audie said he's not trying to blame or accuse anyone.

I've heard about rods going through blocks but this is the first time I've ever seen pictures.

.

If he is not trying to accuse anyone of building it wrong, then why did this thread start out as, im not trying to blame anyone, but always leads to everyone saying, well it broke so soon, it must have been built wrong.

I agree to some extent, but why dont you call the builder

D'wayne 931 358 4773

I'll pitch in a free standard 109 block for you to get rebuilt since i know Ryan and D'wayne.

We need pictures, my assumption is the rod bolts broke, or the crank was shoved forward.
Never seen a rod come out like that under normal driving.

I offer you that block because nothing should happen like that if it was built right or wrong., let me know if it helps.

913 888 4899 Bryan

 

[Pronto]

Nice of you to offer that block. Hope he can get it out and find what happened.

 

[Audie1]

One question did you take the heads off the motor? or do any work to it? also do you know if SSmalibu did anything to it?

If you didnt take the heads off how do you know the pistons were nice and clean?


Honestly I dont think this thread should be directed at me or the builder at all (you didnt buy it from me or him)! The motor was built 2 years ago and "I" sold the motor a year ago to SSmalibu. Not to say he did anything but I sure as hell dont know.

No I did not take the heads off, I verified torque to 85# is all. I did swap and put my ported intake on the block. I saw each piston top when I changed out the plugs with manually turning the engine over while on the stand, through each plug hole. 65MalibuSS said that he never touch the motor at all.....I believe him. Once again I am not trying to down you, Malibu or the builder DWayne. I only stated the facts. The engine went south for a reason, and it was not through any abuse from me, although I would have eventually put 25# to it progressively anyway. Did something just break???..............could be. I'll take it apart in the next couple of week and post up pics. I was so pissed that I was thinking about giving up on TR's.....been that way before though.

 

[Audie1]

If he is not trying to accuse anyone of building it wrong, then why did this thread start out as, im not trying to blame anyone, but always leads to everyone saying, well it broke so soon, it must have been built wrong.

I agree to some extent, but why dont you call the builder

D'wayne 931 358 4773

I'll pitch in a free standard 109 block for you to get rebuilt since i know Ryan and D'wayne.

We need pictures, my assumption is the rod bolts broke, or the crank was shoved forward.
Never seen a rod come out like that under normal driving.

I offer you that block because nothing should happen like that if it was built right or wrong., let me know if it helps.

913 888 4899 Bryan

Thank You Bryan,
That is most kind of you. I will start taking her apart next week and will post up pics as I tear off the heads and oil pan etc.........or any other pic that you deem necessary......................843 408-1376 Audie