A sad day indeed (now with pics)

[superchargedSSEi]

Last night with 136,304miles on the clock...my original motor died.

It developed a bad misfire last night during a WOT pull, so I pulled over to investigate the cause and found my cyl 1 spark plug had been smashed. I swapped the plug out and limped the car home. This morning I opened her up to find the cyl 6 plug had been hit too (still had a gap but definitely took a lick), and found random shrapnel waiting for me in the LIM. It's an unexpected way for the motor to go, as I run KR free and don't rev the engine that high.

I'll know exactly why those pistons popped once I tear down the motor. Luckily, I have a cherry, low mileage longblock that I picked up from clm2112 a while back that's just waiting to get all of my goodies swapped over to it. With any luck I'll have the car back on the road soon, hopefully running better than ever.

Pics of the teardown, carnage, and buildup of the new motor will come when I get around to them.

[2003 SSEi]

*dang*, sorry Arron, guess the PB was its last

[Dirthead Racing]

Well.......it gave you 136,304 miles, that's 136,2XX more than my second motor gave me Sorry to hear about the motor, that which doesn't scrap it makes it stronger

[superchargedSSEi]

I guess this is my chance to get some LIM and head porting done isn't it. I need to rework the blower outlet to better suit the intercooler too. Maybe this is the car's way of telling me to stop putting that stuff off.

[superchargedSSEi]

Pics

#1 plug


#6 plug (right) next to undamaged plug


shrapnel greeting me in the LIM


cyl 1


front bank


The piston chunk flat spotted the cyl 1 intake valve a bit (wasn't a valve strike on the piston) so I'll be using the heads off the spare longblock for now, and will keep my original heads as backups if they check out all right. Thanks to the premature wearing of my HS rockers (http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... =12&t=6928) I'll also be going back to stock rocker arms on the new motor.

[WhiteArrow3800]

*dang*, sorry to hear.

Looking forward to the progress and good luck with the next one.

[wjcollier07]

Oh that just seriously sucks. Sure felt like it had some life to it earlier in the week.

So you mean...when you fix it all up..it won't sound like a jalopy/sleeper?

That exhaust leak in particular certainly made that thing sound evil...or..broken..one or the other.

Pics are good...keep em coming...best of luck with all of it!

[sandrock]

Can't even blame my tuning on this one...never got around to it

I have no doubt that the Curt-sourced engine will suit you well. Holler if you need some help.

[superchargedSSEi]

I have the whole engine stripped down and ready to pull already...the only thing holding me up is the lack of an engine hoist. Gaskets and hardware needed to swap all my stuff over to the new engine are en route to my doorstep too.

Brad...you wouldn't happen to have an engine hoist I could borrow for a week or two do you?

[Dirthead Racing]

Looks familiar, take your time, port what you can if you can afford the downtime, you'll hate yourself for paying for gaskets if you don't port stuff while you have the chance.

[superchargedSSEi]

Porting is my weekend project...LIM, mild head work, and knocking out that 'wall' on the blower outlet so I can make full use of the intercooler.

[sandrock]

Brad...you wouldn't happen to have an engine hoist I could borrow for a week or two do you?

I can talk to my boss at work...we have two of them, and the only reason we have two is the first one we bought (what I usually bring home when I need to) wasn't strong enough to do what we needed it to do. Currently, it's being used as a hanger for parts being painted, so I don't see the problem with me bringing it home. I'll ask on Monday, and if all is good, I'll have it down to your neck of the woods Monday evening.

[TenGHz]

Very sad... :sad5: Good luck with the repairs.

[BillBoost37]

That kinda sucks Aaron. Look at the positive though. You can clean the engine bay and paint the motor up while things are apart and you are putting all the goodies into the new one.

A couple suggestions when you are putting number two together. High oil pressure kit and 2000+ oil pan with oil filter adapter. As for prepping the new motor, check that rear engine cover and ensure the bolts are a little tighter than spec with thread locker.

[superchargedSSEi]

Believe me, a good engine bay cleaning is in order. The line for my mechanical oil pressure gauge cracked right at the block a while back...it's not a pretty sight down there.

The oil pressure kit was one of the first things I did after the cam. One of the best mods you can do for these motors imo...especially given our 'touchy' bearings.

Boosty, what are the benefits you've noticed in using the 2k+ oil pan? IIRC the only major differences are that the 2k+ pans are aluminum and that the windage tray is part of the pan itself.

[sandrock]

We are go for that engine hoist. Let me know when you need it.

[superchargedSSEi]

Whenever you're ready I'm ready.

[BillBoost37]

The big pluses are it is squared off, structural, better filter location and more clearnace.

Being squared off there is no room for the filter under the leading edge. This moves the filter behind the pan and tucks it away from harm. The square shape and structural (it is two of the three mounting points on the 2000+ PS side) gives it unprecedented strength in comparison to the tin foil of the 87-99 pan. This allows you to quickly slide a jack with chunk of wood under and support the motor w/o worries of sliding or moving. Great for belt swaps. Does not leak like the previous design, leaks disappear and make jacking the motor a non-issue for worrying about the gasket. The gasket is far superior, whether it is the inlaid gasket or the engine sealant version of the 2000+ pan. Windage tray is built in and the pan and tray come out in seconds if you ever need to see your internals.

[lunchboxx]

Sorry to hear about your loss..when are you jerking the motor or did it already happen?

[sandrock]

I dropped the hoist off last Wednesday. Knowing him, the new(ish) block should already be sitting in the bay. The old one was pretty much ready to come out at that time.