bravolistick

Damn here goes .... i fixed a boost leak and got in it just a little and might have spiked rpms/boost too high. My baby shuddered right after and acted like she wanted to cut off but didn't. I popped the hood expecting oil and smoke but nothing. Now theres just an annoying tick, that speeds up under load with an occasional mis. So i changed plugs and wires (misfire is gone now)....I boosted a few times and the power is still there... still fast as ever (but to be safe shes parked). I pulled valve cover to inspect the valvetrain.. rockers, springs, and push rods are all perfect!!

WHen i pulled the spark plugs all looked perfect except for #7 which was black as hell along with the gasket around #7 smelling a hint of oil and fuel and the tip on the spark plug was smashed down (gapped closed)... A fellow goat owner says that a chip from my piston must have hit the spark plug. Im gonna have the #7 scoped tomorrow. Curious as to what i might find, what i should go with for replacement pistons(tryna stay with stock cubes and crank, and what else it could be making the ticking noise if the piston if fine! (doubt it) perhaps the lifter... thanx in advance .... all constructive opinions welcome

p.s ive driven her since then very modestly not boosting and she does fine. WOuld it be ok to drive her to the shop for the scope, or no ?

dschmittie1

iTrader: (64)

just to be on the safe side I would drive it as little as possible. don't want to hurt it anymore than it already is. Also did you actually pull the push rods and check them?

As far as putting together a new forged bottum end. I just did Diamond Pistons and Callies rods

bravolistick

yes I pulled the push rods .... no defects ...the tapping is coming from the driverside...RIght over the #7 cylinder. I think i might be going with diamonds as well.. perhaps just pistons rings and rod bolts for now.. depends tho, on what i see when i open it up...damn im soo mad at myself

bravolistick

btw the firehawk is nasty lol

OUTLAWZ RACING

iTrader: (9)

Is she burning oil or smoking out the back? It might have detnated and push the plug closed but who knows how was the valve spring?

bravolistick

no smoking, valve springs are perfect

awd2rwd

iTrader: (17)

What rocker arms??

DeltaT

iTrader: (5)

Do you have single valvesprings? I've seen the inner ones break and look fine, or a damper if you have them.

I personally would not drive it (or even start it) at all until I knew what was up - seen too many people turn a medium problem into a showstopper.

Jim

bravolistick

stocker springs in her still

EPP

iTrader: (22)

I'll bet you have a cracked piston and this is what it will probably look like.



If you keep driving it with a cracked ring land the piece that is broken off can get wedged in there and the block can crack. I have seen it happen twice so far. The bottom of the cylinder head (combustion chamber) gets pretty beat up as well. Bob

dschmittie1

iTrader: (64)

If you go through all the trouble of opening it up and see any problems with piston do yourself the favor of doing pistons AND rods that way your bottum end is bullit proff so you can throw all you want at it. I would not put pistons in it and leave the stock rods in there. BTW I had pistons that looked like the one Bob has pictured that came from my stock short block

speedracer5532

iTrader: (8)

Do a leak down test on the engine that should tell you alot.

GT67METHV

they say it's always the #7 ringlands that will break first... go figure?

67Firebird455

iTrader: (27)

My #7 looked like that picture actually. #5 had cracked rings, and #2 had the top of the piston down to the ring land blown completely off.

bravolistick

Well here's where im at .....I got the #7 cylinder scoped, and it was obvious that there was sumthing in there bouncing around. The cylinder walls look good with minor scaring on the face of the piston. I was told that whatever was there is gone now. (most likely blown out the exhaust valve. I was told that the leak down didnt show anything to suggest bad valvetrain components. So i took it to the dealership, expecting them to see the turbos and laugh in my face. BUt suprisingly they were cool. I took one of the techs for a test drive, to demonstrate the ticking. Because now it no longer makes it at idle and has quieted down quite a bit (do to me adding oil i believe) I think she was burning sum oil and perhaps my levels were low. b/c the ticking is very faint now compared to before.

THe dealer tech told me to bring the car back on wednesday and they would see what they could find out. THen he asked me what year the car was and how many miles it had. I told him and he suggested that i should be under warranty still. I was like "sweet". IF their gonna fix it under warranty, im sure as hell gonna let them. Should know for sure on wednesday.

As far as the piston being broken, im still not sure if thats it. And im pretty sure the cost to buy forged pistons, rods, bore and hone, and re-balance will cost more than replacing 1 stock piston(and rod maybe), and lowering the compression with sum cheap truck heads for insurance. If you disagee, please feel free to type out a parts list with prices... im curious as well. Cuz obviously i would luv to put sum forged parts in........ but my wallet says "not right now!"

67Firebird455

iTrader: (27)

Dude, you can run a set of H-beams, and Mahle pistons for pretty damn cheap to be honest. They make them in a variety of sizes, and are very inexpensive. They'll hold up to some abuse, and are great for a budget boost build in my opinion. If the engine is out, that's what I would honestly do, let them cover the labor for that BS, and you take the time and money to invest in some forged internals. Guess it depends on how fast you want to go and still be reliable.

bravolistick

sounds like good advice, i dont really track the car, and 600whp it pretty useless on the street without a mini-tube and 315 slicks .... so if i decide to go for more later its gonna be on a LQ9 iron boost block... i will sell the factory bottom end i have at that point

DeltaT

iTrader: (5)

I'll be shocked if they cover it under warranty. Also, be careful about what you post and who you mention your screen name to. Dealers have internet access too, and it wouldn't take much of a search to find your details... like "got in it just a little and might have spiked rpms/boost too high" 8(

They can't void a warranty just because you put the parts on there, but don't give them the ammo to show it wasn't them, eh?

Keeping my fingers crossed that it does turn out to be only this. Keep us posted.

Jim

bravolistick

Thanx a bunch, i really appreaciate you guys, hopefully i can get this figured out soon!

bravolistick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-QLPRbeMMg

**** sounds terrible