Cracked ls1 block
Cracked ls1 block I was wondering if anyone has heard of a rear end swap causing an engine block to crack?
A friend of mine took his 98 camaro to a local performance shop for a heads and cam swap. The shop had his car for three months. Once he got it back he swapped in an s60 rear end. He wasn't aware that the driveshaft had to be shortened and ran it with the stock driveshaft. After ~400 miles his engine block cracked on the highway. He began tearing the motor down and found that the coolant crossover tube was connected improperly. I believe its supposed to go from head to head, then into one side of the throttle body, then back into the radiator. He found that it was instead connected to the pcv line. The shop he took it to saw that he changed the rear end and are saying that that was the cause. The engine builders I spoke to say the trans would've gone long before the motor would, and that they've never heard of a rear end breaking a motor. I'm pretty confident that it was the shops fault, but I was wondering what you guys thought?
Thanks
A friend of mine took his 98 camaro to a local performance shop for a heads and cam swap. The shop had his car for three months. Once he got it back he swapped in an s60 rear end. He wasn't aware that the driveshaft had to be shortened and ran it with the stock driveshaft. After ~400 miles his engine block cracked on the highway. He began tearing the motor down and found that the coolant crossover tube was connected improperly. I believe its supposed to go from head to head, then into one side of the throttle body, then back into the radiator. He found that it was instead connected to the pcv line. The shop he took it to saw that he changed the rear end and are saying that that was the cause. The engine builders I spoke to say the trans would've gone long before the motor would, and that they've never heard of a rear end breaking a motor. I'm pretty confident that it was the shops fault, but I was wondering what you guys thought?
Thanks
Thanks, I'd like to see what everyone has to say, cause for me it just makes no sense. It sucks for my friend cause he put a lot into the car over the summer, and its been stuck on his driveway since.
How does one connect a coolant crossover tube to the pcv??? I would really like to see a pic of this. If this is the case in some way I would thing it would have water in the oil and filled the intake with coolant as well as hydro locked the engine. I just don't see it hooked up this way. Please explain better or post up pics.
How does one connect a coolant crossover tube to the pcv??? I would really like to see a pic of this. If this is the case in some way I would thing it would have water in the oil and filled the intake with coolant as well as hydro locked the engine. I just don't see it hooked up this way. Please explain better or post up pics.
Connecting the coolant crossover to the PCV system will send coolant to all the wrong places, the crank case and/or the intake.
Please tell us where the block was cracked. Pics would be very helpful.
Cant imagine coolant crossover was hooked to pcv for 400 miles. I'd think it would have hosed down the intake pretty quick. white smoke everywhere. or filled the crank case if it were hooked to the other end. and no coolant.
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Verdad Gallardo Alright, so these are the pictures I have. From what I understand the line that was supposed to connect to the pcv valve went into the radiator, while the line that should go into the radiator connected to the pcv valve. The quality isn't the best, but it looks like you could see this pretty clearly in the pictures. I'm not sure if he has pictures of the crack or not, but the guy who looked at the motor said there was a huge crack on the back side of the engine, near the passenger side of the car. I believe the oil was filled with coolant, and I agree, it's a mystery how the car went as long as it did.
Last edited by gertiez28; May 12, 2014 at 11:00 AM.
....From what I understand the line that was supposed to connect to the pcv valve went into the radiator, while the line that should go into the radiator connected to the pcv valve....I believe the oil was filled with coolant, and I agree, it's a mystery how the car went as long as it did.
After the work, any amount of running would've resulted in coolant beginning to fill the engine. Had the shop checked the oil level on the dipstick they would've caught it.
This is grounds to get any and all your monies back-including remove & install charges, all labor and any parts you or the shop provided.
Get a lawyer. Stand your ground.
I can do a heads & cam swap in three days. Alone. In my tiny shop. Without a lift. Without air tools.
I'm certain many of the enthusiasts on LS1tech can also do this job in just a few days.
I'm certain many of the enthusiasts on LS1tech can also do this job in just a few days.
Last edited by Paul Bell; May 12, 2014 at 09:36 PM.
Is there a high concentration of meth labs in your area? Because that is amazing. Even a novice mechanic with any common sense could follow a line back and see that ain't gonna work. Wow.
Actually, this was done by a very highly regarded shop. We found out afterwards they are a sponsor for this site. Unfortunately, my friend just got screwed. From what I've heard they're very nice, reasonable people. Hopefully when my friend brings the pictures and the more realistic explanation to their attention they'll own up and fix it, but so far that hasn't been the case. Here's a picture of the crack. It looks to be a huge horizontal crack just above the oil pan.
Last edited by gertiez28; May 12, 2014 at 03:52 PM.
It's funny you say that, when I told my dads drag racing friends about this, all the engine builders said they could've had it done in a day. My friend scheduled an appointment and the car didn't go up on the lift for over a month.
Last edited by gertiez28; Jul 16, 2014 at 08:08 PM.
Wtf ..... I went to a meet in my town and this one kid did his TB bypass wrong and hooked it up like that . I knew he must of been like that for a while cause his car was ticking load as hell I had to stop him and look at his car ended up having coolant is his oil a lot of it. I wonder what the shop told him o that loud ticking its normal after heads and cam install lol if there a sponsor on here call them out everyone should know
Thought Id give everyone an update on this. The engine builders that took a look at the block also believe there was a timing issue. One piston was cracked in half and the valves on my friends brand new stage three heads were bent. He's still getting excuses for why it wasn't the shops fault.