wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Severely overheated the engine on the highway, did not catch the idiot light till it was too late. Had white smoke coming out the back, smelled oil burning under the hood too. Temp gauge needle was pegged all the way to the right. After it cooled off, tried to start it and it wont start. Engine turns over so its not locked up, but sounds strange and also sounds like it has no compression at all.

Started the teardown last night and thus far I have not found the smoking gun. Oil pump drive gear is good and I did remember seeing oil pressure before stopping. Water pump drive gear is tight so I dont think the pump lost drive. New water pump was put on just this last spring, but still uncertain if its good or not. Will remove the plate and see.

Heads are in the process of coming off now and I fully expect them to be warped along with the gaskets destroyed. They will go to the shop right away for inspection.

So the big question, whats the likelihood there is damage to the block and rotating assembly? The motor does have forged pistons and rods and was extremely healthy prior to this. Also, the oil is still black and not milky, but of course smells burnt.

Is there any possibility I can get out of this WITHOUT pulling the motor? Or should I just go ahead and do it now? The motor really got hot, not a little hot but HOT. Also since I cant recall. Can the long tubes be left on when the motor comes out the bottom? Been about ten years since I have done this.

Thanks

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

Worse case is everything is scored, oil is baked, block is cracked and heads are warped. Take the heads off first and see what you can see.

smitty2919

Can you pull the pan and windage tray to look at connecting rods/crank bearings etc?

I have read of people with the WP impeller breaking off the shaft and therefore not spinning.

guppymech

iTrader: (7)

I'd think the piston rings probably lost their tension.

KW Baraka

iTrader: (7)

And bearings are fried...….at the least!

KW

biketopia

iTrader: (5)

Yeaa, if it got as hot as you say, and smells as bad as you're talking I would just bite the bullet and do a full tear down and send the block out. Cylinders are possibly out of round, wasted rings and bearings, etc etc.

atlantadan

....and post pictures! We love carnage around here

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

If you are tearing down you will want to get the block magnafluxed and the heads pressure tested as well as milled.

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Thanks for the help guys. Gonna drop it out the bottom. Do the lt headers need to be be removed first. Or can they remain attached when the k memeber is dropped.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

Everything connected to the engine can come out complete. I've always simply unplugged all sensors from the engine/trans and zip tied it out of the way instead of unplugging from the pass. kick panel and feeding the plug through the grommet on the passenger side. to me is six/half dozen and takes about as much time.

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Thanks for the help guys. Still dont have the motor out yet. But maybe this weekend.

So far, I have determined that the water pump, t-stat are good. Oil pump drive gear is good too. So what else could cause a massive overheat other than low on coolant? That said, its possible that when I had the radiator out in the spring, I might not have topped off the coolant after bleeding the system. I just don't quite remember adding additional coolant to the water bottle.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

Blown head gasket could have only breached a coolant passage to a cylinder so you could've burned coolant off to the point of becoming low and overheating. Check your plugs to see if one or more are cleaner than the rest.

Ghostinthemachine

What does the engine oil look like
Look like milk shake.?

8.Lug

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Oil was not milky. But engine has no compression. When it cranks over, sounds like the spark plugs have been pulled.

i am fully expecting blown gaskets and warped heads at a minimum. Hopefully the heads are not cracked.

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

I cant remeber from the last time I dropped the motor out the bottom. Can the main engine harness disconnect from the PCM and drop down with the motor? Or is is still attached to various area of the chassis?

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

You have to unplug I believe two main connectors located in the passenger side "side" kick panel (not the one just below the glove box) and then feed those harnesses out into the engine bay. IMO that's more of a PITA than just disconnecting the sensors on the engine and trans. Takes about as much time, and with the age of these cars and how brittle **** is becoming, I'd rather leave well enough alone.

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Nuff said there. Will just let the harness hang.
Thanks again.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

These come in handy for clamping the harness to the cowl to keep it out of the way when moving the engine.

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Okay the motor is out and on the stand.

There is damage to three combustion chambers on the heads:



Motor has ran strong since 08 with maybe 20K miles on it. Heads are ported so if this could be repairable, that would have to be considered. Taking them to my engine builder Monday morning. The shortblock looks pretty good overall. Cylinder walls, ring-land tops on the pistons all look pretty good. But it is likely, we will take it apart to be sure. Also, no coolant in the oil...no milky stuff on the dipstick.

So what could have happened here?
Detonation?
Bad gas?
Other?

I still cant rule out that it might not have had enough water in the motor. In the spring, the collant was drained and replaced and bled out properly. BUT I really dont recall topping off the bottle, after bleeding. In fact, I am pretty sure I did not. So maybe it was just very low and then all Hell broke loose.

Thanks