Blown Motor.

[NateMob]

Went to leave work tonight after working a double (7am-9pm), Bronco started right up like always but had a slight pinging/tapping sound coming from the right side of the motor. Let it warm up and seems to go away under throttle but was very audible when not on the throttle, about a mile from work i pulled over to check the noise out and cant tell much in the dark. Pulled the dipstick and all looks good, just did an oil change last weekend. Noise continues and seems like it may be getting louder.

Get a few more miles down the road and only have about a mile til im home. Going about 55 when it stutters a second them POOOF! HUGE plume of black smoke can be seen in the rearview and i smell oil. Lots of banging and clanging coming from under the hood. Pull over and jump out to pop the hood, all looks normal under the hood except for smoke pouring out of the Valve Cover Filter/breather. Pull the dipstick and still looks fine. Try and crank it and nothing, locked up. :crying: AAA got her the rest of the way home.



What now? This is my daily driver and need to get her back on the road...

Sick to my stomach:|

[broncosbybart]

That really sucks! Wonder what happened? Most engine failures that I have seen (under normal circumstances) were due to lack of oil.

Sounds like something decided to let go on its own. Hope you can find a replacement engine soon and cheap. I'd scour your local craigslis or similar. Keep us posted!

[chuzie]

Sorry to hear that bro. Too bad it is a daily driver and you are pressed to find an engine. I would be interested to hear the results of the autopsy on this one. I will keep my eyes and ears open for you.

[Crawdad]

What size motor? I have one I'll sell for real cheap. Been sitting for a while. Its a 302 long block.

[NateMob]

The motor honestly has less than 5,000 miles on it since a rebuild. My first rebuild that i helped with, mistakes made during could be the culprit. cratchhe:

The last oil change i did i switched over to a full synthetic, would running a synthetic in an older motor have an adverse effect on it? The motor is a 302 that was nothing fancy, mild cam with an intake, headers and a 470 truck avenger on it. I really wish i could swing an EFI upgrade at the same time but have no idea what i would be looking for. Nor do i have any idea of what to look for on craigslist. :banghead:

Thanks for all the support guys. Even worse, I dont see myself making it to URE now.

Nate

[chuzie]

Sorry to hear that man. Have you pulled the plugs yet to figure out which cylinder is the culprit? Will it crank by hand? Doing a EFI swap at this stage in the game is going to be time consuming and URE will certainly be out. I bet you can find a 302 locally and drop it in pretty quickly. Better to find this issue now rather than on the trails.

http://augusta.craigslist.org/search/sss...maxAsk=500

[JayT]

Oh man!!!! So sorry to hear about this! Post up, as you start the diagnosis... We're all here to help!

[broncosbybart]

Sounds like something let go for sure. A rod cap might have not been torqued or something and backed off. A whole host of things could have gone wrong. With it not cranking, my bet is that a rod is caught between the crank and block. See if it want to turn counterclockwise at all. Chances are that at this point, it is going to be scrap or a complete professional rebuild.

Just about any 302 would work. A newer 5.0 engine has it's own set of issues. I'd stick with an older 28oz imbalance 302 out of a Bronco or pickup.

[NateMob]

Crawdad-let me know about that motor. Im in need.

Okay guys, its torn down as far as i could get with hand tools. Quite a learning experience!

Pulled the dipstick again first and this is what it looked like.


Got the headers off next and started pulling plugs. They all looked good except for #2...


Next i pulled the carb. Look what it had for dinner.


I have been running an Edelbrock Performer 289 intake since the rebuild and have always had an overheating issue on the trail. I noticed what looks like the back two water passages are blocked off by the intake, why would it be made like this? You can also see what looks like AntiFreeze in the valley.


#2 Again, not even sure i know how this happens.


And finally after draining a gallon of antifreeze followed by a nice frappuchino-esque liquid from the oil pan this is what i found.


Block is toast also i believe. Dont think this will buff out. :banghead:



Been a long day, What years were the 28oz imbalance motors made?

Thanks,
Nate

[chuzie]

DUDE! WOW! That is no joke there. My .02 are something was either left in there during the build, was sucked in through the intake, or fell apart in the intake/carb that made its way into the cylinder, jammed between the piston and the valve and caused catastrophic failure at TDC. My basis is the picture of the carb debris. What is that stuff? Where in the carb did you find it?