Engine Failure '94 SC Suggestions please!

S

SC'er

Registered User
I have '94 SC 5-spd that is completely stock 91,000 miles. Sat. Feb 14 I was cruising down the interstate, pulling 15 psi and had a sudden loss of power. The car was missing but would still run, so I drove it a couple of miles back to my shop. Anyway I presumed I had blown a head gasket. After getting the car in the air I observed oil residue on the right side exhaust manifold and underneath the car and it was about a half quart low. Also, I hadn't lost any antifreeze, so I started the car up and took the oil fill cap off and it was pressurized versus having a slight vacuum.

The car gets stored in a heated garage during the winter and hadn't been driven for a few months. When I first got it out Sat. night I noticed some pinging or ignition knock at 10-12 psi, but after getting warmed up I didn't notice anything the rest of the night until the failure.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this and if so would like some advice before starting my teardown. Worse case is a complete rebuild and I also would like to know a good source for engine rebuild kit?
 
why the tear down ? because u found oil under the car and under the exhuast manifold .. inspect your valve cover gaskets and are u getting any codes ... also pull your dip stick check to see if their is any metal in the oil.... you probably just have some valve train components wore...or something once you tear it down it aint cheap the rebuild these engines buddy......also check your oil pressure... and spout conector... maybe your octane is to high or low,...
 
Sounds like a blown head gasket to me. Just because you don't have any coolant loss doesn't mean the head gasket didn't blow. It could have just blown between the cylinder and the oil valley under intake manifold. As long as it didn't blow by a water jacket, no coolant loss. I would just start with the headgaskets, and go from there. If you find more when you have heads off, then you will have to do more, but to me just sounds like a head gasket.
 
In your case since you dont have any coolant loss or boilover it is possable that HG blew in way that its pressurizing your crankcase. But I'd do a compression check first to make sure before tearing into the motor.
 
I would do a lot more investigation before jumping into a HG replacement. Like how old is the fuel, could it have any moisture in it, was it filled completely before the car was stored? Could the fuel filter be clogged and need replacement? I would check all of the plugs and do a compression test as well. From what you said, you were cruising and not in boost, so it could be a bad ground or DIS going south or just needing a fresh coat of heatsink compound.
Our shop just finish replacing the HGs on a V6 Dodge MiniVan that turned out to be un-needed.
good luck
 
Engine Failure '94 SC Suggestions please!

Thanks for all your comments - to answer some of the questions.

creeperxr7
I inspected my valve cover gaskets and they look fine, there is no metal shavings on the dipstick and the oil pressure is still good.

HSKR
The reason I'm thinking it may be a piston is the pressure I'm getting out of the oil fill tube. There should be a slight vacuum at idle. But it is a good thought to just tear the upper end down and see what has happened before I yank the motor out.

MIKE 38sc
I am planning on doing a compression check in the next few days. If I have a hole in a piston or a blown head gasket, how would I differentiate between the two, regardless my compression will be low on that cylinder - right.

vancouverBC
The fuel was about two months old, I filled the car up with premium 92 octane gas before I quit driving it. The fuel filter was replaced in early spring of '03. And I was under full boost running about 135 mph when it went. I was trying to catch my brother in his '93 Cobra - my '93 Cobra is in the shop having some paint work done or I would of had it out that night.

Thanks again.
 
You can do a compression test to find the weak cylinder.
But a leakdown test will give you better results.By pressurizing
the bad cylinder with air,you may be able to fine the air leakdown
is coming from .

Randy
 
I have been dreading taking the heads off and for good reason - last night I pulled the suspect head off and was right in my initial thinking. The #3 cylinder is warped and has a hole in the bottom edge with aluminum spread out on the cylinder wall, along with the spark plug tip being completely gone.

Now for some advice on parts - I am planning on boring the cylinders and replacing the hyperuetectic pistons with forged. Does anyone know of a company that offers a complete rebuild kit for our cars? If I plane the heads (I know this question has been asked before) how much can I get away with? Any other opinions and advice is welcome.

Thanks
Dale
 
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