After an enjoyable with my son at the fleet air museum in somerset, i was travelling back to wales, when crossing the severn bridge........ BANG

my first reaction was a blowout, doing about 70 mph i braced myself to control a spinout. looking in the mirror to see how soon i could pullover while hitting the hazards all i could see was smoke.

managed to get over to the hard shoulder and switched engine off to go inspect the damage. no tyres gone, got back in and started engine, it made a horrible noise and a load of smoke came out of the bonnet, thinking it was gonna catch fire i got us both out as quick as i could and retreated a good 200 yards up the road.

luckily enough im in the AA, so i called em out, and after a half hr wait on a breazy bridge being thankfull that it wasnt raining he turned up.

He checked the water level which was fine then looked under the car and pointed out the big pile of oil all over the road. "looks terminal" he said, maybe a rod gone thru the engine.

yes i admit i swore at this point before getting towed the remaining 50 miles home thinking the only good point of it was i didnt have to pay for the bridge.

 

car now parked up and waiting for its fate which i havent decided yet

sad news kev :(

 

lets hope it turns out to be something simple! (we can hope!) ;)

i have seen many engines with rods out and not 1 of them would turn over let alone start. so fingers crossed yours isent that bad matey:)

 

Seconded fingers crossed for you mate!

Just like mikey bean said cant see it starting if con rod broke through engine casing it must be something else keep us informed mate.

it was leaking oil from the middle of the car, gonna go up and investigate it this morning, will take some pics and hopefully get some idea of wot it is

Good luck fella hope she isnt terminal, easy enough to swap engines though if the rest of the car is good

Mate I was going the other way and saw you on the bridge pulled over! Keep us posted.

ok been up and taken a pic, i know it needs to go on a ramp for a proper look but any ideas, oil was coming form where the arrows pointing......

 

no its a manual gearbox, gonna get it towed to a local garage tomorrow n see the damage

The last time I was driving along, heard a big bang, looked in my mirror and saw smoke and then saw oil all over the road I'd blown my head gasket in my old Ford Capri 2.8i V6.

 

Very different engine obviously, but basically a valve seat came loose and wrapped itself around the bottom of the valve itself, scored the piston badly, in turn causing massive pressure in the block (Which thankfully did not crack), which then caused the head to crack from the valve outwards (Cast iron heads on a capri, so BIG pressure in there), which of course blew the head gasket royally and allowed oil and water to not only mix, but to actually exit the engine via the crack in the head as well.

 

Took me six months of digging through scrap yards and 4 rebuilds, before I finally found every last piece of damage that had been caused and got it running again. With the scored piston still in it, heavily skimmed heads and a serious amount of modification, it ran better than ever before lol.

Mine still ran after the headgasket blowing, it just didn't hold any water or oil lol.

 

The XR4x4i had the same engine didn't it? 2.8i V6 Cologne?

The last time I was driving along, heard a big bang, looked in my mirror and saw smoke and then saw oil all over the road I'd blown my head gasket in my old Ford Capri 2.8i V6.

 

brings back memories of my modded 325 does that!!

My 325 didn't go bang on me, it went bang on my dad about 3 months after he bought it from me, to fund putting the capri back on the road one last time lol. He was driving over selby bridge and the cambelt went :S

mine had two engines in 7 months it was used off road allot though and had various mod's always seemed to cook in the end thouigh despite what was replaced :/ went for a 328 coupe after that but that only ever seen road use :)

Fingers crossed you get it sorted Kev. Where in S.Wales are you?

not to far from u.. barry

im clutching at straws but could it just be a seal gone on the gearbox?

 

Fingers crossed you get it sorted Kev. Where in S.Wales are you?

slight update... just been back up to it and checked engine oil which alough looks a bit dirtier than when i saw it yesterday, theres plenty of it on the dipstick, so it must have been gearbox oil all over the road. im guessing this is a good (cheaper) thing

assuming it is the gearbox, how much we looking at to replace it? as for doing it in a couple of hours, im just about capable of checking the oil and water before a long trip

 

oh yes matey. box can be out in a couple of hours and you can do it yourself quite easy:). just got to find 1. if it is that:). i might even know of 1 coming up for sale very soon if it is that:)

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Kev. I hope it's nothing too serious and you get it sorted easily and not too expensively mate.

 

Richard:no:

only managed to find 1 so far and that was £450, i guess it be cheaper to buy a breaker, at least i could get other parts if needed of that.

just been looking at skylines but u just know they been ragged to bits and dont look anywhere nere as sexy as a 300zx

Nightmare Kev, really hope its nots a massive problem for you

I had this happen on my zed. A loud rattling noise followed by a louder bang and a massive cloud of smoke. Whilst I was waiting recovery I walked down the road and found half a big end cap that was still warm. Found a nice hole in the side of the sump.

Struggling to get anyone to even look at my car locally, I've has suggestions of blown turbos/ con rods thru the engine to gearbox gone

Is there anyone Cardiff area that would have a look at it for me? I'm stuck to know what to do with it at the moment thanks

Hire a car trailer for the day and a mate with a tow bar on his car/van and take it somewhere mate, whether south or up to Zedworld.

 

It's outta yer way and you know a prefessional will tell you what's what so you can decide what to do.

smithy

Hire a car trailer for the day and a mate with a tow bar on his car/van and take it somewhere mate, whether south or up to Zedworld.

 

It's outta yer way and you know a prefessional will tell you what's what so you can decide what to do.

smithy

 

I'd ring the AA again, explain that it needs to go to a specialist in 300ZX as no-one near you will touch it and get them to take you to Zedworld mate, might not work, but it's worth a try..........:hammer:

I'd ring the AA again, explain that it needs to go to a specialist in 300ZX as no-one near you will touch it and get them to take you to Zedworld mate, might not work, but it's worth a try..........:hammer:

 

Good idea as depending on the cover you have they will do a 2nd onward tow to garages. If you go for buying a breaker I may be interested in going 1/2's