Hi All!

As some of you know in the South Central Region i could not make the meet at the weekend just gone due to having to be in Bromley, Kent for the whole Weekend!

Well every thing was great as Usual on the Journey up! but on the way home last night this happened!! :(

i was coming back from Kent on Sunday night and my oil pressure dropped to Zero while i was Driving at 120mph and the Engine started shuddering!! by the time i could safely pull over on the M3 the engine had made a Loud Bang and then sounds of bit's of Metal comming out from under the car then Totally Dead!! Engine Cut out before i could stop so i lost brakes as well.....

Got out of Car!! loads of Oil and Water,Steam every where!! Huge Pool of Oil under the Car!! Tried to turn over engine!! it turned over but would not start! Looked under the Car and the whole of the Under side was covered in oil and there Are Two hole's in the Sump So i had to call out AA recovery and i i did not get home until 2am!!

So iam am a Bit Pi**ed o*f right now as you could imagine.....

I think the Oil pump packed up or an oil line to one of the Turbos burst!!

No more Meets for quite a while and no more Zed and i am Saving to buy a house for just after Christmas!!!

I can do all the work myself of course as i am a Mechanic but this is still a Very Bad thing to happen and will still cost me dearly :eek:

Sh1t, thats a total mess mate!!!

LOL its now been converted to a Dry Sump with an extra vent for crank cooling :D

Sh1t, thats a total mess mate!!!

Did you see the Crack in the Gearbox bellhousing?? where the support bracket was pushed out by the force of the Conrod?? :confused:

u got a air cooled zed. I want one he he.

no more water leaks ha ha

Crack in Bellhousing :eek:

So i may need another Auto bellhousing as well! :(

just pull the engine.leave box in bud

 

and we had a z in a while ago with a holed sump same thing conrod nut come loose and journal said goodbye and let go!IIRC the torque setting in the manual are about 30lb for the journal nuts which on a reciporating engine @whatever rpm constantly seems a crap setting tbh

Can you re-use the Head bolts on these or are they Stretch Bolts??

Update!!

Also Engine mount was torn apart and a picture of the Damaged Engine to Gearbox bracket(Damaged by conrod)

Picture's for the finally Removed no 6 conrod :o

Strangley enough number 6 piston is still at the Top of the Cylinder bore???? :confused:

it looks like the Piston Overheated in it's bore then the small End gave way and the Crank Smashed the Conrod all round the Bottom End!! Both side's of the Sump are blown out at the Sides and the Crank Face for Number six Conrod is Black from Excessive Heat!!! Whats really weard is the Coolant Temperature Gauge was only Three Quarter's of the way up the gauge when this all happened yet the Expansion Tank was overflowing with coolant:confused:

I lost about i litre of coolant altogether :eek:

Number 2,3,5 conrods have at least one loose nut!! :eek:

Damn Stock Guage's :(

Can you re-use the Head bolts on these or are they Stretch Bolts??

no there not stretch bolts so reusable,however check the allen key heads are not rounded or look poor last thing you want is it to round whilst your half way through torquing to 90lb

no there not stretch bolts so reusable,however check the allen key heads are not rounded or look poor last thing you want is it to round whilst your half way through torquing to 90lb

How much does a vgdett engine weigh in kilo's with all anc and turbos??

Picture's for the finally Removed no 6 conrod :o

Strangley enough number 6 piston is still at the Top of the Cylinder bore???? :confused:

it looks like the Piston Overheated in it's bore then the small End gave way and the Crank Smashed the Conrod all round the Bottom End!! Both side's of the Sump are blown out at the Sides and the Crank Face for Number six Conrod is Black from Excessive Heat!!! Whats really weard is the Coolant Temperature Gauge was only Three Quarter's of the way up the gauge when this all happened yet the Expansion Tank was overflowing with coolant:confused:

I lost about i litre of coolant altogether :eek:

Number 2,3,5 conrods have at least one loose nut!! :eek:

 

oh dear,has this engine ever been out as far as your aware?im only saying as if all journal nuts are a tad loose id be concerned,but then it could be due to the velocity of the rod letting go!

 

stock gauge is pants and really only starts working at around 112oc by which point were boiling,aftermarket is best and probably one of the first things you should do IMO

How much does a vgdett engine weigh in kilo's with all anc and turbos??

 

hmm do a search but at a rough guess i think in the region of 300ish kgs

oh dear,has this engine ever been out as far as your aware?im only saying as if all journal nuts are a tad loose id be concerned,but then it could be due to the velocity of the rod letting go!

 

stock gauge is pants and really only starts working at around 112oc by which point were boiling,aftermarket is best and probably one of the first things you should do IMO

I have not had it out as yet Other than today but the Sump looks like it has been removed as the Sump gasket was missing and replaced with Instant gasket. :confused:

Those rods are well messy!!!!!!

I have not had it out as yet Other than today but the Sump looks like it has been removed as the Sump gasket was missing and replaced with Instant gasket. :confused:

no even nissan use sealant gasket dude

see by the colour of the rod it looks like its been running dry for a while. its all blued round the journal and the small-end has torn its self apart too. possibly the nuts have come loose and dropped the oil pressure across the crank. but id have thot ud have heard some warning first, like knocking for a good few miles. is that the oil return hose thats torn? it might have decided to empty the sump first and ran dry with no warning.

for whatever reason, im sorry to hear of your catastrophic failure, its a total bin job.

Fraser

see by the colour of the rod it looks like its been running dry for a while. its all blued round the journal and the small-end has torn its self apart too. possibly the nuts have come loose and dropped the oil pressure across the crank. but id have thot ud have heard some warning first, like knocking for a good few miles. is that the oil return hose thats torn? it might have decided to empty the sump first and ran dry with no warning.

for whatever reason, im sorry to hear of your catastrophic failure, its a total bin job.

Fraser

Well i was travelling at a speed of between 110mph and 120mph when it happened and it was raining lightly so i did not want to cruise any faster.

Even though i took my foot off the gas when it went Bang!! the engine continued to turn at high rpm untill i had brought it too a dead stop and then it stalled.

I believe it continued to turn due to the Lockup solenoid still being engaged at the Time as i was travelling above the speed of 40/50mph.

This is why the damage was so bad! :(

I was hopeing by removing my foot from the accelerator the engine would have slowed to hopefully idle but it did not and i could not switch the ignition of although if i had thought about it at the Time of Panicing i could have knocked it in Neutral but i did not think of that at the time so i have one Bent conrod! one Piston still at the top of its bore and 5 pistons and conrods that are amazingly still intact and a Burnt crank maybe.

I am concerned that it may have been the oil pump but i have not checked it yet.

I am still trying to source a crank,sump,number six conrod & piston and/or piston & conrod set, main bearing cradle or a complete working engine or just a whole bottom end?? :confused:

And its great timing as funds are limited as i am buying a house at the End of the Year!! :( ;)

so do you think your block still good to use then ?

i might be able to help you out with the other bits you need as im just stripping an engine down for rebuilding with all new internals even the crank.

give me a call i'm only in bitterne 07879 686348

More Picure's of my Engine following the Stripdown Today :)

More of the Damaged Engine and some of the Next Engine i have been building up to go in :)

Notice on the Third picture i had an oil leak for a while and thought i may have been coming from behind the timing cover and i was right i found an incorrectly fitted cam oil seal :mad:

ooops nice piston. was it number 6 they seem prone to this

ooops nice piston. was it number 6 they seem prone to this

Yes it was number six! it get's the hotest out of them all! :headvswal

I had a split turbo water feed pipe and a core plug rotted under the Timing cover :rant:

Worst of all i found alot of side play in the shaft in my Turbos as well :headvswal

I am very lucky as i used to be a HGV mechanic so i can do all the work my self and save money but its still going to cost me loads of ££££ and i would hate to guess what some of you guy's have to pay for an Engine Rebuild and Turbo rebuild :eek: