Hope I didn't blow it!

davkat

HHR Turbo
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

It's in the shop now. Should be torn down either today or tomorrow. I hadn't sold my original motor yet; maybe it was for a reason. Ya think? 87 Octane...Never again!
 

davkat

HHR Turbo
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

The turbo side head has been pulled off and the valves definitely got overheated and warped. The piston wasn't punched through but it did have a nice divit in the center. The motor has been pulled and sent to a machine shop to completely check it out and put in a new piston. Since the motor was new everything else looked pretty good so far. Don't know yet how much all this is gonna cost me but it's coming out of my paycheck. Gotta sell alot cars to pay for this!!!! :(
 

NecroWolf

lost marbles member
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

i got five good pistons and two good stock heads i'll sell cheap, you can buy number six but it's got a little hole in it.
 

davkat

HHR Turbo
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

Well, my truck is back home but not running. The problem is only with #6 cylinder. For some reason it was the only one that got really hot and damaged by the detonation. Both valves got so hot they curve inward and no longer seat properly on the head. The piston is pitted right in the center but is not broken through. The cylinder appears okay.

The service department said I needed another new engine or $7000 to fix this one :rant: I hope I can salvage parts from my original engine otherwise it's gonna sit for awhile. :(
 

dgoodhue

BuSTeD 4.3
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

davkat said:
The service department said I needed another new engine or $7000 to fix this one :rant: I hope I can salvage parts from my original engine otherwise it's gonna sit for awhile. :(

$7K seems too high to me. I imagine some of that labor to remove and install the new motor. Gasket and the little thing do add up, but I still can't see that price.

I went to my local machine shop started asking question about rebuild the motor. They told me the last engine they did was for $4000, with minimal parts. My jaw dropped, but I decided to asked for the invoice anyways (removing the persons name) The bill was about $1400 in parts/gaskets and $2600 labor/machining. $500 of the work was done on the stock heads (waste of $) and $150 was done on the stock rods (waste of $)
 

Windedv6

Ty n 10s
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

davkat said:
Well, my truck is back home but not running. The problem is only with #6 cylinder. For some reason it was the only one that got really hot and damaged by the detonation. Both valves got so hot they curve inward and no longer seat properly on the head. The piston is pitted right in the center but is not broken through. The cylinder appears okay.

The service department said I needed another new engine or $7000 to fix this one :rant: I hope I can salvage parts from my original engine otherwise it's gonna sit for awhile. :(

I am not telling you what or what not to do. I punched a SRP piston in my build a few years back. I only hurt one piston, no cylinder wall damage. The other cylinders compression checked out fine and the leak down test was fine. Here is exactly what I did and and kept going.

Pulled the head and had it checked.
Pulled the pan without pulling the motor.
removed the rod cap and pulled the out the rod and piston.
Purchased a new piston/pin.
Took pistons and rod to machine shop to fit new piston and pin
Installed new rings
Put back in motor.
Replaced head.

There is more forgiveness in these motors than we give them credit for. You don't have enough miles on to for a complete rebuild. When the head is of fhave it check at a reputable shop. If the rest of the valves are ok and your leakdown test on the other cylinders came through ok you should be fine. There is the chance that you may have hurt some of the other piston to a lesser degree that #6 and it doesn't showup till later, but that's a risk you have to decide for your self. I took that risk as I figured I didn't have anything to lose. If it showed up as porblems in the other cylinders I was going to have to do the full rebuild anyway. This way I was only out a couple hundred dollars and was back on the road in a week. The motor ran this way for several years and I was running it harder after the problem than before. I ran my 10.60s since I the replacement.

John
 

davkat

HHR Turbo
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

I've got a couple of sy/ty guys here (Timbo & Akryder86) who have done builds before and they may be able to help me fix this. A compression test was performed by Alaska Sales & Service before the head was pulled and these were the results:

#1@125lbs
#2@130lbs
#3@135lbs
#4@130lbs
#5@130lbs
#6@0lbs

Their mechanic said they were all low but I'm not really sure if that's a correct assessment except for #6. I hope I can my truck fixed and back on the road before spring is over!
 

Windedv6

Ty n 10s
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

A leakdown test would have been better than a compression test. A cold motor and depending on your rings will give you some lower numbers.

John
 

akryder86

Spinning Aint' Winning
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

Windedv6 said:
A leakdown test would have been better than a compression test. A cold motor and depending on your rings will give you some lower numbers.

John

That and if the oiled the cylenders prior to doing the compression test. I took a look at the engine and head the other day and the block looks great but the head will definetly need a valve job for the #6 valves. Timbo is gonna take a look at it tomorrow and give his opinion. But from what I saw, the cheapest/easiest course of action will be what Windedv6 did.
 

davkat

HHR Turbo
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

Windedv6, that sounds very close to what I've got going on. Where did you get your new piston/pin, rings etc, cost? Also the exhaust and intake valves for #6 got overheated and melted out of shape. The head appears good and the cylinder wall is not scarred.

Right now it's finding the time and help to get the work done on my Syclone. Both of my knees are shot and I walk with a cane so it's more difficult to get around. I want to get my truck back on the road soon as possible.

Thanks.
 

Windedv6

Ty n 10s
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

davkat said:
Windedv6, that sounds very close to what I've got going on. Where did you get your new piston/pin, rings etc, cost? Also the exhaust and intake valves for #6 got overheated and melted out of shape. The head appears good and the cylinder wall is not scarred.

Right now it's finding the time and help to get the work done on my Syclone. Both of my knees are shot and I walk with a cane so it's more difficult to get around. I want to get my truck back on the road soon as possible.

Thanks.

What kind of pistons are in the motor? and size? What rods?

John
 

davkat

HHR Turbo
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

The pistons are completely stock. This was a new crate motor that was never installed in a vehicle at PAS. The guy I bought the motor and tranny from had bought it from Ray Moore back in 1995 to use in a project El Camino. That never happened and it's been in storage for years until I installed it last November.

Yesterday I took the head down to Anchorage Drag Bike, a premier machine shop here, and it looks like I'm getting off very lucky. It appears only the intake valve was damaged and the head is not cracked. They will replace the valve and do a leak down test today.

They also told me that I would probably not have to replace the piston. It was pitted somewhat in the center by the spark from the plug because the electrode had burned off. They said if there was scarring or pitting on the outer edges of the piston then there would be cause to replace it. I've already spent $23,700 :dropjaw: on this truck (including the purchase) so I want to get this back up and running with as low a cost as I can. Can't afford any mods right now.
 

Windedv6

Ty n 10s
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

davkat said:
The pistons are completely stock. This was a new crate motor that was never installed in a vehicle at PAS. The guy I bought the motor and tranny from had bought it from Ray Moore back in 1995 to use in a project El Camino. That never happened and it's been in storage for years until I installed it last November.

Yesterday I took the head down to Anchorage Drag Bike, a premier machine shop here, and it looks like I'm getting off very lucky. It appears only the intake valve was damaged and the head is not cracked. They will replace the valve and do a leak down test today.

They also told me that I would probably not have to replace the piston. It was pitted somewhat in the center by the spark from the plug because the electrode had burned off. They said if there was scarring or pitting on the outer edges of the piston then there would be cause to replace it. I've already spent $23,700 :dropjaw: on this truck (including the purchase) so I want to get this back up and running with as low a cost as I can. Can't afford any mods right now.

Fix the head and put it back on the road. You have nothing to lose at this point. I assume you will be running good gas this time around. ;)

John
 

davkat

HHR Turbo
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

I inspected #6 piston a little closer yesterday evening and the pitting is more than I thought but I looks like it's just shy of the outer edges. I took a couple of pics with my phone. The first is #4 cyl and the second is #6.

04-15-08_1008.jpg
;
04-15-08_1006.jpg
 

dgoodhue

BuSTeD 4.3
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

Personally, I would replace that piston. It looks like hole is starting to develop in the middle of it.
 

turbodig

Active member
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

dgoodhue said:
Personally, I would replace that piston. It looks like hole is starting to develop in the middle of it.

I'd have to agree... without the ability to feel that part with a finger, it sure looks like the start of a burn through.

Any scores/scuffing on the walls of that cyl? Any condition bad enough to burn holes, I'd be checking for other things too...
 

davkat

HHR Turbo
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

I decided to go ahead and replace the piston. I had my original motor available so I started taking it apart on Friday to determine what went wrong with it in the first place and to see if any parts (ie: pistons) were salvageable.

Yesterday timbo and akryder86 came over and we got the original motor moved back to the garage and started taking the pistons out. #4 piston in the original motor was still good but the connecting rod will have to be changed out due to scarring where it connects to the crankshaft.

Next, we had to try and remove the right front driveshaft on the truck in order to get the oil pan off to remove #6 piston. Unfortunately we didn't have a ball joint separator to facilitate getting the driveshaft completely out so we had to call it a day. When that part is completed I'll take the good piston from the old motor and have a machine shop swap rods as I'm pretty sure the rod from the new motor is fine.

It appears the demise of the old motor was caused by either lack of maintenance over the years or low oil pressure. The crankshaft was shot and some of the other pistons were damaged due to broken rings and scarring. #4 was lucky.

Thanks go out to fellow sy/ty members Timbo and Akryder86. Without their help I wouldn't be able get my truck back on the road. Thanks guys. :tup:
 

davkat

HHR Turbo
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

I haven't had any days off since that last posting to work on it. I may have Sunday off and hopefully we can get the piston pulled so I can get it to the machine shop next week. I've already got the head gasket, now need the lower intake gasket set which has been ordered. The days were getting very nice here, looked like spring was officially here; THEN a big snowstorm rolled through today (still is snowing) dumping 2 feet of snow! AARRGH!
 
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davkat

HHR Turbo
Re: Hope I didn't blow it!

Well Sunday came and went; didn't get a thing done to the truck. Spent my one day off relaxing with my wife so it will have to be another day. The lower intake gasket set is on order and will hopefully be in by the end of the week. Most of the snow we had recently has melted off and spring appears to be back. A conservative estimate to have it back on the road is by June 1st. Gotta get #6 piston out and replaced, just need a ball joint separator to finish getting the front drive shaft out to remove the oil pan.
 
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