ENGINE NEED A LITTLE T.LC.

[Moleman]

As some off you guy's know I had a little problem right at the end of Llandow trackday. The car was running lovely all day the with no warning it just decided to stop working.
I was going around a corner when I thought the engine sounded abit diferent then there may have been a pop but not sure? then it died suddenly. 
I coasted along the back straight to see if I was dropping any fluid's but no. 
But as you have seen I got towed back.    & it wasn't until we pushed it up the trailor & it was on a steep angle the oil desided to leave where the gearbox join's the engine.

This is what I found when I removed the sump.


You can see where the rod tried to leave without my permission




Bit of glue & filler it should be fine?

[fullpint]

  Gutted for you mate.. Looks a real mess. Hope you get it sorted soon and that its not too expensive 

[stevel]

Oh dear Colin, really feel for you.  Is the head & valves okay?  Repair the sump baffle and source a good secondhand Duratec lump maybe?

I hope you get it sorted mate. 

['The Gaffer']

Oppppps that is not good mate. Is that bits of piston in the sump?

Hope it's salvageable and not too expensive to repair

['Mendip Wurzel']

Certainly some very spectacular photographs.... hope all goes well with the rebuild

[robp]

Holy cow, Colin.  Not good. 

What do you think caused the problem?  Oil starvation?  Running slicks on a tight track with a wet sump?  Normally those Duratecs are bulletproof.

Really bad luck, mate.  Hope you get it sorted soon.  Knowing you the replacement engine will an upgrade and you'll be out dragging us all!!

[YZFMINI]

Ouch. Feel for you mate.. but glad it happened near end of the day...

[Moleman]

We think it was a sudden oil starvetion? I know I had plenty of oil in there so no idea how this happened?
Yes Phil it's bits of pistons. everything is smashed to bits in there that you can't see very well. 
The only route to take is a new engine. 
An upgrade would be great rob. I will be looking into what I can get & what things cost & what I can afford all next week.
Going to start doing the lottery this week. 

[dave_bence]

Eek - that's not a pretty sight

Hope you're back on the road soon.

[YellaBelly]

In a word....OUCH!....hope you get something sorted soon Colin

At least it died doing what it loved

[Bulldog Bri]

OUCH!!!!! 

[Grin-a-lot]

Crikey Col, that's a really sorry sight, I hope you'll say its fixable but there's a fair amount of damage in there.

[Lucky Ed]

Sorry to see the pictures of devestation Colin, it didn't look quite that bad at the circuit.

Good luck in the hunt for a replacement, hope you get it sorted soon.

[Moleman]

Grin, As Yellabelly has said, "At least it died doing what it loved"  I can only use some of the bits on it.

I have been looking at my video footage & have discovered when I started out the oil pressure was up at 10. During the day while the oil is warm the pressure now started at 5. & everytime I went around the twisty bit after the main straight the pressure would drop then go back up again on the straights. Ironically i would always look at my oil pressure when going down the straight. 
But on my last few runs I now know while going around the bus stop & twisty bit the pressure would drop right down to 1 & back up to 5 on the straights.

I know the oil thins while hot & when I checked it it was reading ok so if i had put some more in the next day would mean I have to much oil in i gess?

Can anyone tell me if what I could have done? I'm thinking perhaps a different type of oil that don't go so thin while hot?

[stevel]

Not sure about the Duratec oil and sump but from what I can see your sump was a proper job with a big baffle so surge should not have been an issue but slicks will always increase that effect.  Zetec s run 5/30 but last year at Llandow I did have a slight concern as mine was ticking quite badly after hard running.  I know the Zetec is hydraulic tappets vs solid in Duratec.  On reading advice I have changed to 5/40 and touch wood no similar noises this time and I was definitely not going any slower.  Too much oil is also bad as the level is too high for the crank which can froth the oil and entrain air causing lubrication issues.

All that said the main issues all seem to be silvertop Zetec related, I have never seen any concerns voiced about the Duratec before.  As Ed says, Raceline seem to have a good source for part and full engine packages.  I think Rob is running a Scholar unit, Dunnel also get a good reputation on other forums.  As you said hopefully you can salvage some parts and maybe a new short engine will get you back up and running.

[Daley Down Under]

Good grief - that's a lot of bits.  Always some positive newsat times like this - think of the upgrade 

Adrian

[paintman]

Sorry to read about the car Colin, looks a bit expensive but like Adrian said think on the positive side.

Hope you get it back on the road soon without too much agro with the rebuild.

Tony     

[Hairy Santa]

what a bummer, quite a mess mate, aint a lot you can do with that

looks like no 4 journal picked up, dragged the rod around the journal with the piston and the crank chewed it up, I recon the top end will be ok

oil pressure as low as you are saying is in my opinion far to low and prob caused this

let me know if I can assist in any way with tools or build of the engine in the workshop if your tight on space

[benchmark51]

How did the rest of the journals look? Was it oil starvation local to No4 or do the others show damage? Perhaps an oil pump or pressure relief valve failure? Any sign of oil starvation at the cams?

[Moleman]

It is a mess & new engine is the only way to go. I've looking at my options & budget all day. The upgrade is a nice thought, I just wish the engine was crap one to start with so I would be pleased for the upgrade, but is was a good lump that I was pleased with.    But I do look on the bright side as yellabelly said it died doing what It was built for, & I had a really big smile on my face all day while it was going good. 

Thanks for all your kind messages, kind words & offers to help if you can. 
It's a bigger bummer that it's now summer & we seem to be getting some nice weather at last. 

[stevel]

Really cheap summer fix..........

Ed's old Zetec, runs on no oil or coolant  .

All joking apart, once you have had the Duratec I guess you could not go back.  As Rob has proven it does not need to be a high spec to go quick either.  Maybe standard new lump, ARP bolt set and a decent baffled sump is the best start and then worry about upgrades later.  As Ken says there are more and more Duratecs around and maybe a decent used lump comes available.

Good luck with it.

[SPAXIMUS]

Hard to tell from the pictures but I would say that it wasn't oil starvation that caused that. Normally with oil starvation you would see bearing spun but not total destruction like that. I would say that the con rod had a weakness which has lead to it failing, or the piston disintigrated which left the conrod whacking about in the bore where it jammed and then snapped. Truth is you will never really know but that is in my experiance much more likely the cause.

There are plenty of Duratecs about, I would buy one and bang it in and get some use out of the car. If you then get another you can rebuild a stormer.

There is one on the Locost site in Suffolk for £200 which would be ideal as a rebuilder as there is a suspected problem but for £200 I was tempted and I run Vauxhalls

[alastair]

Colin, that looks a mess. I hope you get it sorted relatively quickly. I cant believe it never made a bloody loud bang when it let go.

[Sprint 7]

Comiserations Colin That's worse than a Hammer Horror Film

[robp]

Yep, I'd go for a stock secondhand unit.  Should be easy enough swap and you can then enjoy the rest of the summer.  Once the winter arrives you can decide if you want to get ya cash out and start upgrading.

What ever you do, make sure you car is ready for Combe at the end of the month!   

['The Gaffer']

I agree with Rob..

[Moleman]

I would love too but my funds won't run into a second hand one, then a upgrade. as well as having the pain of fitting a engine twice. 

[Moleman]

Rob. I forgot to say. i will still be there but I know i won't be doing the track day though. 

If anyone want's my space please Pm me. 40 cars max, open pit for only £143. 

[WALNUT]

Moleman.
            I never thought of saying this before becouse as you know my own car is off the road, but if you ever want to go to any of the coming events and your car is not ready your welcome to ride shot gun with me. and im sure there are others that would offer the same.
                                                                                            WALLNUT

[Hairy Santa]

Moleman.
            I never thought of saying this before becouse as you know my own car is off the road, but if you ever want to go to any of the coming events and your car is not ready your welcome to ride shot gun with me. and im sure there are others that would offer the same.
                                                                                            WALLNUT

Ditto

[Grin-a-lot]

Ditto ditto

[Moleman]

Thanks guys. That is nice to know.     I will prob take you up on some of these.