Catastrophic engine failure NOW WITH CONCLUSION!

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Cruising down the road, minding my own business, slight acceleration (not under boost). *rap rap rap BOOOM*
I look in my rearview to see chunks of engine and whatnot pepper the car behind me... but wait a minute, the tach shows 800 rpm (clutch in). I pull over, she idles up to 2k. CEL is on. I shut her down with the quickness. Look behind me, see a trail of mobil 1 coming up to my car and about 1000 Nissan employees that just got off work (like me) drive through a sizeable puddle of oil and engine parts. A couple of them stopped while I was on the phone with a couple of my co-workers, negotiating who was going to pick me up and drive me to Gateway tire to get the Prelude's tire mounted and balanced (took out the seat in the Miata to fit them).

Got everything done, and got a buddy to show up with a trailer. After popping the hood, both said "there's no way that's going to start". I climbed in, it fired right up, hell even had oil pressure on the dummy light. Drove it up on the trailer and killed it. Its now sitting in the garage.

sooooooo.... does anyone have any 1.8 Miata blocks?

2012 keeps getting worse and worse.

[Razi]

Damn that sucks.
How many miles were on the engine?

[raremotive]

Wow, sorry to hear about your lost. I hope you are able to find a suitable replacement soon.

I am however very interested in why it failed.

[alms24sebring]

^ me as well. Sounds like it needs a good dissection to find the murder suspect. I wonder if you could make it look like it was the oil's fault and get a free block from Mobil. Sorry to hear that though dude, wish I could help.

[themadscientist]

Time for a rotary!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEij520pXRY[/youtube]

[Jesda]

Any guesses on the cause?

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

Dang, how old was the engine and what kind of management do you use? s*** like that makes me keep strong on saving for an ls1.

[Gold Digger]

Time for a rotary!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEij520pXRY[/youtube]

I'll see your 1.3L 13Bt and raise you a 302CI Ford V8. Courtesy of an old friend/member. LOL. Can you guess who it is?

[frapjap]

Those rods went out like a fat kid playing dodgeball.

[NolimitZ32]

Wow, that sucks man, but look on the bright side, at this point you have so many options that you could turn to like some of the ones above or if you want to get crazy why not a 20b

[raremotive]

Any guesses on the cause?

I have three guesses:

-dropped a valve
-broke a rod bolt
-some-how hydro-locked

[NolimitZ32]

Seeing as its a mijata 1.8 I'd bet on the rod bolt.

[Razi]

I'll see your 1.3L 13Bt and raise you a 302CI Ford V8. Courtesy of an old friend/member. LOL. Can you guess who it is?

Doesn't Yokota have one now?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Dang, how old was the engine and what kind of management do you use? s*** like that makes me keep strong on saving for an ls1.

The engine is original from 2001 (I think the build date was late 2000). It has about 166k on it. Engine management was top of the line Hyrdra EMS stand alone with knock detection and limp mode protection.
I REALLY don't think it was an oil issue (like Mobil's fault). The fact that it still runs fairly well with no oil is sort of a testament to that. I'll start tearing into it sometime soon.

Now I guess my options are:
Find a good quality stock replacement, drop it in, enjoy drop top season
Find a replacement, get it built with forged pistons and rods, crank the boost
Find a smoking deal on an LS1, 2, or 3, as well as trans and rear diff. That would take the longest to do.

[alms24sebring]

Keep it turbo'd.

[yokota180sx]

I'll see your 1.3L 13Bt and raise you a 302CI Ford V8. Courtesy of an old friend/member. LOL. Can you guess who it is?

Doesn't Yokota have one now?

that one is mine


Was it #4 ? if it was my bet was cooling issues. that is what happened to mine

IMG_0057 by Flsimages, on Flickr

[PapaSmurf2k3]

#3 I'm thinking. How did your head fare? I'm crossing my fingers that mine is somehow untouched.

[yokota180sx]

head was fine. sold it and the 220hp turbo setup to another guy for a good price.

After i tallied up a 300HP BP engine build, it was only a few grand more for a v8.

[IanS]

Wow, that sucks. Id bet you over stressed a rod bolt, and its been a ticking time bomb for a while now. Have you beat on it in the last few days?

Yokota. Now thats a name I've not heard in a long time..... A long time.......

[yokota180sx]

i still kinda halfass lurk. ok
not really though. i just have a google thing when my name comes up in random places, in addition to a random tipoff of my picture use lol

only thing i own anymore of nissan fame, are a pair of brand new tomei silvia corner light covers

[300ZXttZMAN]

Damn man

Sorry to hear this.

[alms24sebring]

Well since its still running, heres a quick way to pull the motor. That little scuff on the bumper will buff out.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/82329513/

[sbird1]

Well since its still running, heres a quick way to pull the motor. That little scuff on the bumper will buff out.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/82329513/

That's the funniest damn thing I've seen in a while.

[Gold Digger]

I'm surprised Razi figured it out so quickly. Grant hasn't posted here in ages.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

That video was AMAZING!

There's a decent trail of oil coming out from under the car since its been sitting for a few days. Its kinda funny to open the garage door, see the hood popped, and a s*** load of oil on the ground coming from the engine area. I'm going to try to pull the head this weekend to 1. see if it's still good (and re-usable)
2. hopefully root cause the failure.

I'm thinking about pulling a Ray and making the leftover shortblock into a coffee table. Giant holes and all.

[frapjap]

That video was one of the coolest things I have ever seen!

Definitely make a table out of it. An ode to Miate.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I pulled an engine on a different Miata last night just for practice haha. That and the dude that owns it is going to help me when it comes time to pull mine, as well as lend an engine hoist and whatnot. I took another look, and it it seems like whatever happened, happened with extreme force. It shot out so hard, it hit my motor mount and bent it pretty severely. The hole is actually a lot worse than the initial picture. The block is missing straight down to the oil pan.
Also, I figure I have to leave the head on, cos that's where the "engine slinger" (technical term for hooks) bolt on to. Today I hope to drain all the fluids, pull the radiator, remove the turbo, manifold, required piping, and all the accessories that have to stay in the engine bay (like AC). There's already oil everywhere in my garage. I need to buy some of that speedy dry s***.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Got the car as high as the jack would go

Guess there's no saving the oil pan

Projectile slammed the motor mount so hard that it bent it and moved it away from that bolt.
Also, if you look to the top left, you can see STRAIGHT THROUGH THE BLOCK!!! Those thin things are brake lines (I think) on the passenger side.

Draining the coolant the fast way.

Pulled the radiator. Separating the electrical connectors sucked

Confirmation of the impact.

Spent more time on this 1 bolt from Bell f*** Engineering (on the turbo) than I did on pretty much everything else combined. Bottom rear (downpipe side) mounting to the manifold. Had to modify 2 wrenches and it's still not off. Sprayed the crap out of it with some PB to let it soak overnight.

Leaving it there for the night.

[Jesda]

Man, I love that garage, especially with the built-in shelving on the back wall.

[alms24sebring]

Daaaaam, that was a hell of an impact. Did you ever find what was thrown, or I guess you will find out when its disassembled? It looks like the mount got hit by a rod from the way that giant dent looks.

Im anxious now. In the mean time if you just swap a stocker NA motor in there you can have this to bring you back to good times.

I just happen to come across this gem