Finally got the head off of my busted motor

[4felix20]

so a while back, i was cruising on the highway. went to pass an old lady. there was no rush...i passed without mashing the throttle, very mild pass/low throttle. so i get around and about 10 minutes later i start getting some smoke and was leaving a smoke trail. 5 minutes later i was getting a LOT of smoke. no detonation or anything the entire time, before or after the pass. almost died at the turn for my garage.

so from then on, i knew she was dead. just couldn't figure it out though. i popped the hood and oil was covering about 60-70 percent of the engine. i figured my rings 'went bad' and my turbo pressurized the crankcase forcing oil out of the breather filter. that was about 4 months ago and i was partially right.

instead, my #3 piston has a nice chunk out it's perimeter. it's nice to have an answer to WTF went wrong.

[4felix20]

i have a little MSpaint pic i made to help describe what happen, but now the 'add pics' thing has disappeared.

i still don't really know why it happened though. i had been getting a little bit of smoke before...maybe there was a fracture i made worse over time or something.

did someone say rebuild...with forged goodies? =)

[Structure240sx]

"REBUILD WITH FORGED GOODIES"

[virus77]

its the life of a KAT, its all fun and games 'til one day she blows and turns your world upside down. Have fun with the rebuild.

[4felix20]

tearing it all down was the fun part..i'm gonna have hell putting it back together. i need to find some good machine shops in my area too. i might even have to drive over to sacramento for a good shop.

[4felix20]

by the way virus, are your 91 cams still for sale? i snapped the **** out of my intake cam on the tear down.

[virus77]

cams are still for sale.

[4felix20]

well, not sure yet if i'm gonna get a crate motor or go through the trouble of finding shops to rebuild my engine. if i don't get a crate motor, i'll definitely need to buy those. i guess i'll let you know.

i still need to find a good machine shop near me that will take care of my block. maybe even install the pistons and put the head on too, that'd be nice. anybody know any shops like that near reno? i've considered driving to sacramento if i need too..

[Chezedik]

Felix, I do not know if it is still worth mentioning, but I have an S13 intake available.

[4felix20]

hmmm. i don't think i understand ..lolwhy would i need an s13 intake?=)

[virus77]

So how are things going, I still have the cams if you need them.

[Chezedik]

I don't know, since I am rebuilding my engine again, I will likely be selling one of my exhaust cams. It is just easier. I don't think the gains are enough on an S13 to justify the trouble.

[Skidmark]

Wow, this is like the 3rd or 4th Turbo KA I've heard of that has chunked off a piece of the piston, including my own. And it's ALWAYS #3!! I have a nice hi-res pic if it will let me post it. Same as you, wasn't driving hard or anything. Weird...

[4felix20]

i noticed alot of people have had problems with the #3 area...kind of wierd yeah.

[virus77]

#3 is the hottest runing cylinder in almost any 4 banger made due to the firing order.

1-3-4-2

The number 3 cylinder gets blasted and then one cylinder following it and then one before it, its gets the most heat.

[Skidmark]

That makes perfect sense, cuz my motor was overheating like a mofo when I chunked off the piston. I guess now I know another weak point on the stock bottom end to watch out for... Thanks dude.

[4felix20]

thanks for that info. i didn't even think of it like that..

btw, i'm still waiting on a motor to be shipped to me so i can drop it in and drive around on low boost for a little bit while i rebuild the old motor. i'm pretty sure i'm gonna get that rebuild kit from turbo240.com.. i'll probably still need those cams. i'm just waiting to buy them until i actually have the build in progress. hope you still have them within a months time. =)