Pictures of the destroyed engine...

[MarkEmark]

I pulled the engine on tuesday and finally got around to taking the head off today. Damage was a lot worse than I was hoping for.

I was *hoping* that only one piston was damaged and that I could order a single replacement from wiseco, but it turns out 3 are damaged...2 are only minor, and the damage is only at the bottom of the piston...they could probably be re-used but I don't t hink that's a good idea.

All of oil piston squirters except one are smashed and destroyed, crankshaft is damaged.

Head gasket is in perfect condition, head is in perfect condition except for 2 bent intake valves...all the other valves are perfect. I'm hoping I can buy just 2 intake valves from ferrea instead of spending a lot of $ on the whole kit. The spark plugs look fine, and the bottom of the valves make it seem like the combustion was really clean...I highly doubt this was a case of detonation. The cylinders themselves also look VERY clean. Apparently the engine broke in very well. You can still see the swirl marks from the boring .020 over.

The rod bearings also seem to be in good shape...and again, like Fiznat, I highly doubt the damage was caused by lack of lubrication.

Anyway, I took tons of pictures, but didn't feel like hosting ~40 on this one post, so I put them on webshots. And no, you DON'T need to sign up for webshots to view them.

Check them out:

http://community.webshots.com/user/markemarKAT

At this point my dad and I think it was simple rod failure, although it doesn't make sense that the rods would fail at so low a level of boost. But it definitely doesn't look like detonation. I still don't understand why almost every person who throws a rod in the KA or spins a bearing does so with the #3. Why the #3?!?

Let me know what you guys think.
Modified by MarkEmark at 1:10 AM 8/24/2005

[fiznat]

Ahhh such a familar sight. I have piles of parts just like you sitting in my garage... it looks like my hood popped open and all of the parts from my KA-T just exploded out of the engine bay. Not far from the truth, sadly.

You HAVE to rebuild it man. This is not a fundamental error within the KA that will rear it's head again, this is a simple failure of the weakest link. Fix that link, and we're both going to have some STRONG machines.

On a side note, did you notice anything else with your engine while pulling it apart? I found a TON of loose bolts, things that were about to break, things that needed fixing, pinched lines here and there, etc etc... I cant wait to do this over again, and RIGHT this time. Join me!

[ILikeMy240sx]

wow... just looking at the pictures makes me want to cry...

Fiz, Im glad that you are determined to start over again and MarkEmark, good luck with whatever you decided to do.

[XingYu]

Sad pictures...I hope you continue to rebuild the ka again. I read the last thread and you said you wanted to stop all together.I say you keep trying until everything is right. The feeling of achievement kicks everythings ***.

But good luck to you no matter what you decide to do =)

[Checkered-Member]

Is the engine a total loss? Does the head have damage.

Also I notice all your spark plugs tip are blistered white, meaning they were running to hot, or incorrect heat range (stock)?

[chandler]

dude, ill give you my spare block and crank, just come get it

[MarkEmark]

Is the engine a total loss? Does the head have damage.

Also I notice all your spark plugs tip are blistered white, meaning they were running to hot, or incorrect heat range (stock)?

Well, if you read my post or looked at the pictures (lol), you'd see that i have two bent exhaust valves, but that's it as far as head damage goes...

Spark plugs aren't as white as they look, and certainly aren't blistered; it's the pictures. They actually look pretty decent. The combustion chamber looked VERY clean.

Chandler---I need to get in contact with you...Name, email, phone, etc...

Send me an email or post your email up here:

[email protected]

ps...how many miles does the block have on it and is it in decent shape (although beggars can't be choosers!)

[Drift Machine]

Woah, that really sucks. I'm sorry. I go away from the KA-T world for the summer and come back to find that you and Fiznat have had horrible luck.

Granted I haven't had as devastating experiences as you, I've been in the same position as you as wanting to give up. But don't give up, becuase when things work they way they are suppose to (even if it's only for a little while) it's simply awesome.