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Piston + Valve = No Bueno

blueguy

blueguy

The Blue One
I was driving home (I recently discovered thanks to Brian's (Reptile) help that I had a failing lifter...this is my only car really so I was using it sparingly) and taking the corner on 152 HWY towards Liberty, MO passing Maple Woods College PKWY when the lights go dim for a second and I hear a faint clatter...I hit the gas and nothing...give it a bit more and the lights come back but it starts clattering and sputtering...I end up a the REMAX building right off of 152 HWY were the tow truck got me and brought me home...and I all pulled it apart...and again thanks to Brian's (Reptile) help over the phone...I got a nicely bent "crescent" pushrod. It boiled down to plug #4 getting STUCK in the block, 3 lifters cannot be removed, and there were about 30-50 tiny shards of metal all in the boost bypass section of the LIM...

Here are some pics so far...
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Gonna try and get the rear head off tonight to see what REAL damage there is...hopefully since I just lost my job that the block is ok and I can drop in my LS7 lifters I have and put new gaskets in it...if I got a damaged block then she might go up for sale...not sure just yet...:th_shakinghead1:
 


welcome to the club, cylinder # 4 claimed my L36 too. i hope its an easy fix, but prepare for the worst, good luck
 
Dammit man, I hate to see this happen to you man. I really hope theres nothing wrong under that head but as what was said, expect the worse.

I'd hate to see you pull out, but the way the economy is and not having a job, things aren't good for alot of people nowadays.

If you do pull out, before doing so, weigh you're options. You don't want to get into another car with money you don't have (no income). If I were you, i'd look into just getting her running through these hard times. If worse comes to worse and your piston is destroyed, you could pull the block, re hone that cylinder and throw in a good used rod/piston combo and buckle back together. Go easy on it until you get back on your feet and can rebuild or replace it properly. This would be the absolute cheapest and fastest route I think. I bet someone in KC has used pistons and rods you can get.

Just throwing out that idea for you...
 
I'm not exactly in the area, but I've got three used pistons that aren't broken laying out in my garage. Shipping shouldn't be more than a couple bucks if you need one.
 


Thanks for the words guys...but it finally took a turn for the worse when I got some time to work on it tonight...

Basically here is my theory on it...

It was on the exhaust stroke when the bad lifter I had finally failed, fell though (was demolished), the piston then smacked the exhaust valve (hence no head on the valve), and in turn shattered at some point soon after...

Pics are of what I found tonight...

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Most likely gonna drain the oil and see tomorrow when I get back from job hunting where the rest of the piston is :D

And you damn skippy I was happy...that means another motor YAY!! Me (in front) and Kevin (jstaV6) just after finding the non-existent #4 piston...had to smile for something :p
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I don't see how a bad lifter will cause a valve to smack a piston. If the lifter collapsed through, the valve would not open instead of staying open too long.

Maybe I'm missing something.
 


Bio248 said:
im on unemployment too. i feel your pain. i am about to sell my roof rails because i need money. :(
Click to expand...

Never been on UE...if you don't mind shooting me a PM or something...do I just sign up for it? Do they base it on your last income or what? Just wondering...
 
Sabrewings said:
I don't see how a bad lifter will cause a valve to smack a piston. If the lifter collapsed through, the valve would not open instead of staying open too long.

Maybe I'm missing something.
Click to expand...

Again...you know whatever did happen caused the valve to be stuck open...looked at my EGR last night when it had been sitting on the ground and there was about a "palm-sized" puddle of oil coming out of it...and that exhaust port...it burned completely clean on the head...so I have no idea LOL
 
Damnit, I didn't expect it to be that bad! I expected the piston to be there, just beat to hell and the valves and the plugs beat to hell. Looks like theres no saving that motor easy, temporarily, and cheap... Sorry dude....
 


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