Heres pics of my 306, that exploded on me while driving to work last thursday.
While I was at a traffic light I felt some weird vibrations in the steering wheel and the floor. Light turns green, I'm trying to get in the right lane to pull over and check out under the hood and BOOM. Engine shuts down and I hear stuff falling on the ground. All this happens in a 30 second period, before this the engine ran great on the highway going to work.
more
couple more
almost done
What the hell happened to the engine to cause that kind of damage?
getting there..
The one valve is bent and wasn't seating so I took that out. The valve seat looks okay to me (see 3rd pic on post #4) Thats it for that head that I can see. The other head has a "dent" or something right near the gasket area but not on it. I don't remember that being there when I put the heads on, and when I took the heads off it was nice and clean not dirty like you expect it to look if its been there. Also when I pulled that head last night it came right up nice and smooth so I know I didn't ding it than..
Ouch, that thing's F'ed up for sure. Did you figure out what caused it? Almost looks like a valve hit a piston or somethin although that seems kinda unlikely.
That looks like more than a valve hitting a piston! About the only thing I can see splitting the block like that, other than nitrous or detonation, would be a broken crank. The way the block is pushed out in the top few pics seems to support this...
My brother had that happen to the 4.2V6 in his F150 - same thing, just pulling away normally, and BANG! He literally blew the front of the engine off - you could look in one side and see out the other. His caught fire, tho - the hot oil hit the manifolds. Unfortunately for him the fire went out...
Ouch! What more can I say? Sorry! :(
Looks like you need a little bit of super glue :(
Sorry to hear about this, Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
i think JB weld is a bit more apropriate! So what are your plans for the car then, new engine? apart out?
The carnage hurts just to look at!
Daniel
Yeah I got another 302 short block ready to go. I'm pulling the engine tonight, transfering everything over to the new block and will be dropping it in next weekend
:eek: holy !
So what was the offical cause of all of this... stuff?
edit: suppose i should watch the smiley animation all the way through next time. :D
I noticed in one of the pics that the timing chain appeared broken...
is that a result, of, or the cause i wonder?
Is that one head gonna be able to be re-used? good luck man...
Yeah the chain is broken. I can't wait to crack open the oil pan to see whats up in there, I'll have it off tonight
I think the heads are going to be fine, the damage to them are very minor compared to what could have be done to them.
Hey bubba I see your in philly,I have stock 302 came out of my cat 87 ,ran good no smoke, put an HO in mine sitten lookin for a home.
110,000 on it.Oh yeh I feel sorry for you,I hope my eng. doesn't do that. sort of looks like my trans.all broke up.$$$
Not cool.... Good luck with the new motor.
dam bob, i thought u just broke off the balancer, i would have never immagioned u cracked the block. u want me to drop off that tensioner over the weekend some time? and u dont need the timing cover anymore rite>?
Yeah I need the tensioner, a cover came with the new short block. I thinking the crank broke and caused all of this, my buddy is bringing over another engine stand tomorrow so I'll have some pics later on in the day of the bottom end.
I'm sending the heads out to get checked and I might as well have them freshened up while I'm at it so next weekend for the tensioner is cool. If you can come up or I'll come over and get it. I still have to check the cam and order parts so I got some time.
Man the only thing I think that could break a block like that would be the crank. But who knows. Good luck- maybe go w/a bigger motor (347,351+) since your replacing it. Yare I know $$$ just dreaming for you.
I wanted to go bigger and faster trust me. My buddy had a fresh rebuilt 302 short block thats ready to drop in. We just had a baby girl 2 months ago and theres little extra money right now. I just need the car running again, taking the bus to work is getting old and I only did it one week. September the buses will be full of school kids so I really want to be done before labor day
Oh man I'm sorry to see that.
Almost reminds me of when my car started spewing coolant a couple months ago. That morning it ran like a brand new motor and then boom, dead.
Dam i remember when you built that engine.
Question,is there a crack straight down the lifter gallery???
I've heard that 5.0L's like to split blocks due to torsional stress.
Anybody interested in a couple of 4cyls .... CHEAP!!!
(http://members.pen 15s.net/mr428/split50.jpg)
Now that's what I'd term "Crack Kills" :rollin:
I think these kinds of pictures can be prevented...by installing a 460 instead of a 5.0 ;)
Tom, how much power was that engine making, or was that not the reason it split? (i remember the thread you had about it, cant remember the particulars tho)
Looks like a case of crank walk.
Nice one Tom :)
Little update on my engine. I got the cam out it looks good. Still waiting on another engine stand so I can drop the pan on the old one. I'm dropping the heads off in the next couple of days to get checked out, new valve, and freshened up. I gotta order my parts and gaskets so I'm looking to have everything done and engine running in the next two weeks.
I don't actually have any info on that block, but a local vintage racer split one down the front, all the way to the back wall. That was a Ford Racing block as well(not the real expensive piece, just the one a step up from stock).
I'd blame the oil filter
That's awesome,well not for the guy it happened to.
From what i hear it's typical 5.0L with over 500rwhp and 6000rpm.
Keeping mine under 6 grand for that very reason,all though it wants to pull alot higher.
Yea John(local racer)spins his '65 Shelby to 7000+ all the time. He runs the vintage circuit, often 3-4 30 minute races in one weekend... I saw him run at VIR last month, finished 4th out of probably 35 entrys. Only the Cobra Automotive guys finished ahead of him and thats a BIG $$$ outfit. With the Ford racing block he is running now in one of his engines, they just pulled it down after 50+ racing hours. Bearings and rings were shot but otherwise still in good condition...
Wow that's pretty bad. I'd never seen a 302 split like that. Is it me or are the cam bearings still in place?
Nobody can say 5.0 cam bearings ain't tough... :rollin:
Ive seen 302 blocks split from front to back along the lifter galley, but never seen it split like that on the front. Usually like Tom said due to high rpms or just high HP boosted applications. The block Ive seen was a parking lot racer running consistently in the 7000rpm range.
Looks like the crank broke, course thats just a guess at this point. I would have the heads port pressure tested to make sure you have proper valve seating and you didnt bend any other valves. This is the time to do it since you have the heads off and would eliminate any other problems. Also with aluminum heads, you want to have them resurfaced to ensure proper seal, aluminum is very suseptible to warpage and gasket indentions.
Are you just going to throw another used short block in, or go through and rebuild one?
Cograts on your kid I just had my first; he’s 3 ½ months old I could imaging what your going threw. All you want to do is see your baby and you have to tinker w/your car. Sounds like this is your only ride.
Yeah I think the crank broke too, it had to have. The heads are getting dropped off at the machine shop tomorrow and I have a fresh short block thats rebuilt ready to go.
Yeah thanks man, My little girl will be 2 months friday.. she's great. Congrats on your little one ;)
We have another car in our household so were cool. I hate to leave her stuck in the house all day if I take the car to work. So I've been taking the bus a couple days here and there.