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Question: Oil pan with piece of skirt piston WTF

MARCUS VETTE

Member
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
24
Location
Québec, Canada
Corvette
1986 c4 BLACK
Oil pan with piece of skirt piston WTF
I just want to change the gasket of the oil pan. I discovery 4 pieces of skirt piston!!!
IMG_0236.jpg
It’s so bad??
I can run with this??
I have to rebuild my engine??
WTF, what I’m supposed to do!!!
Marc
:confused
 
Owch

I would go though the motor My self I would not drive it that way.

If the piston cracks more it could have you walking home.

Besides You might get away with a cheeper fix now rather let blow up and killing the rest of the motor when it lets go.

M576b.jpg
 
Hi Marc;

My take on this, for what its worth.....

It’s so bad??
You could find worse things...was it running when you drained the oil? Did you hear any noises before you drained the pan?

I can run with this??
Yes, you could, but like others have already said, you could run into serious trouble down the road. Personally, I love my Vette and any noise is a sign to stop and check it out.

I have to rebuild my engine??
If you cannot ascertain where the pieces came from or how bad the piston really is, I would start thinking about a rebuild...you wouldn't have to if you knew where the pieces came from, you could cheaply replace that piston, but while it was down, why not do the whole engine

WTF, what I’m supposed to do!!!
Whatever your budget and pocketbook will allow...myself, I would prep for the rebuild and do it all at the same time. Then you have a fresh engine that will take you many more miles. :w
 
NO question you should rebuild. Pieces of pistons have a nasty habit of getting in the way of other pieces causing a real failure, been there done that. Anything as bad as those photos show is a catastrophe waiting to happen and then in will not be cheap.
 
I ran my Vette all this summer without noise! My Vette leak oil from the engine and I just want to change the gasket of the pan oil to try stopping the leaking. I think I will change my project and I will take out my engine and find a rebuild one or find someone to fix this one. :confused
 
They can run with the skirts broken on the pistons, I have seen it but one little piece going in the wrong place and the engine is totally ruined. I have an MG that had a broken skirt in the engine and have seen other cars with pieces that break off and all of a sudden a hole in the block. It sounds like your piston is slowly disenigrating and if a piece comes off the top or at an oil ring, bingo your done. I know it is not cheap to rebuild an engine but there ar e a lot of local small guys out there that do this and you can keep the cost down. A member of a local club should be able to supply you with some names, as well as folks on this board. Good luck whatever you do..
 
Remember that old commercial, "You can pay me now or you can Pay me later"?
That engine is a ticking time bomb.

The skirts of the pistons keep them square in the bores.
By reducing the skirt length you allow the piston to wear more on the cylinder wall.

Broken skirts also put the piston out of balance with itself and the rocking tendency is increased.

The sooner you rebuild the engine, the less cost you will incur.
Let it go too long and the cylinder walls are either going to wear too much or they will get damaged. That means either new block or sleeves...Both are expensive. A piston could also finally break and cause bent or broken rods along with taking out a cylinder or side of the block.

I suppose you could button it all back up and pick up another engine to throw in. Maybe it's time for a nice stroker motor?:upthumbs
 
Looks an awful lot like the remains of an ingested Mustang. :upthumbs
 
Looks like what I remember from over revving on a cold engine.Depending on how long you have had the car it may have happened before you owned it. You are lucky you decided to change the pan gasket. With the number of pieces I would say you were close to putting a rod through the block,now even if you put in a crate motor you have a block and crank to sell.


Marv02,, what is this picture of an engine with a head made in Austria?


Glenn
:w
 
Marv02,, what is this picture of an engine with a head made in Austria?


Glenn
:w


That is actually a motorcyle cylinder with the word Austria on it, and it should be either a KTM or Beta.:)
 
View attachment 2708
It’s so bad??
I can run with this??
I have to rebuild my engine??
WTF, what I’m supposed to do!!!
Marc
:confused[/QUOTE]

:w Sorry for your problem.
IMHO - YES this is VERY bad. In some respects you were very lucky (and astute) to pull the pan to find this. Aside from the centering as noted, you also have a balance issue as well as a the almost certainty of piston/block/head cracking. You may be able to get the pistons changed and the cylinders honed for much less than what it will eventually need if not repaired.
 
Ktm 560

Yep it a KTM.

The story behide that I had a KTM 560 I purchased from a guy at work and it started acting up.
I was on the intenet I found this Picture of someones elses blown engine .
I took it to work and told the guy I purchased the bike from yep I found whats wrong with it you should seen his face.

It ended up beening a bad CDI when it got hot the bike would act up.
 
Thanks you all for your comments,
I appreciated your honest and your knowledge on Vette.
I will remove my Engine and find someone to rebuilt this Engine L98
I will start a new treat, (remove and install engine)
I started this weekend; I removed lots of part, water pump, starter, muffler, cap distributor… I toke a lot of picture and I toke note. It very easy to remove parts, It will be more difficult to put it back and I will probably need info there!
I have lot’s time here in Canada. We are in winter and My vette stay in his garage untill April or May.
:)

Marc
 
Yep it a KTM.

The story behide that I had a KTM 560 I purchased from a guy at work and it started acting up.
I was on the intenet I found this Picture of someones elses blown engine .
I took it to work and told the guy I purchased the bike from yep I found whats wrong with it you should seen his face.

It ended up beening a bad CDI when it got hot the bike would act up.
We have a lot of dirt bikers around my neck of the woods due to all the abandoned mine lands. KTM? Dosen't that mean, "Kan't Take Much"? :happyanim:
 
Thanks you all for your comments,
I appreciated your honest and your knowledge on Vette.
I will remove my Engine and find someone to rebuilt this Engine L98
I will start a new treat, (remove and install engine)
I started this weekend; I removed lots of part, water pump, starter, muffler, cap distributor… I toke a lot of picture and I toke note. It very easy to remove parts, It will be more difficult to put it back and I will probably need info there!
I have lot’s time here in Canada. We are in winter and My vette stay in his garage untill April or May.
:)

Marc


You;re doing the right thing.
when rebuilding, buy the best pistons/rods/crank that you can afford. ALL forged Parts. This makes a near bullet-proof rotating assembly that won;t come apart like this one did.

I lost a piston the same way. Mine dug into the cyl wall so much it took boring .060" to clean up all the scars. Since you have plenty of time, buy the good parts as you can and build a motor that you can be sure about.

Good luck with the job.
oh yes,
get the crank ground and balanced....balancing also helps keep things from flying apart. And get a knock sensor that works:beer
 
You found the big pieces. As you take your engine apart, you'll find all the little pieces, too. And they'll be in the strangest places!! I'd call you Mr. Lucky for discovering this problem before your engine blew!!

:happyanim:
 
We have a lot of dirt bikers around my neck of the woods due to all the abandoned mine lands. KTM? Dosen't that mean, "Kan't Take Much"? :happyanim:

Keep Taking Money (KTM) :mad
 

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