Abused Cruiser engines

[FJ40Jim]

This is a thread to post up stories and pics of abused & blowed up Cruiser engines.
Hopefully we can learn things by examining these mortal remains, like how NOT to treat an engine for best performance.

I'll go first.
Subject is a 1987 2.5F engine. It was running at high speed on the interstate when it "lost power".


This is what it looked like on the outside. Hand grenade hole in the pan, not too bad. But note the bleeding bullet hole in the block, that's bad.




OK, the crank is junk. And that rod is... not a rod anymore.




And this rod is not too good either.

 

[FJ40Jim]

Continuing...

This rod is still wrapped around the crank (barely).
The bearing insert is powdered away to nothing and the rod is blue from heat. Another second and it would have turned to taffy and been slung off the crank like the other two.
Good thing it was shut down before that happened. Coulda been bad.




The cause of death was high speed detonation. The engine had recently rebuilt for "hi-performance". So it got a bad desmog, weber 38/38, milled head and chrome header.
The PCV system was not working correctly, so it was blowing a lot of crankcase vapor into the top of the carb, which lowers the octane of the incoming charge.
The dissy was a stock unit w/ worn governor pin, giving 26* of mechanical advance. And the dual vacuum advancers were teed off the ported vac fitting, giving a combined vac advance of 20+7*. Total distributor advance was 53*. And the base timing was "advanced for more power" to 11* BTDC. So total timing at highway cruise was in the neighborhood of 50-60*. Combine that w/ the low octane fuel and high compression, and the engine just hammered away on the rod bearings until they were extruded.

Here's the carnage removed for better viewing.





And here is that block, oil pump and some of the rods going back into service.
It's in my junker truck and still running OK for well over a year now.



PS: the date code has been highlighted w/ white paint. 7 01 15 is 1987 january 15.

 

[miker]

That engine was a mess. How was the hole in the side of the block fixed?

 

[dgangle]

with another block I presume

 

[KLF]

Nah... JB Weld and duct tape.

 

[1979fj40]

with another block I presume

He said "that" block going back in, so he apparently fixed it.

 

[Southeast Overland]

Your oil should not look like this...

This came out of a 83 2F that is currently being rebuilt. After taking everything apart to see the extent of the damage I would have been OK with a new headgasket - but I didn't know that until I tore everything apart.

 

[3_puppies]

I thought the hole was in the oil pan??

I thinkalittle emory cloth and you could have savd the crank. LOL.

Here's a pic of a85 engine that was in a rig I bought a few years ago, ran smooth just blew alot of smoke, with zero compression.

 

[Mr. Toad]

He said "that" block going back in, so he apparently fixed it.

Fixed bullet hole.

 

[FJ40Jim]

Mr Toad is right. A combination of welding and JB welding and some sticky grey RTV and a couple thick coats of paint on the outside....
No duct tape was harmed in making this engine.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Great thread, subscribing.

I'm waiting for the one in my FJ40 to do this since the oil pressure is kind of low at idle, but I've been waiting for 5-6 years now....

 

[Wadesters]

more abuse

Here is one I had. Not sure what happened as I bought it this way.

 

['74 UA FJ]

Great thread, subscribing.

I'm waiting for the one in my FJ40 to do this since the oil pressure is kind of low at idle, but I've been waiting for 5-6 years now....

As long as you have some oil pressure at idle, it should be fine for a lonngg time.

I've seen small block chevys that had less than 10 psi at idle run for years and years.

 

[alkarich]

The horror, the horror!