Catastrophic engine failure, suspect pre-ignition (Pics to follow)

[DoctorDex]

Very early this morning (6am-ish) I was cruising along, on a new flat stretch of highway. The road was completely deserted and I figured it seemed like a great time to see how well my tune using 94 octane fuel + 100% methanol (2x375ml nozzles @ 220 psi) held up. I get on the throttle at about 3200 rpm and boost is gradually picking up. By 4500 rpm I'm seeing 25 psi and then I feel a few little pops, similar to the feeling of spark blowout, followed by a sudden loss of power, coupled with high frequency chugging (@ 127mph) and then I catch a glance of smoke out of the corner of my eye. I glance in my rearview and there it is: a 747 sized white smoke vapor trail. I quickly pull over, smoke is billowing from under the hood, I jump out, thinking my methanol kit has somehow caused a huge fire, but when I open the hood the entire engine bay is covered in oil. My dipstick is sitting on top of the intake plenum and there is oil pouring from the area around both main seals. There is motor oil covering the majority of the underside of the car and there is even oil all over my rear tires. The only part that seemed to be spared from the carnage was my oil pan. It had no dents and it was surprisingly, mostly clear of oil.

I reviewed the logs of the run and there was no knock whatsoever until after whatever it was gave out. My AFRs were all between 11.2 - 11.5. I have a feeling my car probably fell victim to pre-ignition, as there was no knock prior to the event and I probably melted a hole through a piston. The fact that I was runnning 100% meth, rather than my usual 80:20 meth:h20 probably didn't help things. Plus, I should have known better, since I still have the stock cat back which has to be giving me very high EGTs. To make it hurt that much more, I have an IPS quad tip exhaust that is due to be shipped this week.

Car is completely screwed. Had to get it towed 100 km back to my parents house (who live 700 km away from where I live) and now it sits. I don't have a single holiday, except 5 days at xmas, so I really don't have any time in which I can repair it. I'm assuming I'm going to need a new motor and probably a new clutch. Car is pretty much down for the count...

I have yet to pull it apart, but I will post pics once I get the heart to do it. Any suggestions/advice or words of encouragement/discouragement from those have been there done that would be appreciated.

[jeettao]

Wow, I hope you didn't blow your engine over a PCV valve. I also hope everything works out for you. On the bright side, it sounds like you have a lot of mods, so a fresh, new engine will complement those mods quite well.

[1320VR4]

sounds really bad, sorry to hear. Theres a guy in the forums selling 2 engines I think. Rebuilt engines are usualy $2700 ish in that range. I hope you have another car to get you around?

[ProwlerGT]

Jeeezzzzzzzzzzzuuuuuuuuuusss man. Just the oil cleanup alone is aggravating enough especially after all you've been through trying to fix the 2700-2800 rpm prob.

Right now dude is no time for making decisions. Its too fresh in your head, too fresh a pain in the ass. Literally/figuratively let it sit for a while (weeks) long enough to forget about it almost completely and when yer refreshed revisit it in thought for what to do.

Me - Personally, I know everyone loves the 1st gens for pre OBD2 stuff, but I'd never have one because of all the problems with the earlier models. If keeping the car (which I probably would after all your time/money invested) I would probably convert the bay to a 2nd gen engine (ECU n all). Big job I know, but its already a big job for you. I might even go all the way and make it a 99 conversion especially cause of the better lifters that year. Used maybe (for engine), but if you have time to do it right after all you've been through you really don't want to have to deal with ZILCH for problems for a very very very very long time after you do whatever it is you are gonna do. So if you save up you could go with a NEW engine from Jasper or whoever you trust. If you part out everything you sell is gonna be filthy with oil etc... and it'll just be a real pain in the ass job and frankly I'm not sure how much in total you'd get. A used engine or new engine may be just the same expense as buying a whole new car too. Thats the other possibility.... start fresh.... or as fresh as it gets with our cars now. Buy another one off the net. They are out there. Just make sure its 94 or above. Thats just me. I don't race ever and just daily drive. I don't care about the OBD2 stuff and frankly with gas prices I'm glad OBD2 exists.

In any case wait a while before it comes to you. Right now you are way down about all this and might do something you'd later regret. LOL - Personally, I will have my 3000GT forever. ..... and its just a base model NA.

[zba857]

Do you log oil pressure as well?

[DoctorDex]

Well, I decided, what the hell, I'll take a quick peek and see what I can see. I found copious amounts of oil in the intake plenum and in all cylinders. My throttle body passageways were overflowing with oil and there was a small amount of oil in the y-pipe. No oil pre-y-pipe or in the turbo piping. Noted a large puddle underneath the car (ie. 5 feet in diameter). Made a note to self, that I need to drain the oil pan next and then I pulled the plugs.

Plugs 1,2,4,5,6 all looked good except for the fact they were dripping in oil. Plug number 3 was a different story. The pic is pretty much self explanatory, but I'll describe it anyway: both positive & negative electrodes are bent and contorted and the insulator is completely destroyed. Looks like its been hit hard.

[ProwlerGT]

Dex - I bet you found your 2700-2800 rpm culprit right there. You forced it to expose itself in more ways than one.

[Jimmy Nuetron]

consider: eBay Motors: Rebuilt Mitsubishi VR4 Dodge Stealth Twin Turbo Engine (item 320271125662 end time Jul-15-08 20:44:02 PDT)

The same seller HAD a Complete vr4 engine with turbos etc for $2000 buy it now, it had 28K miles on it. Looks like some one bought it up, but they may still be a good source if you contact them.

[DoctorDex]

Originally Posted by ProwlerGT

Dex - I bet you found your 2700-2800 rpm culprit right there. You forced it to expose itself in more ways than one.

lol. I still don't know what caused it. Plugs were out ~ 100 miles before and they looked great.

zba857: No log of oil pressure because I don't have any method of logging it (I know I'm in the dark ages).

Jimmy Nuetron: That is downright reasonable. Thanks for the links.

[Jimmy Nuetron]

Originally Posted by DoctorDex

Jimmy Nuetron: That is downright reasonable. Thanks for the links.

no problem, i just wish i had found a deal like that when i needed it!!