Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

I am lucky to have made it home today. Vern and I were unloading the truck....[hauled a whole bunch of demo lumber home] and afterwards I hooked up the trailer for it's trip into town tomorrow. While I was attaching the chains and lights, I noticed my left leg getting a bath...an oil bath....oil was spraying out of the tailpipe and dripping like a bad faucet. I knew the rings were a problem but today it escalated.

So it's official....I got 24,156 miles out of the rebuild and the motor has to be re-ringed. All this after 9 broken pushrods, 4 cracked rocker arms and a bad balancer SINCE THE REBUILD! It's gotten so comical I can't even get mad anymore.

Unfortunately, I cannot afford the 5.3 swap yet so we'll have to re-ring and put the motor back together instead of going camping this weekend. I sure hope this ends the bad luck trail with this motor.

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

Man--that is tough!!!! I've never had a truck pee on me!
Hope the next build lasts a little longer! I think the newer vortechs are the way to go for longevity. Factory tolerances are so much better.

john

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

wow cant you find a running small block to throw in there ? I would think that would be cheaper time wise than rebuild

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

I've got a good friend who is a mechanic....he and I are going to re-ring and rebuild over the weekend if there's no serious problem other than rings not being seated. His price on the rebuild kit and rings is less than $100. We trade out labor so that is at no cost to me other than time building something for him.

I agree John...the 5.3 will be a 2000-2004 model motor and trans...just can't swing that one yet.

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

Wow sorry to hear that

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

I would think that much oil would be from valve seals, especially at idle.
they are cheaper and easier to do than rings.

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

Sometimes oil or carbon mixed with the moisture that accumulates in the exhaust will spew out when you first start an engine. I don't think I've ever seen a vehecle spew out oil unless the rings were broken. Either way, it looks like a rebuild and I would check the cylinders for tapering or out of round.

I agree that badly worn valve guides are a possibility. Especially if you see bluish smoke when you first crank it up.

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

Kinda like a dog hiking his leg on a tree...:lol:
I'm sorry. That engine seems to have been a "Christine" so to speak all along. Of course you guys will check or replace the valve seals while you have it down so maybe it'll go back all tight this time and stop this nonsense.

[So it's official....I got 24,156 miles out of the rebuild and the motor has to be re-ringed. All this after 9 broken pushrods, 4 cracked rocker arms and a bad balancer SINCE THE REBUILD]
I think no part of this engine should ever be used again when you are done with it. Don't save heads, crank, nothing! Scrap the SOB! :lol:

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

Dude Sorry to hear that. I hope you get it back going. My short block should be done this weekend. Im hoping to be putting it back together and back in the truck weather permitting. Best of luck to ya.

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

Man, that sux. Hope this next go-through works out better.

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

that's an awful lot of problems in the top end. I'm thinking more and more it may be guides and seals.

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

Not sure about the valve guides...these were supposedly new. Here's what it's doin'...

A bit of smoke from time to time at startup. A heavy cloud at full throttle. Both off white in color.

Plugs are fouling very quickly on the driver's side....ALL FOUR OF THEM, but the number 5 is the worst.

It could be all of the above problems...in wich case the motor might be a lost cause. If so the truck will get parked and the motor will be removed and scrapped. Hopefully this won't be the case as I got nuthin' else to drive.

It's runnin'!!!
 

Well it was guides....and missing seats.....and the bottom end was in great shape so off we went!

Turns out the heads will need a total rebuild, I got a bum set. We installed a new set of heads and the difference is fantastic! Fixed every problem I had with the motor for $500. Hated to have to do it to a motor that wasn't 25k old, but the feeliung now is that the motor is strong and will last more than a year!

I found a new paint color [Cast Coat Iron] and sprayed it on the heads and intake...lookin' better!!

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

I was right!!!! I was right!!!

if they were original heads I think they never had seats.

what heads did you go with.

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

Yessir, you called that one!

Supposedly they had been rebuilt, they were not original to my motor. Jerrod said the seats blew out very early in the life of the head after it was installed during the rebuild process. Since we had to replace some rods and rockers early on, he felt the setting of the valves 'cured the seat problem for awhile. The side that head was on never had a problem that I knew of. The driver's side was the one that fouled all the plugs.

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

OMG! I am SUCH an idiot!!!!:lol:

I thought an actual hair helped you save your engine.:Own:

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

That's great Kelly. Glad ya didn't have to take it all the way down.

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

Almost forgot....I had to buy 882's cause on short notice that's the only ones they had in two different shops. I got mine from City Motors in Dallas.

I was told eons ago that those heads were prone to cracking so I avoided them like the plague on both rebuilds. My mechanic friends both told me that was not the case, so I bought 'em and the first impression is a good one.

Re: Catastrophic engine failure avoided by a hair....
 

882s are good heads. they also have potential to flow real good, assuming they dont have the small valves like mine were.

I had a set on a truck 10 years ago and made real good power with a mild port job and gasket match. the decks are thick enough to avoid cracking.