LOL!

- Jesse

Get ahold of Chris Kirby.

What can cause this?
 

What is actually damaged?
Should I be looking for another engine or can this be repaired?
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Ouch, you're looking at a new engine case at least. :(

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFuuuuuuuuu

Oh no. Well yes, a case and, at the very least, a rod I suppose. It's more likely that quite a few parts have been damaged in the mess that caused that. I can't believe it was still running.

Holy <FCC says this word is not permissable>!

Even if that could be repaired, I doubt I would trust it. It would be interesting to see how fragged the internals are because thats a serious crack. Put another way, I'm morbidly curious... pics please.

If I were you I'd start looking at finding a donor engine... perhaps moving some of your upgrades to the new engine and selling whatever else is good as parts.

Tough break. Good luck with the repair/replacement.

I wonder is something from the road hit it. That seems like a strange place for a broken rod to hit.

Wow. Never seen anything like that. So sorry. It makes my stomach turn.

Love to know how that happened. Were the engine temps ok when it failed?

Good news... it's apparent that starting up the oil starved engine the second time around didn't do any additional damage.

Sorry... I don't mean to be a jerk in your bad situation. I just couldn't resist being my normal smart a$$ self.

That's a bummer deal. However there have been several 3.0s in the FS section lately that appear to have been great deals. Good luck!

That's just bad luck. You must have run over something that bounced up and hit the case.

The engine probably stalled when crankcase ventilation was interrupted which is a good thing otherwise you would have destroyed all the internal parts if you had dumped oil and kept driving.

As long as you didn't drive without oil you'll be able to save the engine.

This area where the case broke can probably be welded. At any rate the motor should be pulled and the oil return tube removed. It's possible you can have this fixed without breaking down the motor.

After welding is complete you can replace the oil return tube with a collapsible one.

Before welding you should get a small grinding tip and lay a valley for the weld bead.

The repair will either work or it will leak oil but it's worth a try in my opinion.

If it doesn't work and leaks oil then look for another case and monitor your oil level closely until you find a replacement.

Just a note if you can prove that an object hit the engine case while driving and you have full coverage you might get through this very unscathed!!

I had a friend with a similar issue, he was driving and a piece of rebar went under the car and bounced up into the engine case . He had full coverage and the insurance carrier covered all the cost of a new case engine rebuild and on and on.

Make sure you confirm external damage on the road with a mechanic. THen your good to go!!

Jon W.

Pull your sump plate and have a look inside....

I would think that if something hit the case hard enough to do that, you would know it because it would move the whole car. My guess is that damaged came from a rod end, from the inside.

I hate to say it, but I bet at the very minimum you need a new case, probably new rods, probably new P & Cs.

If I am right, your best bet would be to source a new engine, and sell off any parts you have that are still good, heads, cam towers, chain boxes, and if you are lucky, the crank.

Sorry man,

Tom

That might actually be worth a try.

In the last photo, you can see that something came up and whacked the tube very hard, causing it to dent and break apart.

It appears there may be fractures (cracks) where the adjacent tube enters the case.


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Don

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Hard to tell without seeing it in person, but a couple of these highlighted areas look like scuff marks or gouges.

after a close look i cant see how this happened from the out side.the damage apears to be on the back side of the oil tube. how did the oil tube syrvive a impact like that? and where you driving backwards?.

im thinking the inside out. i think theres a better chance that a rocker shaft or somthing slid down the return tube and and wedged it self into the rotation of the crank rod.

but no matter what did it you will find out when you tear down.

sorry to here about this, but there is a bunch of knowledge on this forum and you will get back on the road with out a doubt.

cheers ed

I think mca may be on to something. Looking beyond where he circled the marks, you can see more all the way up to the sump. True, there may be hairline cracks in the other tube area, but catastrophic failure appears to be from impact from the outside. Take billybek's advice and pull the sump to see if there are loose parts or damage on the inside.

Looking at the position of the sump drain plug, I'd guess the marks are on the front side of the tube which would be consistant with something hitting it at speed. Further, a closer inspection of the broken fragment may reveal a point of impact where the alloy actually bulges a bit from the hit--could possibly be seen with a magnifying glass. All speculation, but worth a try as the alternative is very ugly.

If you hit something your auto insurance should cover damage if you have full coverage. Before you do anything call your insurance agent.

If it is not covered as dammage under insurance I like the idea of welding in place.

I would still dump the oil and strain it, cut open the oil filter, remove the spark plugs and see if the motor turns ok by hand, check valve clearances and operation, and maybe do a leak down. If all is good, removing the oil return tube and having the pice welded in might just work. Beats $5k plus for another motor of questionable condition.