Seized my engine
08-03-2017, 04:37 AM
#1
Seized my engine
well, I was at Cayuga yesterday. After a few laps I heard some odd knocking noise and car was loosing power. By the time I was cooling down in the pits it was pretty clear some bearing decided to say bye bye. Pulled into pit and and car was idling and as I pressed the throttle engine breathed its last breath. Crank wont budge with a breaker bar. I will try posting a video of the last few seconds. Hopefully the head is still OK and the crank can be saved, but that may be wishful thinking. Time to tear it apart and see whats up. I guess thats the next step. As to why the bearings are gone? Old age? 170km of abuse? Nothing lasts forever? It was a typical f20 in that it did consume oil but I checked it religiously. Changed yesterday. So far my guess is oil starvation, car seemed to be loosing power after hard right handers. Thoughts?
08-03-2017, 05:03 AM
#3
Registered User
This is what happens without a baffled oil pan on our cars 
. It's known there will be oil starvation on hard right handers and the only way to fight it is the baffled oil pan
. It's known there will be oil starvation on hard right handers and the only way to fight it is the baffled oil pan
08-03-2017, 06:24 AM
#6
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08-03-2017, 09:32 AM
#9
Sorry to hear this Jeff, it sounds very familiar , and I don't wish that on any person. I know when it happened to me it was like getting punched in the stomach, it really sucks.
Copper wear is likely the main bearings, when that happens the entire block will be toast IMO. The crank will be scuffed, the cylinders will be scored. The head can likely be saved. Start looking for a replacement block if you can. When it happened to me I got a used block and freshened it up with new main bearings, rod bearings, piston rings, seals, thrust bearings, and a new ap2 oil pump for peace of mind.
Hard to say what caused your issue, but oil starvation is a likely culprit, the thing is that the damage could have started a few years back and it eventually manifests itself later down the road as the starvation scuffing grows over time and the bearings eventually puke themselves.
Good luck going forward hope you can get things restored without too much stress. Best of luck pal.
Copper wear is likely the main bearings, when that happens the entire block will be toast IMO. The crank will be scuffed, the cylinders will be scored. The head can likely be saved. Start looking for a replacement block if you can. When it happened to me I got a used block and freshened it up with new main bearings, rod bearings, piston rings, seals, thrust bearings, and a new ap2 oil pump for peace of mind.
Hard to say what caused your issue, but oil starvation is a likely culprit, the thing is that the damage could have started a few years back and it eventually manifests itself later down the road as the starvation scuffing grows over time and the bearings eventually puke themselves.
Good luck going forward hope you can get things restored without too much stress. Best of luck pal.
08-03-2017, 04:54 PM
#10
Thanks Joey.
I cut open the oil filter and drained the oil. Reminded me of the gold rush in California.
pulled the valve cover.looks fine as far as initial inspection. Little bit of debris in the solenoid screen.
Will drop the pan when I get some time. Do I need to disconnect the transmission for that?
Going to put a bore scope down the cylinders and see how those look.
Last edited by starchland; 08-03-2017 at 04:58 PM.