Author Topic: Thursday the 13th - Something Went Wrong... Engine Failure (Read 6125 times)

JimmyBaja · « **on:** January 23, 2011, 01:13:57 PM »

Haven't much felt like talking about it as I'm still SICK to my stomach over it & I still don't know what the hell I'm going to do now accept to let it sit for quite awhile.

After 12,000mi. & much fun since the SC install SOMETHING HAS GONE AFOWL INSIDE MY MOTOR... lost power during hard acceleration - all was good up through 3rd gear, then it shifted to fourth & continued to accelerate for just about a second then the power went away. I let out of it coasting down to a slower speed & RPM feeling something isn't right. With no indication of something wrong (no CEL, no strange noise) I tried to apply power again to see how it would respond... all the bells & lights went off & limp mode/reduced power engaged. I quickly checked my DashDaq for codes as I decelerated & it showed P0304 cylinder #4 misfire. I continued to decelerate/idle down (mind you I was going quite a fair speed when it happened) to a stop at an intersection & the engine was barely idling sounding like maybe only 1 cylinder was firing. I shut it off, cleared the codes to get it out of limp mode/reduced power mode then tried to start it again. Same thing, only running on 1 or 2 cylinders, just enough to get to a side street about a hundred yards up the road & wait for the tow truck. I knew it was all over at this point.
Got it home & immediately pulled #4 plug. It was fouled with oil... NOT GOOD! Pulled all other plugs & all others looked OK except for looking dark/sooty. NO PLUGS showed ANY indication of detonation. I screwed a compression tester into cylinder #4, turned it over & the needle didn't even twitch - 0 compression. I checked the next one over & it had 90psi. The next one had 115psi & #1 had 70psi. I pulled the valve cover & all valves/springs/keepers/guides & timing chain/gears looked OK & had full movement when engine turned over. Drained the oil & pulled the oil filter... found metallic residue in the oil & shavings in the filter. GAME OVER!

I'm not sure what went wrong, no sense in pulling the head since the whole thing has to come out for a complete rebuild or replacement anyway (metal in the oil & filter) so it might as well all be done at once. Don't know when I'll get to it now... $'s,$$$ is not in the bank or budget.

It was fun while it lasted...

Arabas · « **Reply #1 on:** January 23, 2011, 01:30:21 PM »

i' m really sorry to hear this Jimmy...
your coupe is just gorgeous and i m so sad that this happened..

did you take it to a shop to check it thoroughly or did you do all the diagnosis by yourself?
is it normal for cylinders #1, 2 and 3 to have such a variation in compression?
any indications on what may have caused this?

if i can help in any way, pls let me know

spicy3480 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 23, 2011, 01:59:59 PM »

That's terrible news...what do you think caused this? Were there any other indications before it happened such as an odd noise or some sort of smell? I am so sorry to hear about this. I hope it gets fixed quickly so you can enjoy it again. Will a dealer near you accept to fix it or no way since you have a SC??

HAMMER DOWN · « **Reply #3 on:** January 23, 2011, 02:33:53 PM »

That really suck, hope you get to the bottom the problem. And get it all worked out in your own timely manner.

Mike

JimmyBaja · « **Reply #4 on:** January 23, 2011, 02:51:54 PM »

Arabas, I checked it myself, no need to pay a shop labor/diagnostic fee when the motor has to come out & apart anyway. I'm not sure what the compression is supposed to be for this motor but I know it's definitely not supposed to be "0" & it should not vary that much between cylinders, the others are probably low because of the contaminated oil after #4 failed.

Spicy, no indications prior, it was shitt'n & gitt'n as usual. I did get a slight odd smell right after it happened but for just a brief period during deceleration then it went away.
I won't even attempt to take it to a dealer since I put the SC on, fair is fair that's the risk I took when I modified it & I accept that. If by some vague CHANCE the dealer found something wrong that it would be covered by warranty (YOU KNOW THEY WON'T) that would be great but if not it would be quite a bill for just telling me it wouldn't be covered & that's a gamble I can't afford right now. I would rather save that money towards rebuilding.

spider · « **Reply #5 on:** January 23, 2011, 02:53:03 PM »

Oh joy. Welcome to the krapped-it club. Being a 2.4 it will be easier to find a cheap used motor cast-off from a Ls swap. Call Performance Autowerks, they likely have one sitting around. Crate engine depot for a new one. Remember the newer engines have weaker rods. Metal shavings at the oil filter is usually a good enough reason to start over rather than just fix what appears to be broken.

Chemist · « **Reply #6 on:** January 23, 2011, 03:35:36 PM »

JB,

I am VERY sorry to hear about this. Having just had a valve job done on my Stage II S/C 2.4, I can tell you that 3 of my four cylinders gave ~145-150 compression numbers (my bad cylinder only about 110).

I do know how you feel and do sincerely hope you are able to get back up and running as soon as time and $$ allow you to do so.

--Chemist

snaponbob · « **Reply #7 on:** January 23, 2011, 03:47:14 PM »

Bad news. Collapsed piston crown?

2.0 tspeed · « **Reply #8 on:** January 23, 2011, 03:47:53 PM »

All these blown kappa engines :-(

melissadunagan · « **Reply #9 on:** January 23, 2011, 04:21:18 PM »

Jimmy I hope you will be able to get this fixed soon. I have seen these engines on e bay fairly reasonable, maybe you can get one that fits your budget.

Treeman · « **Reply #10 on:** January 23, 2011, 04:59:56 PM »

Jimmy, I am really sorry to hear this.

Critterman · « **Reply #11 on:** January 23, 2011, 05:59:45 PM »

Sucks I know you really want to get it back on the road. Let me know if you are going to tow it south, my truck will pull it on a heartzl rent a trailer without a problem. I know because I have had to haul mine down to Joe's, I threw a belt and destroyed a wireing harness.

JimmyBaja · « **Reply #12 on:** January 23, 2011, 06:18:09 PM »

Thanks John, I may take you up on that when the time comes if you're up for a road trip to SC, I'll pay the gas/food/beer/lodging, in fact I may have access to a trailer for free.

Critterman · « **Reply #13 on:** January 23, 2011, 06:19:07 PM »

Just let me know

SHiNY · « **Reply #14 on:** January 23, 2011, 06:32:46 PM »

First, Jimmy I am really sorry to hear about this.

Second, can I ask a stupid question? Well, I'm going to anyway.
Is there any kind of warranty that comes with the supercharger? Is there anything DDM can do for you?

LatinVenom · « **Reply #15 on:** January 23, 2011, 06:51:06 PM »

Sorry to hear about your problem.
Before you had the SC put on, did you run 87 all the time?.
I think is possible the engine was weak and the S/C finally put the death nail in it.

Critterman · « **Reply #16 on:** January 23, 2011, 07:04:08 PM »

ShiNY - like with most power adders the there is no inplied waratee. DDM will cover the components they sell you for a period of time, but I would not expect them to cover other mechanical components. At least that is my take, I could be wrong.

JimmyBaja · « **Reply #17 on:** January 23, 2011, 07:30:40 PM »

SHiNY, I agree with Critter on this, the failure was the motor, even though I don't yet know the root cause, that's the chance you take when modifying.

LV, I have always run 93, before the SC I had a Vector tuned ECM & that required at least 91. Needed or not I always run 93(top tier) in all vehicles I have owned.

NormSky · « **Reply #18 on:** January 23, 2011, 08:20:50 PM »

Sorry about the news. It gives and opportunity to learn more.

Did you have an P0300 code recently?

Helios · « **Reply #19 on:** January 23, 2011, 08:51:47 PM »

Could this be related to the fact that certain (i can't remember which one(s)) internal engine components were swapped in later model year Kappas? Since his is an '09, I would start leaning toward that hypothesis.

spider · « **Reply #20 on:** January 23, 2011, 08:56:05 PM »

2.4 rods, but that would have had nasty symptoms at failure.

Critterman · « **Reply #21 on:** January 23, 2011, 08:58:01 PM »

I talked to Dave about that and he thinks it was just a change in manufactures

JimmyBaja · « **Reply #22 on:** January 23, 2011, 10:29:29 PM »

Quote from: NormSky on January 23, 2011, 08:20:50 PM

Sorry about the news. It gives and opportunity to learn more.

Did you have an P0300 code recently?

I haven't had any codes since last summer.

News:

Welcome Guest!!!

Author Topic: Thursday the 13th - Something Went Wrong... Engine Failure (Read 6125 times)