Post your engine failure woes
Discussion
Interesting to hear about pistonheads engine/turbo/supercharger failures.
Engines are apparently incredibly reliable yet i have been hearing a few stories lately.
If you could post:
Make and model?
Cause of failure?
Mileage it went bang?
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
Was it serviced properly?
Im just wondering how many engine failures are down to weak engines and how many are due to the way the engine was driven/lack of servicing/not warmed up properly etc etc.
Engines are apparently incredibly reliable yet i have been hearing a few stories lately.
If you could post:
Make and model?
Cause of failure?
Mileage it went bang?
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
Was it serviced properly?
Im just wondering how many engine failures are down to weak engines and how many are due to the way the engine was driven/lack of servicing/not warmed up properly etc etc.
Engines are reliable, but people are also foolish.
Like any complex machine, if it's neglected or abused then its going to fail.
Make and model?
Nissan SR20DET in a 200sx (S15)
Cause of failure?
Head gasket due to a radiator leak. Also took the turbo with it.
Mileage it went bang?
120,000 KM.
The new engine had less than 80,000 KM on it.
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
Radiator, engine and turbo there abouts £1,500 to replace the radiator and hoses from new and a replacement SR20DET from a half cut from Japan.
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
Both stock but the new engine was more powerful.
AUDM S15 engine ~200 BHP, JDM S14a engine ~ 220 BHP
Was it serviced properly?
From that moment on, religiously. Many would accuse me of over servicing as I did it every 5000 KM.
The previous owner had bodged the radiator repair (gunk from a popular pour in sealant was found), I'd had the car about 2 months but had run the radiator dry. Fair enough I should have kept a better eye on the coolant in a 12 yr old boy racer car so mea culpa as far as that is concerned.
Had the car for near enough to 2 years, not a thing went wrong mechanically after that. Hit by some silly bint in a car park a week before I had to sell it to move to the UK... cost me £200 to fix.
Like any complex machine, if it's neglected or abused then its going to fail.
Make and model?
Nissan SR20DET in a 200sx (S15)
Cause of failure?
Head gasket due to a radiator leak. Also took the turbo with it.
Mileage it went bang?
120,000 KM.
The new engine had less than 80,000 KM on it.
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
Radiator, engine and turbo there abouts £1,500 to replace the radiator and hoses from new and a replacement SR20DET from a half cut from Japan.
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
Both stock but the new engine was more powerful.
AUDM S15 engine ~200 BHP, JDM S14a engine ~ 220 BHP
Was it serviced properly?
From that moment on, religiously. Many would accuse me of over servicing as I did it every 5000 KM.
The previous owner had bodged the radiator repair (gunk from a popular pour in sealant was found), I'd had the car about 2 months but had run the radiator dry. Fair enough I should have kept a better eye on the coolant in a 12 yr old boy racer car so mea culpa as far as that is concerned.
Had the car for near enough to 2 years, not a thing went wrong mechanically after that. Hit by some silly bint in a car park a week before I had to sell it to move to the UK... cost me £200 to fix.
Mazda 6 2.2 diesel.
They produced a batch with faulty hardening on the camshafts, so that they disintegrated in 25-35K miles
Ours went 1 week before the warranty ran out just as they gave us it back after it's service (i.e. shagged at the garage) yet they didn't spot it on the 'test drive'.
A Known issue but they wait for it to fail - drops swarf into the engine, wrecks the turbo...
They produced a batch with faulty hardening on the camshafts, so that they disintegrated in 25-35K miles
Ours went 1 week before the warranty ran out just as they gave us it back after it's service (i.e. shagged at the garage) yet they didn't spot it on the 'test drive'.
A Known issue but they wait for it to fail - drops swarf into the engine, wrecks the turbo...
Edited by Byker28i on Wednesday 29th November 14:55
Make and model - audi rs3 8p
Cause of failure - swirl valve entering P5
Mileage it went bang - 4500
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb - free replacement car, loan of an S3 for 5 months and 1k miles in an R8 spyder
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output - no
Was it serviced properly - n/a
Cause of failure - swirl valve entering P5
Mileage it went bang - 4500
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb - free replacement car, loan of an S3 for 5 months and 1k miles in an R8 spyder
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output - no
Was it serviced properly - n/a
I had passed my driving test a couple of weeks ago (this was Xmas 1985).
Anyway - a cylinder liner crumpled, this ended up smashing the valves, cracked the head, the bent conrod punched out through the block, obviously crank knackered. Then all of the mashed up bits of metal fell into the gearbox (it was one of those engines with the gearbox below the engine sharing the same oil) and mashed around in all the cogs etc and knocked a hole in the side of the gearbox.
Unbelievably my dad got it all fixed.
Make and model?
My mum's 1979 Pug 305 GRD
Cause of failure?
Being s
t.
Mileage it went bang?
30000. Maybe.
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
God knows.
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
No
Was it serviced properly?
Yes
Anyway - a cylinder liner crumpled, this ended up smashing the valves, cracked the head, the bent conrod punched out through the block, obviously crank knackered. Then all of the mashed up bits of metal fell into the gearbox (it was one of those engines with the gearbox below the engine sharing the same oil) and mashed around in all the cogs etc and knocked a hole in the side of the gearbox.
Unbelievably my dad got it all fixed.
Make and model?
My mum's 1979 Pug 305 GRD
Cause of failure?
Being s
t.Mileage it went bang?
30000. Maybe.
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
God knows.
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
No
Was it serviced properly?
Yes
This surprised me, in that it survived...
A 1.3 CDTi Astra, probably a 2009 or 2010 model. Driven hard regularly, being a pool car at work, and often over-running it's recommended mileage or time for servicing.
One night at work, the oil pressure warning light came on. Being literally just around the corner from work, it was rolled into the back yard. There was nothing showing at all on the dipstick and a puff of smoke came out of the engine when I took the oil filler cap off. In lieu of better options, we refilled it with what seemed like a huge amount of oil. Clearly, it hadn't been topped up in ages, but somehow it survived and continued to be driven without a jot of mechanical sympathy for many, many more miles without any indication that it had effectively run dry.
A 1.3 CDTi Astra, probably a 2009 or 2010 model. Driven hard regularly, being a pool car at work, and often over-running it's recommended mileage or time for servicing.
One night at work, the oil pressure warning light came on. Being literally just around the corner from work, it was rolled into the back yard. There was nothing showing at all on the dipstick and a puff of smoke came out of the engine when I took the oil filler cap off. In lieu of better options, we refilled it with what seemed like a huge amount of oil. Clearly, it hadn't been topped up in ages, but somehow it survived and continued to be driven without a jot of mechanical sympathy for many, many more miles without any indication that it had effectively run dry.
Make and model?
Mk6 Fiesta ST 2.0 Duratec
Cause of failure?
Oil starvation of big end bearings due to spun bearing shells.
Mileage it went bang?
77,000 miles.
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
£250 for a replacement engine. Fitted myself.
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
No.
Was it serviced properly?
Probably not, but judging by the state of the car, hell no.
Mk6 Fiesta ST 2.0 Duratec
Cause of failure?
Oil starvation of big end bearings due to spun bearing shells.
Mileage it went bang?
77,000 miles.
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
£250 for a replacement engine. Fitted myself.
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
No.
Was it serviced properly?
Probably not, but judging by the state of the car, hell no.
Make and model?
1987 Fiat Uno Turbo ie
Cause of failure?
Head Gasket
Mileage it went bang?
Don't remember (this was 1994)
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
£600 for a decent secondhand engine including labour
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
Yes as I later found out
Was it serviced properly?
No as I later found out
I used to see this car about and really wanted it as it looked good and made a lovely sound with a nice DTM type (upturned) exhaust tailpipe. A mate of mine knew the owner and told the owner I wanted it and hence I bought it. It sounded sweet and went well but then the head gasket went and it ended up cracking the block. I heard that the previous owner turned the boost up to 1.7 bar without doing any other mods before turning it back down to sell to me...............my friend knew about this but didn't bother tell me!
Contrary to popular belief, the Uno Turbo Mk 1 lump is a strong old unit despite the horror stories told by (mostly) people who bought them, let them rust (easily done sadly) and ran them into the ground without doing so much as an oil change but 1.7 bar of pressure over the standard 0.65 is taking the mick!
The next Uno Turbo I had didn't have one problem other than a starter motor.
1987 Fiat Uno Turbo ie
Cause of failure?
Head Gasket
Mileage it went bang?
Don't remember (this was 1994)
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
£600 for a decent secondhand engine including labour
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
Yes as I later found out
Was it serviced properly?
No as I later found out
I used to see this car about and really wanted it as it looked good and made a lovely sound with a nice DTM type (upturned) exhaust tailpipe. A mate of mine knew the owner and told the owner I wanted it and hence I bought it. It sounded sweet and went well but then the head gasket went and it ended up cracking the block. I heard that the previous owner turned the boost up to 1.7 bar without doing any other mods before turning it back down to sell to me...............my friend knew about this but didn't bother tell me!
Contrary to popular belief, the Uno Turbo Mk 1 lump is a strong old unit despite the horror stories told by (mostly) people who bought them, let them rust (easily done sadly) and ran them into the ground without doing so much as an oil change but 1.7 bar of pressure over the standard 0.65 is taking the mick!
The next Uno Turbo I had didn't have one problem other than a starter motor.
Some engines are doomed to fail, no matter how well they're looked after.
Make and model?
Skoda Fabia vRS Mk2
Cause of failure?
Broken valve causing loss of compression. Although the real cause of failure is the inherent problems with the 1.4 Twin-charged TSI. Shame because barring it's reliabilty issues it was a great engine. 180bhp, 7 sec 0-60, while still achieving 45 mpg.
Mileage it went bang?
30k. Far too young!
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
Engine block replaced by Skoda, cost £5,650 inc. labour. 60% goodwill contribution from Skoda given the history.
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
No. Unmodified.
Was it serviced properly?
Yes. Bang on schedule. Sparks were replaced at 20k, earlier than the 30k intervals recommended. Never run low on oil.
Make and model?
Skoda Fabia vRS Mk2
Cause of failure?
Broken valve causing loss of compression. Although the real cause of failure is the inherent problems with the 1.4 Twin-charged TSI. Shame because barring it's reliabilty issues it was a great engine. 180bhp, 7 sec 0-60, while still achieving 45 mpg.
Mileage it went bang?
30k. Far too young!
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
Engine block replaced by Skoda, cost £5,650 inc. labour. 60% goodwill contribution from Skoda given the history.
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
No. Unmodified.
Was it serviced properly?
Yes. Bang on schedule. Sparks were replaced at 20k, earlier than the 30k intervals recommended. Never run low on oil.
Make and model?
Lotus Elise S2 111S (K Series)
Cause of failure?
Head gasket failure, unsurprisingly.
Mileage it went bang?
Approximately 50,000 miles ... and again at 80,000 miles ... and again at 120,000 miles.
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
Anything from £600 to multiple thousands. A replacement cylinder head was pretty expensive!
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
No
Was it serviced properly?
Yes. It was used daily and covered some serious miles though ... I became a bit disillusioned with the K Series engine and sold it in place of another Lotus Elise, albeit with an engine conversion, in the hope this would aid engine reliability!
Lotus Elise S2 111S (K Series)
Cause of failure?
Head gasket failure, unsurprisingly.
Mileage it went bang?
Approximately 50,000 miles ... and again at 80,000 miles ... and again at 120,000 miles.
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb?
Anything from £600 to multiple thousands. A replacement cylinder head was pretty expensive!
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output?
No
Was it serviced properly?
Yes. It was used daily and covered some serious miles though ... I became a bit disillusioned with the K Series engine and sold it in place of another Lotus Elise, albeit with an engine conversion, in the hope this would aid engine reliability!
Bentley Turbo 'R'
1991
Mileage it went Bang! 71.000
Was it re-mapped? No.
Was it serviced on time? Don't know, it had full history but...
This is an unheard of failure, valve guide dropped out of the head (Passenger side bank, 2nd from back cyl) with no reason that the specialist could fathom. Much smoke and a tiny rattle occassionally!
Later found a video of this car being ragged round Castle Combe race track (might have been Donington, memory fail) which may have explained it.
Cost to repair? Specialist didn't want to do it due to unknown nature of the fault and feared that other things inside the engine were fubar'd so instead insisted on giving me all my money back including all my personal expenses from the day I bought it!
1991
Mileage it went Bang! 71.000
Was it re-mapped? No.
Was it serviced on time? Don't know, it had full history but...
This is an unheard of failure, valve guide dropped out of the head (Passenger side bank, 2nd from back cyl) with no reason that the specialist could fathom. Much smoke and a tiny rattle occassionally!
Later found a video of this car being ragged round Castle Combe race track (might have been Donington, memory fail) which may have explained it.
Cost to repair? Specialist didn't want to do it due to unknown nature of the fault and feared that other things inside the engine were fubar'd so instead insisted on giving me all my money back including all my personal expenses from the day I bought it!
Make and model - Porsche 968
Cause of failure - I was wanting to sell it but cant remember the reason to be honest. Anyway the wife was driving down the M1 to a (Porsche) dealer. Somehow if by magic on the outside lane the cam chain went and resulted in lots of smoke and a hole the size of 2p through the engine. She has to spend 2 hours counting cars on the hard shoulder.
Mileage it went bang - 100K
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb? £7K lost in trading into an indy with blown engine
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output? Not sure what stock means other than flavouring gravy. Remapped sort of as it had a new ECU supposed to increase throttle and airflow so maybe 5% more power.
Was it serviced properly? Very much so
Cause of failure - I was wanting to sell it but cant remember the reason to be honest. Anyway the wife was driving down the M1 to a (Porsche) dealer. Somehow if by magic on the outside lane the cam chain went and resulted in lots of smoke and a hole the size of 2p through the engine. She has to spend 2 hours counting cars on the hard shoulder.
Mileage it went bang - 100K
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb? £7K lost in trading into an indy with blown engine
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output? Not sure what stock means other than flavouring gravy. Remapped sort of as it had a new ECU supposed to increase throttle and airflow so maybe 5% more power.
Was it serviced properly? Very much so
Make and model - Ford Focus ST mk2
Cause of failure - Cambelt snapped, valves and pistons collided etc.
Mileage it went bang - 60k
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb? Quoted £10k by Ford for a replacement recon engine fitted. Sourced a second hand one myself and got it fitted (along with some uprated parts) for just under £3k
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output? Not at that point
Was it serviced properly? Yep
Fords recommended cambelt change for the 2.5t unit is 100k miles. Sadly the aux belt snapped and took the cambelt with it, not uncommon apparently.
Cause of failure - Cambelt snapped, valves and pistons collided etc.
Mileage it went bang - 60k
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb? Quoted £10k by Ford for a replacement recon engine fitted. Sourced a second hand one myself and got it fitted (along with some uprated parts) for just under £3k
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output? Not at that point
Was it serviced properly? Yep
Fords recommended cambelt change for the 2.5t unit is 100k miles. Sadly the aux belt snapped and took the cambelt with it, not uncommon apparently.
Worst I've had is a K-series head gasket failure which from memory only added about £100 to the cam-belt replacement which was due anyway. Usually I do my own servicing so it would have been even cheaper, but it happened to happen while we were rebuilding the garage.
Bog standard K-series 1.8 VVC 160 bar an after-market exhaust.
Bog standard K-series 1.8 VVC 160 bar an after-market exhaust.
Edited by kambites on Wednesday 29th November 16:25
Ultrafunkula said:
Make and model - Ford Focus ST mk2
Cause of failure - Cambelt snapped, valves and pistons collided etc.
Mileage it went bang - 60k
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb? Quoted £10k by Ford for a replacement recon engine fitted. Sourced a second hand one myself and got it fitted (along with some uprated parts) for just under £3k
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output? Not at that point
Was it serviced properly? Yep
Fords recommended cambelt change for the 2.5t unit is 100k miles. Sadly the aux belt snapped and took the cambelt with it, not uncommon apparently.
3k for the engine AND fitting? Or just 3k all in??Cause of failure - Cambelt snapped, valves and pistons collided etc.
Mileage it went bang - 60k
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb? Quoted £10k by Ford for a replacement recon engine fitted. Sourced a second hand one myself and got it fitted (along with some uprated parts) for just under £3k
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output? Not at that point
Was it serviced properly? Yep
Fords recommended cambelt change for the 2.5t unit is 100k miles. Sadly the aux belt snapped and took the cambelt with it, not uncommon apparently.
How does it work if you source your own engine exactly? Do you go down to a scrapyard with a van, dismantel a wrote off cars engine so you can put it in the van, then tow your car plus this second hand engine to the garage?
Make and model? BMW 123d
Cause of failure? Engine block cracked - probs failed head gasket
Mileage it went bang? 80,000
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb? £4000
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output? Yes, but using coolant since I bought it as standard
Was it serviced properly? Yes. FHS one elderly owner from new
Cause of failure? Engine block cracked - probs failed head gasket
Mileage it went bang? 80,000
Resulting cost to replace/repair/refurb? £4000
Was it remapped to a higher than stock output? Yes, but using coolant since I bought it as standard
Was it serviced properly? Yes. FHS one elderly owner from new
Dog Star said:
I had passed my driving test a couple of weeks ago (this was Xmas 1985).
Anyway - a cylinder liner crumpled, this ended up smashing the valves, cracked the head, the bent conrod punched out through the block, obviously crank knackered. Then all of the mashed up bits of metal fell into the gearbox (it was one of those engines with the gearbox below the engine sharing the same oil) and mashed around in all the cogs etc and knocked a hole in the side of the gearbox.
That sequence of events seems vanishingly unlikely, liners don't just 'crumple' by themselves. More likely it either seized a big end or dropped a valve which started the chain of devastation.Anyway - a cylinder liner crumpled, this ended up smashing the valves, cracked the head, the bent conrod punched out through the block, obviously crank knackered. Then all of the mashed up bits of metal fell into the gearbox (it was one of those engines with the gearbox below the engine sharing the same oil) and mashed around in all the cogs etc and knocked a hole in the side of the gearbox.
dieseluser07 said:
How does it work if you source your own engine exactly? Do you go down to a scrapyard with a van, dismantel a wrote off cars engine so you can put it in the van, then tow your car plus this second hand engine to the garage?
Generally I think people buy them from breaker's yards which include stripping the engine out of the donor and shipping it to a garage of the buyer's choice as part of the service. There's loads of such engines on ebay these days. Swapping entire engines is generally surprisingly little labour, especially on a front-engined FWD car. I've done a front-engined RWD car in a weekend.
Edited by kambites on Wednesday 29th November 16:32
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