An interesting few weeks!

[Trailermasher]

Finally booked a family holiday ;
3 days later GTS engine gives up ;
change holiday plans for different vehicle - Ford Excursion (9mpg - ouch!);
delay holiday by 1 more day for MRI scan;
get to Luxembourg;
get driven in to by Fd up 5 series driver, delayed another three hours ;
sun, swimming and Spanish food for 9 days ;
head back via Andorra;
stop 300 yds in to France, where MrsTrailermasher broke a bone in her foot ;
drive 70 miles to nearest (quickest) A&E, French medical service excellent;
continue to Milau (big bridge!) ;
pick up crutches, etc.;
head home - done 4700 miles, 210 litres petrol, 600 litres LPG;
decide best course to return GTS to road ;
MRI results show seven slipped discs , all between four and five years old - told no more physio or driving until I see the consultant - yeah, right ;
engine ordered from HSV by air mail, car booked in to WP ;
buy a trailer to transport GTS to WP;
get arrested for towing stolen trailer - aarrrgggghhh !

Any how, the GTS is now with WPUK to have the engine swapped, but the trailer fiasco means it probably wont be done before TR.

MrsT's foot is slowly on the mend.

Oh, and after 26 pages of posts to catch up on...

... glad to be back online !

[sneakygloworm]

Shit the bed! Sounds like you went through the 7 gates of hell! Glad you're safely home though.

[Trailermasher]

sneakygloworm said:

st the bed! Sounds like you went through the 7 gates of hell! Glad you're safely home though.

The holiday was great,
except for that bm twit - I got a big dent in front bumper, he needs new door and rear wing!
Big Yank tank was always going to win that one

Really p off about the trailer though.

[after_shock]

Thats one hell of a series of events!

Can imagine you being fairly annoyed about the trailer mind, have they taken it off you?

[paul450]

i thought bad luck came in threes, you have had double that .

hope you get your car back soon mate.

[Trailermasher]

after_shock said:

Thats one hell of a series of events!

Can imagine you being fairly annoyed about the trailer mind, have they taken it off you?

They kept the trailer and threatened to keep the Excursion too. Kept me in a cell for 16 hrs, even though I had several forms of proof that I had just brought the trailer. Plenty more things they did wrong, but that's not for here, yet.

Probably wont get the money back, but looking in to my options.

[paul450]

16hrs, thats shocking mate.

[Trailermasher]

Yeah, was expecting a few hours to get all the questions answered, but not 16.

They searched my house at 4 am. Two coppers at the door, MrsT thought I had been in a serious accident.

[Dr Prod]

You gotta sort out that witchdoctor m8

[Trailermasher]

....and out of 250 odd photo's take, nearly 200 were black.

Need to get camera fixed

[Trailermasher]

Dr Prod said:

You gotta sort out that witchdoctor m8

Thinking, maybe someones got a doll and some pins.

[broadslide]

Sorry to hear your tale of woe. What appened to the engine?

[Trailermasher]

Light tapping sound, 30 secs later, drop in oil pressure, oil temp 140+. Crept her home.

Left her for a couple of days while sorting other things before checking it over. Oil OK, water OK, started her up - nothing unusual, except for the s/c sound at idle.

Took her for a short run keeping revs below 2000. She ran smooth, no problems. A little bit of throttle and she sounded like a hammer on an anvil. Oil temp shot up, pressure started to drop.

Check over again, shards of metal on the dipstick, oil darkened.

Big end shells one problem, result or cause, not known.
Minor oil leak from s/c.

Had to leave her until back from hols.

So getting crate engine from HSV, then examining and rebuilding the original engine to my own spec.

So will have 2 engines to play with!

HH122 came off yesterday, engine swap next week.

[ringram]

I very much hope you got an L98 or LS3 engine mate, though actually the H122 wont have fit.

Sounds like you spun a mains, nice. What do the pistons look like? Detonation?

Make sure your new one gets a 4" crank!

Would be initeresting to see if the use of a blower on the stock engine was partly responsible. Im thinking at best it certainly didnt help!
Though if it was the mains and the pistons look fine perhaps it was just bad luck.

[Bonnie and Clyde]

As per emails sweetheart i'm so sorry to hear that yet again you've had to go through so much shit. I really hope things pick up for you now. You have all been in my thoughts. Speak soon xxx

[MyM8V8]

Who's the blow up down to? New motor under warranty???

[Trailermasher]

ringram said:

I very much hope you got an L98 or LS3 engine mate, though actually the H122 wont have fit.

Sounds like you spun a mains, nice. What do the pistons look like? Detonation?

Make sure your new one gets a 4" crank!

Would be initeresting to see if the use of a blower on the stock engine was partly responsible. Im thinking at best it certainly didnt help!
Though if it was the mains and the pistons look fine perhaps it was just bad luck.

Wanted a LS3/LSA setup, but pricey as a crate, plus the intake, ECU, TCM, loom, etc. Wanted to replace with a new engine though. So LS2 crate from HSV.

The shot engine not been properly examined yet, still runs though, so hopefully no mains damage, probably spun big end on #1, so new crank a deffo + a couple of rods as minimum, may as well be a complete rotating assembley Will be at least 4square

I have some suspicions about the H122 as the cause but it still needs to be investigated, it had other problems. Could just be dodgey shells?

Just 24k miles though, Tom Walkinshaw's car, maintained by Walkinshaw Performance and no known press use, so pretty annoying!

I'll bring the engine home and take my time to strip it and rebuild, thinking 408ci, or if bores damaged, bigger.

Already looking at head and cam options. My limit is likely to be the 6L80 'box and budget.
Getting the crate engine just means I don't have to wait months to get it sorted as it's the main car and a daily driver and will have a spare engine at the end.

Might try for 600 lbft at the wheels, should be fun

Bonnie and Clyde said:

As per emails sweetheart i'm so sorry to hear that yet again you've had to go through so much st. I really hope things pick up for you now. You have all been in my thoughts. Speak soon xxx

Thanks Mel, it's a bit frustrating that it's taken four years to find the back problem, and with MrsT's broken foot, we look a right pair at the mo.

5 of the slipped discs are minor and now hardened, so probably nothing to do there. The other 2 are proper fd; one seriously damaged, the other can't be fully identified, totally shredded.

Got some more super drug's tho'. That alone really screwed the BIB last week.
"Have you had any drink or drugs, sir?",...err...well...

Hopefully, the engine will be in for TR, but I doubt it.

Speak soon X.

[ringram]

Hi mate, ECU and TCM are fine without changing. The E38 in your car is built for 3 bar boost OEM! So no need to mess around with all that stuff.

Also did you consider a US 408 shortblock intead of the aussie stock engine? Be bad for the same to happen again!
That would blow the LSA away!
Heads would swap straight over if you got dished pistons to suit. Some shops would have had then on the shelf so shipping time would not be much different. Plus Im guessing price would be much the same except the forged one would be much stronger and displace more

http://www.sdparts.com/product/SDL92SB416D10/416L9...

PS: 408 is overbored, 4" in stock LS2 is 402 cubes. I think 408 is 0.030 oversized.

If its too late, never mind. Hopefully it was a once off!

[Trailermasher]

MyM8V8 said:

Who's the blow up down to? New motor under warranty???

I wish, hence buying a waranteed engine. The HH122 down to WP.

The s/c always sounded like a bag of bolts at idle to me, but according to many, it was normal. It leaked fuel when I picked it up after fitting - however the same place as the oil leaking/staining.

Worked out that the large belt was slipping on the leaked oil the arvo it started tapping.
The tap sounded purely top end, err ... "tappety", and with every 2nd rev, so was thinking cam/lifter/push rod/rocker/vavle...

Initial thought was something from s/c in to intake, unlikely, but the internal seals can go.

The bad knock came later. Deffo a bearing, isolated to #1 cylinder from stethoscope probing, but only audible through the injector and plug.

Do these bearings "tap" on combustion stroke when going?

WP sourced the engine from HSV - no new LS2/E38 GM crates in UK - and buying/shipping/fitting less than LS3 alone, and with the weak pound, too expensive from US.

So the investigation is very important. Otherwise, there will be a nearly new LS2 for sale soon.

Any thoughts or ideas welcome!

[ringram]

TBH unless you are doing the work yourself, its probably easier and cheaper to import something.
Sure there is a little risk, but there are some top notch shops with very good reputations to buy from. Plus you get the experience, clearances, etc that comes with it.

Depends on what you want to do and whats important etc.

Im sure someone will buy the remains of the engine anyway..