Blew Up Last Night !!!! not going to be pretty!!!

[72TealnWhite]

hey all... man i've had my struggles with this thing this summer... and i think it's due to shotty work..

So drivin down the fwy .. just reached cruising speed 65... everything was fine until... i noticed the throttle was touchy.... so i laid off... and eased into the throttle again and i noticed some tapping ... and to think of it now.. it had been slightly tapping on medium acceleration...not loud at all.. and for only like the last week or so.. so i laid off and on deceleration ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE !!! .. literally. felt like i blew a right front.... but it was the motor.. Smoke everywhere.. it was dark so ... it was a few flashes and booms and smoke.. by the time i got over to the shoulder... I thought the truck was on fire... when i finally got it stopped.

So. my theory/diagnosis... I'm no expert.. but i think my whole valvetrain is probably in pieces in the pan. I think the possible initial blast .. was something coming through the pan .. It was definiitely on the pass side where the trouble was.. It's bad news. It was dark. so i couldn't see much but.. a little oil under the pan.. and i got a ride home about to cry in my hands. I'm almost 95% sure its something valve related..

So the story: Bought the truck early spring... The motor was off... so i went thru the basics replacing things ... like fuel filters.. adj. carb.. the regular stuff.. still nothing.. ran like crap.. Long story short.. blew a exhaust manifold.. and took it to get fixed.. Well my dad wanted to do me a favor and he had it cleaned up.. heads refurbished.. they said i had a bad valve seal... and they fixed up the valve train.. i'm assuming ( i know ! broke my first rule of having to know everything..) they replaced seals, pushrods, valves, rockers, ect.. and it still didn't do the trick... It turned out i needed to replace the altnernator and voltage regulator.. ( found that myself>) so wtf? shady work.. But it ran fine after the alternator was replaced until last night..

Got underneath the truck this morning on the fwy before it was taken to the SAME shop..(. because whatever they worked on is on warranty..) and Sure enough... a nickel sized hole right in the oil pan.. i was going to take the valve covers off... to see if its a rod missing but didn't have time...

So now what's this guy (owner) going to say... It's not like he's going to say that "oh yeah thats our fault" here's 4k for a new small block...


I really don't know what's going to happen... but i'm so far into this truck w/ money .. selling is not an option..

I feel like my dog just died...! damn!

what to do?
thanks in advance.. and oh yeah kinda similar to this post.. the problems i've had... nvr. leaked or burned oil tho..http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=324417

Thanks.. im off to lock myself in the basement!

nate sry no pics yet.

[flashed]

It could be much worse ,you still have your health and your truck . I would try to get a 290 hp GM crate motor for it if you can afford to do so. You should be able to get one from your local Chevy or GMC dealer for about $1800 . You could go with a less hp crate motor as well and they come with a good warranty ,I think mine was 2years or 100,000 miles .

[72TealnWhite]

well the news is what i thought.... total loss ! I'm looking into some turnkey crate motors anyone have any good cheap experience with anyone who sells these crates on ebay. phoenix builders.. ext.. ... or any affordable crate motors... I'll probably end up parting out the parts i can off the old block. the heads were just refurbished...

oh yeah... looking foreward to spending some goooooood money here ! now i guess i can just get what i want.. thats kinda cool.

thanks for letting me vent

nate
:s moke:

[m6z]

blew an exhause mainifold? what does that mean? I'd say just buy a short block and throw your fresh heads on it, but if you are going to be paying a shop to do it a crate motor would be less labor.

Sounds like a rod let go, maybe caused by a droped valve, maybe not. Never know till you take it apart.

[LEEVON]

it's a crap shoot messing with used engines, but if money is the main thing there are plenty of running small blocks to be had on Craigslist. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if: 1) I could drive it 2) pull the valve covers, compression check, etc. Basic diagnostics would rule out most potential issues.

You could be down the road for $300 plus some new gaskets.

[72TealnWhite]

Originally Posted by m6z

blew an exhause mainifold? what does that mean? I'd say just buy a short block and throw your fresh heads on it, but if you are going to be paying a shop to do it a crate motor would be less labor.

Sounds like a rod let go, maybe caused by a droped valve, maybe not. Never know till you take it apart.

yeah, sorry about that..... I cracked my driver side exh manifold in half due to a bad valve seal hence the reason my dad wanted to get the heads refurbished.

Looks like i'm goin for a crate.. hell it's going to be nicer.. but the money... oh the money ....

[Clyde65]

So is the shop gonna help by lessening the labor cost?

I would go LS, a nice 5.3 and some Fava beans....

[72TealnWhite]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

So is the shop gonna help by lessening the labor cost?

I would go LS, a nice 5.3 and some Fava beans....

So far....(nothing is apart yet) he believes its a connecting rod failure and therefore not the area they worked on... no warrenty.. He stated that we worked on the top half of the engine... and this is a bottom of the half of the engine failure.. I'll be damned if i don't see the rod or take the valve covers off.... just so i can sleep at night

[Frkypunk70]

Been there man. Get something that you know whats done. Spend a little money now, to take the gueswork out of it. If you buy used you could end up in the same position. "You get what you pay for" period.Just my thoughts

[LEEVON]

I wouldn't get to wound up about the warranty, not that whatever they did couldn't have caused the problem but proving it is near impossible. Seems like every time you tighten up the top end on an old engine the bottom end lets go. The original block in my truck succumbed the same fate, blew a rod right out the side after a valve job, new pushrods, springs.

Go to sleep thinking about the crate engine and as for the greasy hunk o metal in your truck...fugheddaboutit!

[72TealnWhite]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

I wouldn't get to wound up about the warranty, not that whatever they did couldn't have caused the problem but proving it is near impossible. Seems like every time you tighten up the top end on an old engine the bottom end lets go. The original block in my truck succumbed the same fate, blew a rod right out the side after a valve job, new pushrods, springs.

Go to sleep thinking about the crate engine and as for the greasy hunk o metal in your truck...fugheddaboutit!

thanks man.. Ya'll must be well seasoned in having to deal with this ... and aquiring one of the best qualities of all ... patience..

I agree... It is what it is... and that's part of the game i signed up for. now anyone got any spare change?

[rsavage]

A push rod and a connecting rod are two different things. Connecting rod connects the crankshaft to the piston (referred to as bottom end) and the push rod is the rod that the lifters push up and down to open and close the valves via the rockers (referred to as top end). A connecting rod (or a piece of it) sometimes exits the engine through the block or pan when it breaks.
Maybe someone you know has a decent motor for a reasonable price. If you have to pay someone to remove and replace your motor, you will have to add that labor cost to whatever your new motor costs, plus fluids, filter, etc. Good Luck. Hope it works out for you.

[QKENUF4U]

265hp GM crate motor (used them twice ) $1500 shipped.. DONE DEAL..... http://www.jegs.com/p/GM-Performance...52506/10002/-1

pull the needed parts from your motor

keep on driven......

good luck

[jtp67-72]

^^^^^^ what he said--best for the money!!..........jim

[wilbilt]

You should look to see if the failure initiated in the top end. I had a valve spring beak once. The head of the exhaust valve contacted the piston, broke off and shattered the piston before punching a hole into the water jacket. Con rod poked out the side of the block.

It was dark, I coasted over to the side of the road and pulled the dipstick, coolant squirted out, I knew it was bad, LOL.

[pumpkin]

I am a mechanic in a shop. My experience with the crate engines has been a crapp shoot with a fail rate of 70% with personal experience out of 14 engines. I think the best bang for your buck would be a used vortec 350 you will need an itake manifold, electric fuel pump. You gem have a roller cam and a great engine.
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[RossRinSD]

Hey, at least you can use that blown block as an anchor for your fishing boat...

You know, always want to look at the bright side of things...

[lil hoodlum]

I'm sorry to hear about your string of bad luck with your truck. I have kept up with your other threads but never posted. Hopefully though, after you get a new or newer engine your luck will finally turn around. I love my truck and have had it for many years. It has had a "few" hiccups along the way but not like what you have been experiencing.

I'd really like to see you back on the road enjoying your truck with out all of these problems that you have had as of late.

Good luck and hang in there.

Keith

[konasummit]

Originally Posted by RossRinSD

Hey, at least you can use that blown block as an anchor for your fishing boat...

You know, always want to look at the bright side of things...

or you could use it as the base of a table like how they have a v12 block on top gear!