My engine has failed :(

OK, some more info, not sure if it's good or bad :/

- Slight oil leak from around the crank pulley, not much came out at all but it's visible.
- The crank will not turn by hand, certainly not without the use of a long bar or anything, it's stuck solid.
- On draining the oil there are next to no bits of metal in it. A very powerful magnet found a bit about the size of a grain of sand but that's it.
- Maybe it's because the engine is cold but not a lot of oil is coming out of it. However about 15 mins after the breakdown the dipstick was showing it as full.

Sounds like the bottom end has seized to me due to lack of lubrication?
 
I've had a long chat with stumpy (some of you may remember him) who is a tech at Ford. He thinks it may be the big end bearings and I may have caught it early enough that the bearings just need to be replaced, with any luck.

The sump is going to come off tomorrow to inspect the bearings, the crank and to check whether there is any scoring of the piston bores to suggest ring failure (that may have caused the crank seal to fail)

Also going to check the cam bearing caps to see whether there is evidence of a lack of oil supply there.
 
Muncher said:
OK, some more info, not sure if it's good or bad :/

- Slight oil leak from around the crank pulley, not much came out at all but it's visible.
- The crank will not turn by hand, certainly not without the use of a long bar or anything, it's stuck solid.
- On draining the oil there are next to no bits of metal in it. A very powerful magnet found a bit about the size of a grain of sand but that's it.
- Maybe it's because the engine is cold but not a lot of oil is coming out of it. However about 15 mins after the breakdown the dipstick was showing it as full.

Sounds like the bottom end has seized to me due to lack of lubrication?
Click to expand...

Pretty much exactly what mine did. Nothing came out with the oil, but upon inspection once the crank was removed, the shell had spun slightly and it was utterly fubar, bits everywhere.

I still have that entire engine, all it needs is a crank regrind and some shells and its good to go.
 
if your gonna be doing serious track days in it, you should baffle the sump when its off.

Which way does the track go? which side is the oil pump on?
 
The sump is actually baffled, it has a plate which is rivetted in.

Bedford is anticlockwise but with a lot of bends going the other way too. The oil pump is on the offside so I don't think that was the issue.
 
Id say if the engine is pretty hard to turn over by hand then it might have damaged the crank already. Always worth a look, just dont get your hopes up thinking you might get away with just the bearings
 
crankbro said:
Id say if the engine is pretty hard to turn over by hand then it might have damaged the crank already. Always worth a look, just dont get your hopes up thinking you might get away with just the bearings
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The company that were setting up the handling reported the dipstick wasn't really registering on the dipstick before they started a test day. I explained that the dipstick was notoriously poor on the z22se (inconsistent and doesn't seem to read properly) and told them what oild to use to top it up.

It came to the trackday topped up and after the incident the first check of the dipstick showed it was at maximum.
 
if you have a siezed crank then either something has let go big style or you have had oil startvation issues, as there is no major damage to the external of the block i would be more likely to reacon the later.

no point in speculating, rip the thing appart.
 
Muncher said:
The company that were setting up the handling reported the dipstick wasn't really registering on the dipstick before they started a test day. I explained that the dipstick was notoriously poor on the z22se (inconsistent and doesn't seem to read properly) and told them what oild to use to top it up.

It came to the trackday topped up and after the incident the first check of the dipstick showed it was at maximum.
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Bit confused here? Has it been set up by another company and driven? If so how long did it take for them to notice the oil was low?
 
crankbro said:
Bit confused here? Has it been set up by another company and driven? If so how long did it take for them to notice the oil was low?
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Yes, I will check but I think they checked the oil level even before starting the engine pretty much.

Problem with the dipstick has been mentioned on the VX site:

it's the way the dipstick system has been designed, the dipstick is at the back of the engine but the point of entry is at the front of the engine, so if this channel gets any crap inside the oil level will be wrong.

you could simply drill a hole through the steel 'lid' of the channel near where the dipstick enters the sump

or

fit a saab sump which has a normal dipstick - it measures the oil where it enters the sump
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Drained the oil out and it is seriously low on oil :(

Only approx 2.8 litres came out, when the capacity is 5 litres. Yet the dipstick was still reading at maximum!
 
You taken the filter off and looked how much is in that?

It may hold 5ltrs (dry capacity) but i bet during a normal change you only get 4.5 ltrs in.
 
Filter probaly hold a maximum of half a litre. So thats still only 3 litres. Not good, especially on a track day! :( Id go as far as to say the crank will have picked up and bye bye engine.
 
sump.JPG


Bits of bearing in the sump do not make me a happy boy. New engine for sure.
 
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