4/29/01 More Catastrophic Engine Failures

Last week I posted a picture of a holed Ferrari piston from a dropped valve, and it reminded me of another catastrophic engine failure.

O.K., it’s not a Ferrari rod, but it’s still pretty impressive the amount of bending and breaking that was involved. This piston and rod assembly came out of a Ford 289 V-8 that was gunned when it was cold. Something let loose and the result was a scored cylinder, and crankshaft, along with a new drain hole in the oil pan! Luckily, I wasn’t the cause of all this, nor was it my car, but it happened to a member of my family that shall remain nameless. This individual was having trouble starting a cold engine on a chilly morning, and with a Holley double pumper carburator that had a tricky choke set up, he/she soon lost patience. On the third try at keeping the engine running, a prodigious amount of throttle forced the rod cap out of the bottom end of the motor! Gotta hate when that happens!

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