Cheapest Way to fix Cylinder 8 Failure--another one--Cheapest rebuild/fix -HELP

[coyoteugly5.0]

Well, I didn't think it would happen to me, but it did. Last night I was running... outrunning a GTO down the interstate, hit a ramp and seen the check engine light. I used my handheld to check the code and its cylinder 8. No need for a compression test, its obvious. At first I was curious, but after driving it for another 10 miles home it was smoking and skipping and the check engine light started flashing. I pulled the plug and it was covered in oil.

I know theres tons of these threads..but everyones talking warranty this and its who fault blabla, I accepted my warranty was crap several mods ago, now I'm upside down with the car miles are getting higher, and now this at the most unfortunate time.

I need the cheapest way to fix this. Can I pull the engine and simply drop the pan and replace the piston and rings? I read somewhere that it could have scarred the cylinder walls, if that's the case, could I just take it to the machine shop to get it maybe .10 over and put oversized rings in? Where do I find the parts? Everything Ive searched people are going all out and getting the forged blocks that's 4-5k dollars I don't have.

Another Idea I had, How much is my engine worth parted out with this problem? i.e. sell the block scarred or not, sell the heads, sell the intake, etc. and use that money to buy a 4-4500k used engine and drop in? I don't have another vehicle, so I need the most cost effective reliable fix possible.

 

[69camaro...]

only way to get answers is to tell them who tuned it, then everyone will then go into panic mode, and your whole thread will turn into a who is the best tuner thread. Goodluck, pull the motor and assess the damage. Make your decision where to go from there

 

[nosscort]

if it's scored and it's a light score, a small hand hone might clean it up and possibly take a .001-.002 and than a stock piston could be used again.. but you will have to take the block down to a bare block.. not just take one out. if it's deeper than a .005-.010 bore can be done but not going to be able to re use the stock pistons and rings, all after market pistons will have the std-.005-.010 bore pistons available.

 

[Weather Man]

If you can do the work yourself, this is the cheapest.

http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113390

 

[19kobra99]

I took the front cover, intake and the driver head off to just change out the one piston/rod combo I got from Ike. It would have been a quick swap if I wouldn't have cracked a plug on #4 while pulling them out and dropped porcelain in the hole. If I could go back to do it all again I'd just change out the 1 piston and move one. If you call up some of the engine builders you may get a freebee piston/rod combo. Good luck!

 

[turboeverything]

I have a bore scope for doing this kind of work.. Just so I know before taking it apart how far I will need to go.
I can have repair parts coming before I even take it apart.. So if you can find a nice bore scope to use there handy

 

[Ill_W1N]

Mods?

 

[pufferfish]

take a breath, check your oil level, check the rest of the plugs for oil, then do a compression and leakdown test before you start tearing it down. these engines tend to draw in a ton of oil through the pcv system (even with an oil separator) on engine braking, which is what i assume you were doing when you took the offramp after spanking that gto. misfires happen when trying to chug all that oil and will continue until the oil is no longer migrating into the combustion chambers.

if this scenario is what happened to your engine, its easily fixed. best way is to pull and clean the plugs, pull the intake and clean all the oil out. and then, dump the pcv system for a catch can setup.

if its not, at least you know for sure you blew #8.

 

[BrianH87]

I took the front cover, intake and the driver head off to just change out the one piston/rod combo I got from Ike. It would have been a quick swap if I wouldn't have cracked a plug on #4 while pulling them out and dropped porcelain in the hole. If I could go back to do it all again I'd just change out the 1 piston and move one. If you call up some of the engine builders you may get a freebee piston/rod combo. Good luck!

Can this be done without any machine work? Did you change your rod bearings and bolts and such?

 

[19kobra99]

In my particular case I had 7000 miles on the clock. The bearing looked do good I reused them and the rod bolt say tty but so are the head bolts and many many other bolts on this and other engines and they are reused regularly.

 

[Fast_5.0]

time for a new engine - I'd go with an Aluminator crate

 

[cb900f]

Boss rotating assembly IMO. Good price for some stronger rods.

 

[Joey8]

If you did infact toast number 8 I'd go with the mmr 1000hp shortblock rebuild imo. Throw whatever you dream at it and it'll hold up.

 

[coyoteugly5.0]

I don't know.. It used like a quart of oil in 10-20 minutes, skipped like hell, and really did dump the smoke after doing the engine breaking thing.

There was fresh oil dripping off the #8 plug when I pulled it out.. This doesn't seem normal to me.. oh, and btw, when I got home after it first happen, I had to add about 2 quarts of oil, and smoke was coming out of where you add the oil..

I see a lot of ppl do the mmr shortblock rebuild, but I'm looking for cheap/cheaper.. Can't I just buy a set of manley pistons and rods and put in myself? How much hp would that make it good for? I seen a kit for around 1200 with the rods, pistons, and rings..

How do you change a piston and rod from the top? How do you unbolt it from the crank shaft?

 

[pufferfish]

I'm sticking to my theory. Before my engine seized, it chugged 5 quarts of oil on road course track and it was all through the pcv. A friend lost 1/4 quart just by missing a shift and over-revving.

But you seem to be hell bent on replacing something. You can't get the piston and rod out without pulling the head and the oil pan. You can't drop in any piston and rod that isn't the OE parts without requiring a crank rebalance. If you are going to rebalance for new piston and rod sets, the engine should just be pulled.

 

[Eric@jpc]

i would suggest a leak down and compression check on all holes.

if everything checks out and you didnt scar up the sleeve too bad and your looking for the cheap fix just drop a stocker in.

I will send you a free rod and piston if you want you just pay for the ride.

You obviously will need new head bolts gaskets and fluids as well

 

[4VFTW]

if you didnt hurt the bore a Boss rotating assembly is a inexpensive upgrade.

 

[coyoteugly5.0]

I'm sticking to my theory. Before my engine seized, it chugged 5 quarts of oil on road course track and it was all through the pcv. A friend lost 1/4 quart just by missing a shift and over-revving.

But you seem to be hell bent on replacing something. You can't get the piston and rod out without pulling the head and the oil pan. You can't drop in any piston and rod that isn't the OE parts without requiring a crank rebalance. If you are going to rebalance for new piston and rod sets, the engine should just be pulled.

Tonight I pulled 2 more plugs, and they did have minimal oil on them, so I did have my hopes up. I went to the parts store and rented a compression gauge, got home, and checked the 4 cylinders on the driver side. It was 108ish all the way down to cylinder 8 which came in around 15. So definitely cylinder 8 failure.

i would suggest a leak down and compression check on all holes.

if everything checks out and you didnt scar up the sleeve too bad and your looking for the cheap fix just drop a stocker in.

I will send you a free rod and piston if you want you just pay for the ride.

You obviously will need new head bolts gaskets and fluids as well

That would be awesome as well.. Do you sell the head bolts, gaskets, and fluids? If your giving me a free rod and piston Id definitely hit you up, that helps play into the cheaper part for me. As long as its torqued back together correctly, will it still be as reliable and able to hold a little nitrous? maybe 75-100 shot? Then again, I'm thinking put it together and sell it on the other hand..

if you didnt hurt the bore a Boss rotating assembly is a inexpensive upgrade.

I noticed a few out there but they all come with the crankshaft? I thought I read that the factory 5.0 crank was forged and was more than capable, Can I just simply buy the rods and pistons? Or does that make it where I have to take the block to get balanced?

 

[Slowb00st]

That's because the boss crank is blanced to the boss piston and rods specs

 

[pufferfish]

sorry to hear i was wrong. i was pulling for you and your engine. i would still consider dumping the pcv system for a breather setup once you have it back together.

its about cost neutral to buy the new boss crank vs having the gt crank rebalanced. on the plus side of rebalancing, you don't need to worry about getting new main bearings (they are individually sized to each journal). but, i would take the jpc deal and call it a day. having boss internals doesn't add resale value and only mildly better than gt internals. if you really want the strength, get a full forged aftermarket piston and rod setup, balance the crank to those and get arp head studs to button her up with.