SAD DAY! Hydrolock on fuel = One broken rod (at least)

Tech discussions on the L77 6.0L V8.
BigMike0147
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:06 pm

SAD DAY! Hydrolock on fuel = One broken rod (at least)

Post by BigMike0147 »

So I'll keep the story brief as possible since I'm at work. I just wanted to let everyone know my experience so they can know it can happen to everyone.

The motor is a 6K mile GM replacement due to lifter failure (funny enough not DOD). It had been replaced before I purchased it and was one of the big selling points for me as I wouldn't need to worry about the bottom end (rings). So, over the summer I removed DOD, installed a cam, and did all of the supporting mods to go along with it while I was in there. I'm extremely busy, so I wanted to have this done between school semesters since I have a family, full time job, and am going back to college part time. I had some extra time before the next semester, so I decided to build the trans and do a rear end swap while I was at it. This way the drivetrain would be solid and I could move on to the turbo fabrication the next time I had extended "off" time. However, my trans guy fell ill, so I didn't get it back until about a week ago. Nonetheless, I made the time to get it installed so that I could enjoy my car again ASAP.

This is where the problem occurred. After I installed the trans, I started the car to help fill the trans with fluid and get everything going (it had been a long time). The car ran a little weird and surged some at idle, but I attributed it to maybe the idle tuning I had done before I took the car down months earlier. Either way, I shut the car down as it was fairly late and the car was pretty loud. My plan was to load a new tune and finish the trans fill and level check in the morning. After doing this, I went to start the car and it didn't start on the first crank (only a click). I thought it was strange, but instinctively reattempted the startup as it was running the night before. This is when it went went bad quickly. The car try to start and immediately died after making some horrible, deep metallic noises. My immediate thought was that my trans had a problem or that I maybe started it in gear, but I confirmed this was not the case. Just to confirm what I thought happened, I tried to start it once more with the same outcome. This is when I went under the car to check for major damage.

What I found was an exhaust leaking fluid which turned out to be gas. My heart immediately sank as this was a sign that one of my worst fears had occurred. An injector had stuck open and flooded a cylinder with fuel. When I went to start the car, something gave out inside the engine and now it's time for AT LEAST a rebuild. :cry: I had to know what was wrong, so I worked to drop the pan. The pan wouldn't completely clear the oil pickup tube, but I was able to get a good enough look inside to see a hole in the windage tray. My estimate is that when the rod broke for that cylinder, it fell out of the cylinder and then turned downward where it punched the hole on the next rotation. The rest of the morning was spend pulling off the head and getting the motor ready for removal. After getting the head off, I could see that the piston had some marks of touching the valve (no visible damage to valve, but will confirm later), and it was spun about 45 degrees (confirmed broken rod).

I'm eager to get the motor out of the car to see how bad the damage is. This will hopefully be this weekend if all goes well. At minimum, I'll be getting forged pistons and rods, but I may need a crank or completely new engine (if block has too much damage). I'll keep everyone posted with what I find and maybe some pictures after I get the motor on the stand and torn apart.

So be careful out there. Just because I had a new motor, didn't mean that my injectors were brand new (all the auxiliaries have probably 100K miles). Somehow one of them stuck open and POURED fuel into my engine (so much that I had to physically pour it out of intake manifold). I'd never personally seen this happen to anyone THIS bad, so I wanted to share my story. Thanks for hanging through it.
User avatar
Mooseman
Posts: 1075
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 11:35 pm
Location: Ottawa, ON Canada
Contact:

Re: SAD DAY! Hydrolock on fuel = One broken rod (at least)

Post by Mooseman »

Ah man, that sucks big time. Never heard of hydrolocking with fuel before but I guess it's possible.
2011 Caprice PPV, former RCMP test vehicle, never put into service
Build Thread: http://www.newcaprice.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2419
Sanford
Posts: 356
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2016 9:38 pm
Location: Texas Gulf Coast

Re: SAD DAY! Hydrolock on fuel = One broken rod (at least)

Post by Sanford »

I don't believe I have ever heard of an injector sticking and flooding an engine, but I guess there is always the first time. My first Caprice had ingested flood waters while it was running and did a pretty good number on one rod and piston, but it not break the rod. The piston was wedged so tight I had to drill holes in it so I could get it to turn loose from the cylinder. One of these days I need to have the block checked to see if it cracked it and turned it into an oversized door stop. I did not repair the damage as it was just about as cheap to buy a low mileage wrecked unit.
Attachments
2011 Caprice piston, rod damage (2).JPG
2011 Caprice piston, rod damage (2).JPG (785.59 KiB) Viewed 13453 times
Oldblue68chevy
Posts: 46
Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2017 7:06 pm

Re: SAD DAY! Hydrolock on fuel = One broken rod (at least)

Post by Oldblue68chevy »

I have a friend who had a stuck injector ruin his motor. He had bought a junkyard motor and it had sat a few years before getting to the project.

The only good thing about it was he ended up building a much better motor in the end.
2011 PPV 9C3
BigMike0147
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:06 pm

Re: SAD DAY! Hydrolock on fuel = One broken rod (at least)

Post by BigMike0147 »

Yep, it can definitely happen on fuel. Hopefully these will post correctly. It shows how I'll need a new motor since the bottom of the cylinder got taken out.

I've got to decide my path now....LSA or LS3. We'll have to see what's out there.
Attachments
IMG_20181027_132555.jpg
IMG_20181027_132555.jpg (348.18 KiB) Viewed 13418 times
IMG_20181027_121857.jpg
IMG_20181027_121857.jpg (280.37 KiB) Viewed 13418 times
IMG_20181027_121320.jpg
IMG_20181027_121320.jpg (599.96 KiB) Viewed 13418 times
CrashTestDummy
Posts: 2300
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 2:31 pm
Location: Pearland, Texas

Re: SAD DAY! Hydrolock on fuel = One broken rod (at least)

Post by CrashTestDummy »

Wow! Coated pistons, even.

One door closes, and another one opens. LSA FTW!! :mrgreen:
Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas
2012 Caprice 9C1
1992 B4C 1LE Camaro
2018 Tahoe PPV (her car)
1995 DGGM Impala SS
1985 Firebird - 310 LS1 C Prepared autocross car.
1980 Bluebird Wanderlodge
And some others
Do YOU have my SPID?
BigMike0147
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:06 pm

Re: SAD DAY! Hydrolock on fuel = One broken rod (at least)

Post by BigMike0147 »

Yeah, I was pretty surprised by the coated skirts. And I think I found my new motor. I should know maybe later today if it's going to work out.
CrashTestDummy
Posts: 2300
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 2:31 pm
Location: Pearland, Texas

Re: SAD DAY! Hydrolock on fuel = One broken rod (at least)

Post by CrashTestDummy »

BigMike, have you found a viable replacement yet? Inquiring minds want to know. ;)
Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas
2012 Caprice 9C1
1992 B4C 1LE Camaro
2018 Tahoe PPV (her car)
1995 DGGM Impala SS
1985 Firebird - 310 LS1 C Prepared autocross car.
1980 Bluebird Wanderlodge
And some others
Do YOU have my SPID?
BigMike0147
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:06 pm

Re: SAD DAY! Hydrolock on fuel = One broken rod (at least)

Post by BigMike0147 »

Thanks for checking back in! I actually did find a motor pretty quickly. I got a L94 which is basically a LS3 with different pistons and cam. It also came with an LSA blower and lid.

So....I was hoping to just slap it in and go after an inspection. However, I sent it to the machine shop to clean the bores because a couple had some minor scratches. However, while the machinist was hoping it, it was evidently that the bores had some settling and low spots. So I gave the go ahead to go .010 over. Now I'm going with Forged internals I guess. Lol I'll probably have time to get it all assembled in December.
ABrandenburg
Posts: 50
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 12:04 am

Re: SAD DAY! Hydrolock on fuel = One broken rod (at least)

Post by ABrandenburg »

What did you do with your old block? I'd be curious to know if it could be Darton Sleeved to repair the damage to the bottom of the cylinder wall. I've been toying with the idea of building a modern Oldsmobile 403 which came in my '79 Trans Am with a Darton sleeved LS motor, so many people knock the Olds 403, but with a few mods the thing was a torque monster, just bad about overheating and blowing head gaskets if you weren't careful with startup and shutdown shenanigans.

I was thinking if a bad motor like this could be sleeved and bore it to max of 4.2 with a 3.6 stroke, you will have one hell of a fast revving motor with killer torque from idle to top end. An added bonus would be the short stroke distance puts low strain on the cylinder walls so it should run damn near forever. Would make for a fun Bandit with a T56 or TR6060 behind the motor :)
Post Reply