So I was getting 272's installed friday nite....after everything was complete...car fired up and was driveable...It sputtered around 5-6k rpm so the mechanic who was test driving it let off and drove it back into the bay.

Saturday morning....car wouldnt start....We tried figuring out why..checking everything out.

We then decided to pull the spark plugs out....WOW what did we find???

4th cylinder plug looked like a bomb exploded...the head mechanic said that the only way this could have happened would be that the piston hit the spark plug... We checked the other plugs and they were all ok.

Afterwards we checked if the pistons were in even positions inside the motor and we found that the 4th cylinder piston was in a lower position than all the rest.

I don't know what to do...this is my only car and my daily driver... Any help on what to do would be greatly appreciated...

Our theory on what could have happened...

All of this was done in the order that is listed
-I was a beta tester for Dynoflash and had my car flashed on the dyno when it was stock.
-Added a TB Exhaust
-Replaced stock airbox with filter
-Added boost controller set at 21psi
-Added Walbro Fuel Pump
-Added ARP Headstuds and 272's.

We think that the car just simply leaned out tooooo much and caused the rod to break or malfunction. I was planning on getting a retune once i had the cams in but i guess that was the wrong decision.



Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

Are you sure your mechanic installed the camshafts correctly and had all the timing marks aligned?

 

does the piston still move, does the motor turn over, if not broken rod, wrist pin, or crank. drop the oil pan and find out, pull the piston or get a microscope and look in chamber itll tell you what happened.

 

yup....timing timing marks were all aligned and cams were put in properly.

 

damn.. that sucks. well gl fixing it

 

Lean conditions will not always break a rod. Rings would give out first then the piston.

Can you still rotate the Crankshaft one full turn?
Did you take out the spark plugs when doing the Cams? Some thing might have dropped in there while it was out.

I doubt the theory of overly lean would cause this. Some thing mechanical went wrong.

Just borrow a car from now till you get this sorted out. And find out what really caused it.

 

crank won't turn

 

they are going to see exactly what's f*cked up on monday.....dam..this is going to hurt my pocket....

 

keep your eyes on every move your car makes i would be willing to bet something was left in the combustion chamber. were you with the mech. when he test drove it.

 

no..i wasnt with the mechanic when he test drove it....both mechanics test drove it...yeah..i probabbly should have been there but i wasn't and what's done is done....we'll see what the damage is tomorrow when they drop the oil pan.

 

like i said keep a close eye on them good luck

 

Did you get any reflashes after making those mods?

 

if they refuse to pay to repair it, call your local BBB office. then watch how fast they offer to help.(at least it works here in ohio.)

 

That may be , at least at first. But I bet the tension on the belt was messed up. Check the cam timing relative to the crankshaft now. I bet it is off.

 

I just had something similar happen. This is my only car and I am broke too.
I tracked my problem down to detonation due to my fault, (long story involving tuning a UTEC).
Bottom line was My plug looked melted. If yours looks like it hit something, (Piston or valve head). You could have had piston/valve contact due to miss aligned timing belt. (I know you said everything was correct).
If you leaned out and burnt a valve head (they come off easy (relative) due to hollow stems). Valve head could have hit plug and ultimately got between piston/head and caused broken piston or rod (most likely piston).
The most logical reason due to the fact you just had cams installed, is mis aligned timing.
I just pulled my motor today. I bought a used one from Ebay.
Good luck.