No it can't.

The head is in the way.



But if it detonates, the top will break off the piston, bounce around and smash the plug.

 

Maybe not on a 4g63t with stock pistons, i dunno.... but ive seen it happen on other engines

 

Doubt it. If a rod lets go, piston should be going down from ignition, not up.

Besides, timing belt broke, so rods should be good.

 

Like i said, i have seen it happen. Engines can fail in a million different ways. I never said "hey i bet this is what happened". Something smashed that plug though hopefully what ever it was didnt wreck the shortblock/head.

 

Relax, we're all trying to figure out what happened. All are theories until head is opened up.

 

The head may of survived, but I doubt it. The valve seats will be damaged. Although if not to bad, maybe a valve seat regrind and a few new valves. Possibly the balance shaft belt caused the cam belt to break. Cam belts usually do not break, they loose a few teeth which stops them from turning. Post pictures of the top of your pistons when you have the head off.


Don

 

I've seen this once before. It was a IX, for some reason the belt snapped and broke some valves. By luck, the OEM valves were sodium core so it broke and hit the spark plug but didn't hit anything else (even the piston). Is a long shot but you could get lucky.
Even so, you will have to remove the head no matter what.

Greetings!

 

Thanks for all the replies. I plan on pulling the head, no rush though as this is my 2nd car, so it only gets driven around once a month so no rush to fix.

 

Do keep us posted though as you make progress!

 

i had a similar damage because the gear from the oil pump came loose,

same gear (4th) but lower speed (50kmh) the result...

6 broken valves
4 bent valves
all pistons damaged
mivec gear broken
crank gear was chewed (aluminum one)
oil pump damaged
2 cylinders were damaged from valve fragments
also my turbo (HKS GTII) was leaking oil and i had to change my CHRA.

hope you are luckier than me....

good luck

Michael.

 

Faulty Timing Belt Tensioner?

 

This is my first thought. Won't know until I start pulling timing covers off to see.