[Mike Hadz]

okay so after a high speed cruise on the highway i blew a piston, just pulled apart the engine to find out the piston was mangled a bit in there. my first thought was okay time for a new engine, my 2000 gt windsor block has 98k at the time of this happening, i know these engines are good for 200k or so, anyways i've been looking into mmr 4.75 block, but just got the cold awakening of the fact that my car won't be on the road for probably another 2 months if i go with the mmr block, i need my car for school.

Anyways my ultimate question is if i rebuild my stock windsor block (new piston, re-honing the cylinder, and put a new set of comp cam's in) will the engine hold up? or simply just blow again? heres the pics, thanks!

(the cylinder wall has a 1/1000th scratch/hole in it) which is apparently pretty minor. and re-honing should get it back to where it was.





okay here is a pic of the other 3 pistons, any idea as to why they look half burnt? it's probably the fact that the fuel is injected on a certain side.


Thank you everyone\

p.s if i do decide to rebuild engine & get cam's what cams do you guys suggest for most power without sacrificing reliability for daily driving.

[castine917]

If you rebuild and fix tuning issues you will be good. If you rebuild and don't fix tuning you may blow again. If you go MMR and don't fix tuning you may blow that too.

[Mike Hadz]

shameless...

[CobraStang161]

Sorry but that whole motor is toast. The rest of the pistons look like they were detonating.

[stal94gt]

once the motor is built i would send your injecters out and get them inspected and flow matched. a good thing would be you had a bad tune and that is why your motor went but more often than not you had other issues.

[WickedSnake00]

If the damage was limited to that cylinder alone, and you are aware of what cause the issue and remedy it, I see no problem with replacing it.

However I can't see all your pistons and if they were detonating. If they've taken some damage you'll need to replace them as well.

Either way, I would want to find out what caused the detonation, and fix it. Was this during a WOT pull? Is your tune good? AFR? Bad injector? etc...

Fix the underlying problem or you'll be replacing yet another piston.

[Mike Hadz]

Originally Posted by WickedSnake00 If the damage was limited to that cylinder alone, and you are aware of what cause the issue and remedy it, I see no problem with replacing it. However I can't see all your pistons and if they were detonating. If they've taken some damage you'll need to replace them as well. Either way, I would want to find out what caused the detonation, and fix it. Was this during a WOT pull? Is your tune good? AFR? Bad injector? etc... Fix the underlying problem or you'll be replacing yet another piston.

that was what i was told was most likely the problem, that the cylinder was runnning lean, so i'll replace the injectors get a new cam and take it to get dyno tuned? or what? anyone else have an idea why the cylinders look half burnt?

[stal94gt]

its tough to tell from your pictures, it looks like build up on the tops of the pistons which is normal for motors especaily to favor the side of the intake valve. pistons that have been running lean look grey/white and pitted out from detonation.

[WickedSnake00]

Originally Posted by stal94gt its tough to tell from your pictures, it looks like build up on the tops of the pistons which is normal for motors especaily to favor the side of the intake valve. pistons that have been running lean look grey/white and pitted out from detonation.

As usual, stal nailed it on the head. First thing I'd look for to indicate detonation is pitting.

If this was in fact a good dyno tune you were running and that was the only piston damage then I'd look at a mechanical failure, such as injector. You might be able to get it flow tested to see if it's still good.

[Nitmare67]

Use the block and crank, bore, forged pistons new forged rods, cams, injectors, forged oil pump, dynamic balanced. Rock on

[99GT35thLE]

Personally I would not rehone a 100,000 mile engine, I would get it bored to .020 and go with new rods/pistons and have the crank worked over. Add the price of all that up and your only a few hundred short of buying a shortblock.

How long have you had this car?

Did you ever experience any issues before taking this high speed cruise?

How fast and for how long were you running during this high speed cruise?

[stal94gt]

getting a block machined adds up. gotta figure minimum would be cleaning, square deck, tq plate, bore/hone, and if you use arp main studs you need to get a line hone done. at your power levels and anything under 600 hp i would stick to stock main studs. hell i have not heard many issues with running stock main studs for anything under 800 hp. it is almost just as cheap to get a budget sb for the price of getting all your stuff re-machined, and balanced. now companys are making sb's as cheap as 1500 dollars.

[Mike Hadz]

Originally Posted by 99GT35thLE Personally I would not rehone a 100,000 mile engine, I would get it bored to .020 and go with new rods/pistons and have the crank worked over. Add the price of all that up and your only a few hundred short of buying a shortblock. How long have you had this car? Did you ever experience any issues before taking this high speed cruise? How fast and for how long were you running during this high speed cruise?

i've only had the car for like a few months and it's run great since i bought it.

[Eagle2000GT]

All of my cars ran great until I blew them up. You are correct. You can rebuild the block but you are going to need more parts than you are anticipating. With damage to a piston like that I would think it would have to be bored out to fix the cylinder. I really don't think honing will do it. If you are on a limited budget and you need to get the car fixed quickly then you need to go to a salvage yard and get a replacement motor.

I've had to do that three times in the past. All of the motors were good and lasted a long time.

[Mike Hadz]

Originally Posted by Eagle2000GT All of my cars ran great until I blew them up. You are correct. You can rebuild the block but you are going to need more parts than you are anticipating. With damage to a piston like that I would think it would have to be bored out to fix the cylinder. I really don't think honing will do it. If you are on a limited budget and you need to get the car fixed quickly then you need to go to a salvage yard and get a replacement motor. I've had to do that three times in the past. All of the motors were good and lasted a long time.

how did you blow so many motors? were they different cars?

[Nitmare67]

Today was a warm day here and the first time I had drove the car since changing the boost level. i knew the timing was borderline and today it rattled TWICE hard enough to scare me lol. Held up, pulled 1 degree and banged on it some more haha. Moral of the story. Some stock motors hold, some dont but either way they will all meet their maker sooner or later if pushed hard enough.

[Mike Hadz]

damn... my mechanic has probably already put the engine back together, no chances it will hang up just honed?

[Eagle2000GT]

Originally Posted by Mike Hadz how did you blow so many motors? were they different cars?

I've been around a long time and I wasn't very smart when I was your age. The first motor I blew up was my 1966 Dodge's 426 ci Wedge. Antifreeze had gotten in the oil and I drove it anyway. I replaced it with a 440. The second was my 1969 Camaro's 350. I was racing down some back roads. To get through the first corner of an S curve I downshifted to third. To get to the second part of the S curve I went to second and spun the motor way too high. I replaced it with a built 327 which lasted 500 miles. I replaced that with a 305 truck motor. I blew up the third motor missing second while powershifting (no rev limiter). It was a 1973 Pinto. I blew the motor on Friday. Bought a salvage yard motor and transmission on Saturday. Put them in on Sunday. And drove the car to work on Monday. Needless to say nowadays I watch my oil carefully, I watch my rpms when downshifting, and I no longer powershift.

P.S. If you hadn't noticed I'm a little conservative when it comes to max horsepower, max boost or max rpms. Now you know why.

[Eagle2000GT]

Originally Posted by Mike Hadz damn... my mechanic has probably already put the engine back together, no chances it will hang up just honed?

None of us have seen the motor. Your mechanic has. If you took it to a respectible shop then you'll probably be OK.

[Nitmare67]

LOL EAGLE word on the powershifting especially some of the older trannys. I used to race my 67 Mustang in HS. Was a 289, 250hp N20, tunnel ram, 4 speed. Sent the main caps off once power shifting from 3rd to 4th....... went into second, on the bottle lol. That was a bad night. The oil pan looking like a grenade came through it. We litterally picked up 5 pistons and rods.