I blew it up good...

[Turbo Zetec 'tour]

Last saterday (April 26th), i took the turbo zetec out for a drive to make sure it was ready for Spring Zing. i was doing a couple 0-60 runs when i suddenly have no power. thankfully i was on the back road by my house so i limped it home and parked it, letting it cool for a bit. went back a little later to do a compression test and found the following.
cylinder 1: 115PSI
cylinder 2: 115PSI
cylinder 3: 70PSI
cylinder 4: wouldnt even move the needle. :banghead:

so i pushed it into the garage and there is sat for the week as i didnt feel like working on it all week.

this past saterday i begin to tear it down. i got the head off and what do i find?

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k17/Dslax/100_0601.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k17/Dslax/100_0604.jpg

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

based on the marks on the top of the pistons it appears they were hitting the head. every one is bowed in at the 4 "corners" and they all have small cracks in the lower left "corner". i have yet to pull the block and tear apart the bottom end to see exactly why they started to hit the head but i KNOW they were all perfect when i reinstalled the head just a week prior to the runs. i cant even just replace the pistons as a piece of the piston got ground into the cylinder wall.

I now have to decide what to do with it. obviously i want to rebuild it but that takes money i dont really have. i could part it out but i dont really want to lose this car.

[luvmy99cougar]

wow dude that is some ****, i cant believe that. im really sorry man...

[MagicHallucinations]

Damn....that really sucks. So zero chance for a rebuild? How's the crank and rods? Is it just the pistons? Probably marks on the head as well eh?

Might not take as much as you think.....

[Turbo Zetec 'tour]

Damn....that really sucks. So zero chance for a rebuild? How's the crank and rods? Is it just the pistons? Probably marks on the head as well eh?

Might not take as much as you think.....
the block is toast since a piece of the piston was ground into the wall. i havent had a chance to look at the crank and rods yet but im betting the crank is toast, hopefully the rods are still good. yeah, there are marks on the head as well.

someone on CEG just posted a few links to some focus threads and there seem to be numerous people having basically the same problem with the Probe pistons (what i had) and them breaking around the valve reliefs. so it could be that the piston broke allowing it to slap which is just enough to hit the head.

[jaged]

is the 97 still the shaft style trans? either way i have a working motor sitting in my garage FS with ohsigmachis trans attached to it

[Turbo Zetec 'tour]

is the 97 still the shaft style trans? either way i have a working motor sitting in my garage FS with ohsigmachis trans attached to it
yes the 97 is still a rod shift trans, although the trans is fine so im not worried about it. also ohsigmachi has made me an offer on the rest of his parts. all i would need is pistons and a block. i have my original block still (has 241K miles on it :crazy:) that could be bored to fit the new pistons and would be good as new.

edit: the fidanza flywheel might be nice though :biggrin:

[fordrule]

wow it lasted longer than i though. rebuilt that hoe yo......long live the little turbo that powns

[B3NN3TT]

the block is toast since a piece of the piston was ground into the wall.

Re-sleeve that bad boy.

[jaged]

that can be arranged. the motor i have only has 132ish on it

[Turbo Zetec 'tour]

Re-sleeve that bad boy.
Not worth the cost since its an iron block, espicially when i have an extra engine sitting on a stand at home.


that can be arranged. the motor i have only has 132ish on it

im still undecided what im going to do but if i do rebuild it, it will get a fully built and blueprinted engine with ported head and cams. probably from focus power (http://www.focus-power.com/view.php?showme=Complete_Engines). even building my own with the deal that ohsigmachi is willing to give me will cost me almost the same.

[MagicHallucinations]

that could be bored to fit the new pistons and would be good as new.

Re-sleeve that bad boy.



A plan is forming:cool:

[fordrule]

woot woot...and in this corner the boosted bastard child 4cyl and in the red corner the boosted 3L that snaps axles...wonder who will win and not blow up on the strip

[cbman]

That was a concern with my block since after the machine work was done my pistons would stick out of the deck 0.015". So, I ended up just getting an oversized cometic head gasket, 0.040" thick compared to 0.027" stock.

So, as long as there isn't too much piston to cylinder clearance I should be good.

[cbman]

What brand of pistons are you using? I'm just curious even though it wouldn't have mattered.

[Turbo Zetec 'tour]

I was using Probe pistons. I had a cometic head gasket at one point, but i also have had a couple different OEM ones, none of which had any problems.

[cbman]

I was using Probe pistons. I had a cometic head gasket at one point, but i also have had a couple different OEM ones, none of which had any problems.

Your gasket may have been working fine, but I'm saying that using a thicker head gasket than stock may have prevented the pistons from hitting the head.

I wonder if your pistons were sticking out of the top of the deck at TDC (like mine).

I remember seeing a few Foci on Focaljet lately that have had probe pistons failing at the same place, but I guess for other reasons.

[Turbo Zetec 'tour]

even with the OEM gaskets the pistons never hit the head till this last run. i still think either the bearings failed which allowed enough play for the pistons to hit the head or the piston broke which then allowed enough movement for it to hit the head. since all of the pistons have cracks in the same spots im leaning toward the second one. I do know that even with a crushed OEM head gasket the pistons were no where close to coming above the gasket.

also, the pistons were perfect not a week before this happend when i put the head back on and i had OEM head gaskets both times before that.

right now im leaning towards parting it out, unless someone wants to buy the whole car for a little less than what i feel i can get from the parts, and then saving for a bit and start building a Locost 7 (Lotus 7 replica/kit car).

[CheeseEater88]

You can't let a good thing go Turbo... you need to rebuild that thing...

and why a Lotus? why not a GT? or a Kaiser Jeep? ....sorry some you-tube movie featured one.

Stock V6 contours with exhaust and intake are mid 15 secs
you were better than that... and your going to let the dream die *sigh*

but if you are going to part it... :) let me know

[Turbo Zetec 'tour]

You can't let a good thing go Turbo... you need to rebuild that thing...

and why a Lotus? why not a GT? or a Kaiser Jeep? ....sorry some you-tube movie featured one.

Stock V6 contours with exhaust and intake are mid 15 secs
you were better than that... and your going to let the dream die *sigh*

but if you are going to part it... :) let me know
the reason for the lotus is simple, actually there are 2 reasons.
1: ever since i first saw one i wanted to build one
2: i can still use the zetec engine :biggrin:

financially it makes more sense for me to sell everything, even though i think the turbo zetec could easily be the first contour in the 12s, the money i feel i can get for all the parts would pay off everything but the SVT and my student loan. that being said, if i cant sell all of the parts i wont be parting it. its either all or none. If someone wants to buy the whole car for what i consider a fair price simply due to the mods i would rather do that than part it.

for that matter, if someone were to buy the whole car they could bring an engine with them and ill help them put it in over a weekend and it could be driven home.

[jaged]

what are you thinking for a price?

[Turbo Zetec 'tour]

what are you thinking for a price?
You have a PM since im not sure of the rules on posting prices in non for sale threads.