1996 850 2.3T blown #2 Rod at 208k

[Jazzer]

All is good y'all, all is good...today once it warms up a bit (still about 30 degrees here in Western PA) I plan on checking the travel of each piston. IF that test looks good, THEN I'll try a compression test. IF that looks good, THEN I'll try the JB Weld as a temporary fix to get some oil in the motor and see how it runs. In all likelihood I'm shopping for a new (to me) engine and helping to put my Volvo tech's kid in braces. I also need a new steering rack so I might as well have him put that in while he's got the motor out...

[oragex]

Wait a minute - isnt that an eyeball looking out? Maybe the poor guy who lubricates the back of the pistons wants a break from work??

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kinda creeps me a little now that you pointed that out

[cn90]

Easy test...

Remove all 5 spark plugs.
Get a long piece of chopstick or 1/4" extension (make sure it is long enough), and place it down the spark plug hole.

Then turn the crank using the big nut.
The piston should go up and down...

[Jazzer]

Okay, it was an easy diagnosis; removed plugs, put a long screwdriver in each hole while cranking the shaft. Each piston went up and down...
except number 2
I did find this resting on top of the subframe, though:

Now I'm no CSI metallurgist, mind you, but it is aluminum and it does look like it was struck with a pointed object from inside the engine, forcing it outwards. I can't find any other holes in the block, so I'm not sure if it came from under the oil filter. Doesn't look like the same size, but I didn't have time to fit it today and see.

SO, that was nice and quick, no epoxy needed lol. Now i just need to plan my finances for the next few months...

[erikv11]

Bummer. Indeed, just like viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83738. Fortunately everything pointed to a broken rod, glad you didn't waste your time on other things.

Interesting side note is the mechanic had never seen anything like this in his long life of servicing cars, but we just saw the same thing only a year ago in this one forum. There is no substitute for experience I'm certainly not suggesting that, but take note you can see a lot more P80 cars in the forum(s) than in one Indy's job logs.

Also to OP: yes, this would be a perfect time to do the steering rack, the labor is 100x easier when the engine is out.

[abscate]

I think your friends finances’ need to play a role in this, to put it mildly.

Am I the only one who would try a pan drop, remove rod, polish, new bearing, and run that sucker?

[erikv11]

Interested to hear opinions on abscate's last question. I wouldn't go near trying that repair but I have no experience on bottom ends.

[amblerman]

I think your friends finances’ need to play a role in this, to put it mildly.

Am I the only one who would try a pan drop, remove rod, polish, new bearing, and run that sucker?

If this happened to me I suppose my first thought would be to try this. At the very least I'd drop the pan to see what the damage actually was. I have zero experience dealing with bottom end issues but when I watch videos on YouTube, it seems like it might be possible to fix this by new bearings if the damage isn't bad.

Then again, there would always be the question about what caused this to fail (whatever actually failed) in the first place. If there oil starvation issues, you'd have to fix those as well.

I suppose it would all depend on what actually failed. The only way to determine that is by dropping the pan right?

-A

[erikv11]

Which brings up another key point: whatever engine this car ends up with, be certain to replace the oil tube pickup o-rings inside the pan, as at this age they are guaranteed to be working less well than they should.

[abscate]

Changed thread title to root