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Hydrolocked?!?!

Most insurers cover some aftermarket. I used to be with Progressive, and they covered the cost of getting my body kit replaced and repainted, up to $1000. Additional coverage was also available for a fee.
 
I know I am jumping the gun here as I have not inspected the rods yet.

Would it be possible to swap the rods from under the car and keep the pistions in and the heads on?

How about pistons from beneath, can that be done?

I have an extra set of 3L rods and pistons if they end up being damaged and man would it be much nicer to swap thoes in without pulling the motor/heads.
 
SHOgoFast said:
I know I am jumping the gun here as I have not inspected the rods yet.

Would it be possible to swap the rods from under the car and keep the pistions in and the heads on?

How about pistons from beneath, can that be done?

I have an extra set of 3L rods and pistons if they end up being damaged and man would it be much nicer to swap thoes in without pulling the motor/heads.
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i dont think the pistons can get out of the bottom of the engine, as the crankshaft will be in the way, with the connecting rod bearing caps holding the pistons in, the pistons would have to go out of the heads way, plus even if u thought u could get the crank off, the timing would need to come off, hope its not too bad like bent rods :(
 
Just looked at some pics of my grenaded 2.5L There is NO way to acomplish this from below.

New question: Can the heads be removed without fully pulling the motor? IE can it be rasied up enough with trans and half shafts still bolted in place to get them off from above?
 
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I suppose it might be possible to pull the heads in the car, but I don't see why you would. It would be significantly easier to pull the engine and do the work on a stand, where you can thouroughly inspect it as well.
 
Normally I would just pull the motor but my car is in Chicagoland and the garage I use for major work is in Kalamazoo MI. In its current running condition I wouldnt start that drive without a tow truck following me.

I have most tools necessary here minus extended garage use and engine hoist. Which those are necessary for major engine work.

Soooo, im just bouncing around possibilities until I can get a detailed and accurate diagnosis.
 
SHOgoFast said:
Just looked at some pics of my grenaded 2.5L There is NO way to acomplish this from below.

New question: Can the heads be removed without fully pulling the motor? IE can it be rasied up enough with trans and half shafts still bolted in place to get them off from above?
Click to expand...

You could but it would take much more time to do it vs. pulling the motor.
 
hey i can fully understand not having anything other than a poor boy tool box i did my swap southern style... i used a comealong and a tree yeah i got pics .. thought that tree would fall on me many times but it still stands and the 3.0 now lives .. engine pulls can happen anywhere and anytime .. just stay positive...

SHOgoFast said:
Normally I would just pull the motor but my car is in Chicagoland and the garage I use for major work is in Kalamazoo MI. In its current running condition I wouldnt start that drive without a tow truck following me.

I have most tools necessary here minus extended garage use and engine hoist. Which those are necessary for major engine work.

Soooo, im just bouncing around possibilities until I can get a detailed and accurate diagnosis.
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I have a much better update coming when I get to use my desktop at home. I ended up finding more water around the top of the motor so I did a complete upper rebuild. Found some interesting substances up there. Pics to follow.

I guess the good news is the rods do not appear to be bent. At least my eyes and a flashlight from every angle possible under the car could not find any. I havent ran it with more than 5 psi yet and still pretty gentle on that even.

to be continued...
 
As promised, here is a better update.

Well, the car is running and not running too bad. It does miss a little at idle but it pretty much always has. It does feel like something is out of balance. As when it is not moving, in neutral, and I blip the throttle there is some extra vibration. However, I have had suspicions of an unbalanced flywheel or clutch.

So the below images are mostly of the oil that came out of the car. It is under 3 weeks old and less than 500 miles. It was run with this oil for about 5-10 mins before I dropped the pan. The oil looked like paint and was very thick. It was still very slippery. Everything was coated in this yellow paint like sludge that I sprayed out with some brake clean before putting new oil in.

Also there was this "butter" like sludge on the LIM when I disassembled it to ensure fully dry.

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Still no update on what is causing the vibration. It is only apparent at low RPM. At highway cruise it is non existant and the car feels great.

I wish there was a simple way to check if its the clutch, flywheel, preasure plate? I thought SPEC stuff was neutrally balanced out of the box?

It has probably been there since the 3L build but I only recently installed a solid roll resistor, so thats why it is so evident.
 
Thing is, its not just a "buzzing" style, constant vibration. That would make complete sense with the solid mount. It really feels like somthing is out of balance. Almost like a cylinder missing at low rpm but I doubt that is the case. I suppose it is possible but why does it go butter smooth when cruising then?

You can feel what I am talking about really well in the pedals. I wish I could have someone else feel it to help with my description.

Hey, at least the title of my post started as Hydrolocked and my car runs and drives good!!!!

I just hope when I upgrade the intercooler and push 10psi it doesnt blow up.
 
I hate to say it, but when you ran it with that watery oil, you probably did some damage to your bearings. Water is heavier than oil and sits at the bottom of the pan where your pickup tube is. What likely happened was when you started it up, it was drawing mostly water into the oil pump and circulating it throughout. Problem is- water doesn't lubricate, in fact it corrodes bearing surfaces. I know you're happy that it's running and all, and I'm not trying to ruin it for you, but your engine may have a very short life ahead of it- especially running boost.
 
SHOgoFast said:
Still no update on what is causing the vibration. It is only apparent at low RPM. At highway cruise it is non existant and the car feels great.

I wish there was a simple way to check if its the clutch, flywheel, preasure plate? I thought SPEC stuff was neutrally balanced out of the box?

It has probably been there since the 3L build but I only recently installed a solid roll resistor, so thats why it is so evident.
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Boy was I wrong! :shocked: A LOT of water managed to get swallowed up in the oil. :eek:

Anyway, I don't know if your car did a sudden stop or not when you hit that water but if so you can check your harmonic balance while the engine is idling by shining a flashlight down on it and seeing if it is wobbling at all. Sudden changes in engine rpm can cause one to slip a little and throw off the balance.
Otherwise I'd be concerned about a bent rod issue.
 
mcgarvey said:
I hate to say it, but when you ran it with that watery oil, you probably did some damage to your bearings. Water is heavier than oil and sits at the bottom of the pan where your pickup tube is. What likely happened was when you started it up, it was drawing mostly water into the oil pump and circulating it throughout. Problem is- water doesn't lubricate, in fact it corrodes bearing surfaces. I know you're happy that it's running and all, and I'm not trying to ruin it for you, but your engine may have a very short life ahead of it- especially running boost.
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What does anyone else think about this. There was obviously a lot of water in that oil. It was run like that at idle for appox 5-7 mins. Never driven.

Do you think I should be tearing down to inspect bearings?

Warmonger, I did visually inspect the rods from below and they "appear" to be in good order. Obviously my eye does not have very tight tolerances. No part of any rod looked bent, stretched or flexed.

I too was very surprised to find so much water past the rings. Compression was ~215psi in all cylinders only days before the swim.

Lets do a...if it was your car... what would you do at this point. I really really do not want to remove the heads and all that jazz to replace rods. Then again, I do hope to fully realize the power of a 3.0T so things need to be in good order.

Damnit damnit damnit... I have to be the only turbo guy that never gets to 10psi and still has his car in pieces 6mos of every year.
 
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