Broken Piston Rods

[g1smith]

What would cause 4 broken piston rods?
A friend had a leak in his radiator overflow tank and overheated his '97 Ford Taurus with the 3.0 engine. We replaced a cracked cylinder head and the car ran great for about two months . . . then the engine started rattling, or pinging and then it stopped . . . never to run again. We found 4 broken piston rods and the bearing inserts are scored pretty badly. We couldn't even turn the engine over using breaker bars. Could overheating the have caused the crankshaft bearings to expand just enough to cause this?

[LeSabre97mint]

Originally Posted by g1smith

What would cause 4 broken piston rods?
A friend had a leak in his radiator overflow tank and overheated his '97 Ford Taurus with the 3.0 engine. We replaced a cracked cylinder head and the car ran great for about two months . . . then the engine started rattling, or pinging and then it stopped . . . never to run again. We found 4 broken piston rods and the bearing inserts are scored pretty badly. We couldn't even turn the engine over using breaker bars. Could overheating the have caused the crankshaft bearings to expand just enough to cause this?

Yes the overheating may of been the reason for bearing failure. How many miles on the engine before you replaced the head? If the engine was high millage the bearings were already partially worn out. After being overheated, they experienced more wear.

Did you get antifreeze in the oil? Antifreeze destroyes bearings.

It sounds like you guys should goto the local bone yard and pick up a used engine.

Regards

Dan

[g1smith]

The car had about 90,000 or so miles on it, and yes, it had water in the oil. He found a used engine on the internet for about $350 (plus $200 shipping) with 20,000 miles on it from a little ol'e lady from Pasidena that only drove it to church on Sunday's . . . and she lived next door to the chruch, what luck!The used parts in Utax are soooo expensive.

It took us 2 days to extract the old engine (minding the wires, cables and the metal-art / exhaust system) . . . and another 2 days to put the replacement one in.) It's skampering around town again! I've been lucky in the past with straight 4 Mazda engines . . . when my inlaws overheat them, 2 to be exact, changing the cylinder head gasket and milling the head has got them back on the road. But then, they weren't driven for any period of time with water in the oil!

[LeSabre97mint]

Originally Posted by g1smith

The car had about 90,000 or so miles on it, and yes, it had water in the oil. He found a used engine on the internet for about $350 (plus $200 shipping) with 20,000 miles on it from a little ol'e lady from Pasidena that only drove it to church on Sunday's . . . and she lived next door to the chruch, what luck!The used parts in Utax are soooo expensive.

It took us 2 days to extract the old engine (minding the wires, cables and the metal-art / exhaust system) . . . and another 2 days to put the replacement one in.) It's skampering around town again! I've been lucky in the past with straight 4 Mazda engines . . . when my inlaws overheat them, 2 to be exact, changing the cylinder head gasket and milling the head has got them back on the road. But then, they weren't driven for any period of time with water in the oil!

Good to hear that you got it fixed.

Dan