Friend's son's car. 160K miles. Motor blew at 70 MPH on highway. Car had been using 1 qt/2K miles. Looks like front cam seal, rear main, valve-cover gasket had been leaking. Maybe the leaks worsened without giving any indication. Engine had ~ 1 QT of oil in it but who knows how much was lost when the block holes blew open.
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240 drivers / parts cars - JH, Ohio

Pulled engine apart. 3 rods were broken off the crank; 3 holes in block, 1 in pan.

Flame box was split in two and oil was all over that side of motor, fender well, transmission, and underbody.

Head looked clean ie. not sludged up.

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240 drivers / parts cars - JH, Ohio

" 3 rods were broken off the crank"
So how does one get 3 rods to snap at the same time?
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1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb, M46 trans, 3:31 dif, in Brampton, Ont.

I'm guessing it was out of oil. It threw one rod, but the driver just pushed their foot down more and *kept on going*. Then another rod seized and broke. Driver floors it. It keeps on going a tiny bit longer on two cylinders until a 3rd rod seizes. Only then do they figure maybe they should pull over (because the motors not going to make much power on one cylinder).

Heh.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)

I think you are on to something there! The last Rod running could not muster enough power break itself despite the others being disconnected.

Willing to bet the engine was wound tight with RPMs, in the likes of, above any legal speed limit?

Phil

1. trichard - "to do that to a red block requires a very rare and special level of indifference" I know what you're saying and have seen that several times: Folks who want to be seen in 240s but won't do the maintenance a 20+ year-old car requires. The owner is conscientious and I think kept up on it fairly well. But, yes, he didn't pay enough attention. And I think one leak increased significantly in a short time.

I grew up in the 1960s when habit was to check oil at every gas fill-up. My previous (2006) truck had a 15000-mile oil-change interval. When I changed oil every 7500 miles, there was no measurable oil use. I'm not being defensive, but I understand what folks expect in oil use today.

2. Not a new hole, "The sides of the hole are covered in dusty oil sludge." That hadn't occurred to me. My read was that the car had oil leaks and the oil built up on the block over time. Most of the blocks I see have sludge around the oil filter and under the intake manifold.

3. "With all that oil in the head the return oil passages may have been restricted with sludge" I haven't pulled the head yet. I suspect that's part of it. I'm guessing that a leaking rear main and front cam seal were the main problem.

4. "Shouldn't be hard to find a good replacement at a junk yard." I just gave him one of my spare engines. Car's already back on the road.
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240 drivers / parts cars - JH, Ohio

Are both of these posts about the same engine?
Dan

My two pics are of the same engine. Otherwise, don't understand your question.
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240 drivers / parts cars - JH, Ohio

It just sort of looks like the edges of the hole in the block have some oily grime on them, not clean fresh broken cast iron like you'd expect to see. It might just be the picture. The edges of the broken metal might just be blending with the gunk outside.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)

Never mind, I' confusing posts.
Dan

to do that to a red block requires a very rare and special level of indifference, carelessness and plain stupidity regarding in-actions having consequences.

your friends son was given multiple warnings (oil leaks everywhere) he chose to ignore.

give'm a bicycle or a bus pass he certainly is unfit to own a car.

Interesting that this doesn't look like a "new" hole................

That's what I'm thinking. The sides of the hole are covered in dusty oil sludge. I think it threw a rod, and he kept driving it on 3 cylinders for who knows how long. Dusty sludge like that might build up somewhat quickly if it was driven on a dusty dirt road, but even then it was driven for a while like that before it finally died for good. That shows a certain lack of mechanical sympathy, to say the least.

For show-and-tell, here are a few pics of my 8V motor's crossflow block ventilation mod:

Crack extends up to the breather box, all along the side.


There's the culprit. The motor mount bracket was broken on this side, it was bolted across two pieces that wanted to come apart.


Yeah, that 16T turbo might have had something to do with this. You can see the hole above the motor mount here.


Clear evidence of bending, which caused the subsequent failure.


This one was bent as well.

In short - 22 psi worth of boost, and pinging, does not a happy engine make.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)

Another Rear Wheel Drive Volvo dies of owner neglect and abuse.

A Wholly Avoidable Event.

No matter the press, the urban fantasy, or what you believe ....

That Rear Wheel Drive Volvo WILL Fail if you do not care for it.

cheers,

dud.

Mine's not dead. I just built it a new motor with a lot more HP.



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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)

Well said John. And if that engine blows up you'll build another. That's how high performance works.
Around this site at times it seems that folks want to stretch the mileage at all costs as if there is a gold watch waiting for them by winning some high mileage award. There ain't. Nobody cares that someone has 576,000 miles from driving like an old man.
Build the car, thrash it as you want, have fun. If it blows build another. Apologize to no one.
Looks like a really nice build, nice workmanship. Go scare some goof in Lambo and report back.
Peetz

With all that oil in the head the return oil passages may have been restricted with sludge and he didn't keep a close eye on oil level.

Shouldn't be hard to find a good replacement at a junk yard.
Dan