Failed lifter

[grasshopper645]

I have a 5.7 vy Ute which has been my dream for the passed 3 or 4 years. last night i was heading home along the motorway when i started loosing power. I pulled over, and the engine just died. I tried to turn it over and it started making this piercing loud metalic knocking sound. Had the car towed back home and the tow truck guy, who apparently was a mechanic said it sounded like a lifter or rocker. I am gutted. I am having the car towed on Monday to a mechanic to confirm.

So my questions are, what could have caused this to happen? and is it likely to be reparable without having to get a new engine.
It has done about 192000 on the odomoter.
thanks!

[Munz]

I got my $$ on broken valve spring or rocker needle bearings. Although it doesn't sound good whatsoever, hard to say if it can be fixed dunno what internal damage it has done but you shouldn't need a new engine - keep us posted

[BowTie]

the good news is, it still turns over.

the bad news is, ive seen motors with broken conrods, three holes in the block and destroyed sump still turn over.

it can be so many different things that you just have to be patient until your mech cracks it open and does the diagnosis.

keep posting and everyone here will try and make sure you dont get ripped off.

[grasshopper645]

Thanks for your replies - unfortunately due to work issues I was unable to get the car towed to our mechanic today, however he came around to have a look.

He said it sounds like a broken rocker. He said it is coming from near the top of the engine and 7 cylinders were firing. He didn't seem overly concerned, but said he will reserve judgement until he opens it up and has a look. However a sort-of mate of mine who is also a mechanic came to have a look for a second opinion and he said it sounds much more serious then that and is amazed that such a thing could happen on this car. He said he can have a look tonight so I most likely will take it to him tonight to see. He said he should have a rough idea after about half an hour of looking at it. It has been an anxious wait!

Otherwise, I'll get it towed to my mechanic tomorrow.

But I still don't know what to think, the first mechanic wasn't very alarmed, the second said it seems very serious...

[grasshopper645]

Another thing I forgot to mention - after it happened the oil was still right where it should be - had not leaked at all. Also no alarms or warnings came on the dash when it happened, not that that really says a lot though =/

[Coxy92]

Betting my bottom dollar its a lifter guarenteed by the sounds up for new camshaft minimum .

[BowTie]

yep, they sound evil as they smash the cam lobe flat.

[BowTie]

oh yeah, comp cams make very nice lifters. They have an oem spec for tightarses or a high energy upgrade for not much more.

[grasshopper645]

So the mechanic has said its valve springs that are the culprit - but needs to do more looking to see if it has damaged the pistons and if there is any other damage.

How the frak could that happen on a not-that-old car??

[VK SL 3800]

Its just Fatigue failure, uncommon these days but can happen as you have discovered. Hopefully it still worked well enough to stop piston to valve contact.

[grasshopper645]

He's putting new springs in it tomorrow. He said he will then do it back up and see if it makes any noises, if so then the engine will need to come apart.

[Macka21]

I got a vy ss with cam upgrade and i broke 4 valve springs but didnt drop the valve. Got titanium crow cam springs and titanium retainers for $650

[grasshopper645]

I got a vy ss with cam upgrade and i broke 4 valve springs but didnt drop the valve. Got titanium crow cam springs and titanium retainers for $650

Lucky! So I'm not the only one with a vy ss with failed valve springs...

Fingers crossed for me then aye

[grasshopper645]

Apparently a valve has completely shattered, so am now waiting on parts. Still anxious to know whether it hit the piston!

[DevilDRake]

Engine is getting to that time man, might not be an old car but almost 200xxx sometimes shit starts to happen.

If worse comes to worst and you have to strip the motor done, make sure you change all your lifters, cam bearings, timing chain etc, just so the internals are new and fresh. I made the stupid mistake of not doing my cam bearing when i did my cam, and i know soon enough I'll regret it.

[grasshopper645]

Well, worse has come to worse! There is massive engine damage so I am having the engine reconditioned. The mechanic has shown me all what has happened, there has obviously been valve to piston contact, to say the least. Im absolutely gutted! Cant believe this has happened when my mates $500 mazda familia with 350 thousand on the clock still runs fine!
Ah well, that's life i guess.

[DevilDRake]

Think of the possibilities.. *thinks - oh a genuine camshaft is $500, but this aftermarket 232/234 cam is $600.. i can afford the extra*

Obviously just random prices but doo eeeeit!

When you say reconditioned do you mean fully rebuilt - new pistons, bearings, seals, etc?

[grasshopper645]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all your help, sorry about not getting back here for a while. Luckily it hadn't done to much damage and is all back up and running now. I never got the camshaft replaced, mainly as i couldn't afford it, even though i know I may regret it in the long run.

But I have one further question. The mechanic drove it around for a few days, had someone follow him etc to check for smoke and all was fine. But when I was driving the car back home, a mate was following me said he could see a light smoke comming out the exhaust. Letting him drive it so I could see, I can see like a light white misty smoke coming out, perhaps on acceleration for about 30 seconds or so and then disapears. Its perhaps only on cold startup but am yet to tell. I will have another look tomorrow. Should I be alarmed?

[DevilDRake]

Correct me if i'm wrong but is white smoke unburnt fuel? I could be wrong but the camshaft controls the intake and exhaust valves and may have something to do with it.

I'm just having a random guess, but it could be it?

[grasshopper645]

Well I don't know, but what you said doesn't sound good...

I always thought that white smoke was burning coolant. I checked google and that seems to agree with me!

Is there a chance its just mist from the cool breeze(lol) hopes...

[Surfwagon]

If it were burning coolant then your coolant level will be dropping and also if is getting into the combustion chamber then it follows that compression should also be going back into the coolant system forcing water out the over flow.
All exhaust take about 10-15 minutes to get hot enough burn off water vapour that is in present in the air.
Once the entire exhaust is hot enough the water vapour will be a lot finer and almost undetectable but it is still there unless there is no humidity in the air at all like in a desert very unlikely in NZ.