[jory]

So after I finally got all the parts I needed me and a couple buddies spent all day at the shop Saturday putting my Spirit back together. I went through everything to make sure it was good weeks before we started. I pulled the differential out of the transmission and installed pin savers and new bearings, ordered new flywheel bolts from the dealer, got all new engine accessories and replaced the steering rack, plus a lot of other stuff I don't remember. I've been working on getting this engine installed and running for about 6 months. So when it was all ready we towed it to the shop with my buddies Jimmy. I bolted the flywheel and clutch onto the engine, then bolted the trans on and we started to get the car ready. I went and replaced all the brake lines and installed the P/S hoses while my buddy welded the bobble strut bracket on. Then we lifted the engine and lowered it into the car. After mostly everything was bolted up we left for the night and I came back Sunday to finish it and start it up. Long story short, my 10:1 motor seized on me after running for less than a minute. Huge bummer. I don't know why it seized but it made a terrible screech and just stopped. I'll pull it apart and find out what I did wrong. It was getting good oil pressure and everything was new and within spec so IDK. It's going to take a while longer to get it running again but I think I might pull a clean Diamante motor that's at the junkyard and drop it right in. It might take a few weeks or a month but I really want this car done, it's a real blast to drive. :drinking:

here's some pictures

and a video
Video of Spirit - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

 

[crazymadbastard]

OH that sucks!

 

[tryingbe]

Ouch.

 

[turbokid]

that really sucks. Best of luck to you

 

[roguetrip]

yeah, that is sad.

I wonder if the timing belt slipped or something, I'd think it be a large banging sound though.

Hope you get it all sorted out!

You'll probably have it fixed before I get my Fidanza flywheel though! I ordered it over a week ago from summit racing and has a back order until march 21st, I should of just ordered it from ebay

 

[jory]

Well I'm pulling the motor back out this weekend, hopefully it's only a bearing or something so I don't have to pull the top end apart. If it is I'll get the crank machined for oversize bearings. I hope the cylinder walls and pistons/rods are still good, if not I'll have to pull apart another Diamante motor and get the block machined again or get my spare block machined if it's that bad. I doubt the timing belt slipped but that's definitely a possibility that I should look into.

 

[crazymadbastard]

Pull the pan first just to have a look.

 

[mopar3.0]

that heppned to me the first time my 10-.1 motor blew up. front cam shaft locked solid

 

[jory]

yeah, that is sad.
You'll probably have it fixed before I get my Fidanza flywheel though! I ordered it over a week ago from summit racing and has a back order until march 21st, I should of just ordered it from ebay

You should have ordered it from turbos unleashed. I got mine in less than a week.

that heppned to me the first time my 10-.1 motor blew up. front cam shaft locked solid

ouch.. That's another thing to think about. If that's all it is I could probably get away with getting another cam from the junkyard right? They do have a 91 Diamante there. I'll pull both valve covers and the oil pan this weekend maybe sooner and I'll know what happened.

 

[Ondonti]

If your camshaft locked up.......its because you probably took apart the rocker setup and you installed the tube they rotate on....UPSIDE DOWN.
This means the oil hole is blocked.

I did the same thing and damaged one of my ported heads 2 summers ago! After it seized the pin in my cam snapped off too! Getting the head fixed (line bored) was the worst part because the first shop stalled for a month...the 2nd shop (only other one with line bore in state) ruined the mating surface by pushing it around on a table full of steel shavings and maybe even wacking it with things so I had my engine shop (who I trust) surface the head and they had to remove a lot of material
I had moly lube on there so it was okay warming up until I went on the road and seized about 8 blocks away.


Interested to see what happened to the motor. These are the problems that have driven me crazy but I have learned a lot from them.

 

[RoadWarrior222]

I would be thinking cams too, if a head was warped and you had it skimmed flat, the cam journals would still be out of line. More out of line in fact than if you just bolted the warped head down as best you could. Also cams need to be lubed when installed because it takes too long for oil to get up there when the engine is fresh.

 

[Ondonti]

Im going to bet all these mishaps were because the steel tube for rockers in the head on the side of the head where the oil feed is was upside down and there was NO oil flow to that cam/lifters.....or you somehow else blocked the oil passage to the head.

I didnt realize it mattered until I seized a cam twice....

If its the front head, its as easy as opening the oil cap and seeing if there is oil in the valley below the cam.

 

[jory]

Well there is a pool oil in both heads... I just swapped the assemblies with the cams and lifters directly from my running motor onto this one so they are probably fine. I'm pulling it onto the lift later to pull the oil pan. I'll also check the timing belt and try turning the cams.

 

[BAKES]

did you take the upper cam caps from the other motor and put the on the new heads you might have jamed cams up cause the line bore through the head would have been off the head and the cap are machined together

 

[Ondonti]

did you take the upper cam caps from the other motor and put the on the new heads you might have jamed cams up cause the line bore through the head would have been off the head and the cap are machined together

si si, you cant swap cam caps!!!! I think you got it!


Just be real careful and figure out if its one of the heads or the bottom end seizing. Hopefully one of the heads!

 

[mopar3.0]

the boys are right, i never took apart the rocker assembley on the secind new head,


my motor then blew up a second time when , the bas pan had a good inch of shavings in it, but im pretty sure this was because of the timming being retarted too far because of a wrong setting on my msd timming controller,
i was pissed and sold the car to buddie, then bought it back a year later with a stock engine lol

 

[jory]

hmm.. well originally the cam caps were from these heads, I swapped them onto an 87 motor with my cams and that ran fine for months. Then I pulled that motor out of my car and put the cam caps back on the original heads. That could possibly be it but IDK.

I pulled the oil pan and took off the main bearing cap, the main bearings look awesome. They had oil on them and still had some assembly lube on them too. No scratches or anything. The bores look good and the timing belt is still good. I don't know how I'll check the rod bearings if I can't turn the motor.

 

[mopar3.0]

remove the timming belt and try and turn each cam shaft, and you will know pretty quick

 

[jory]

The top end is good. Main bearings are good too. The #2 rod bearing spun for some reason and the crank is 10 thousandths out of round. So I'm probably going to use the crank out of my spare engine after I pull the motor this weekend.

 

[roguetrip]

remove the timming belt and try and turn each cam shaft, and you will know pretty quick

Uh, turn the cams/crank slow, if anything like my stealth DOHC V6 the valves will hit the pistons, no reason on scratching/denting/bending things up on new parts