anyone ever have a eather explosion inside the crankcase?

IDIoit

MachinistFabricator
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2014
Posts
13,318
Reaction score
3,879
Location
commiefornia
ive never have.
but pulling apart a couple engines for inspection, I found this... odd
even popped the weld off the bottom tray.

You must be registered for see images attach


You must be registered for see images attach
 

IDIBRONCO

IDIBRONCO
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Posts
12,235
Reaction score
10,925
Location
edmond, ks
I've seen similar damage done to a valley pan. I have no idea what caused it. By the way, I'm still running that engine in my 85 F250. The overhaul I did on it was in no way related to this. There was no internal damage at all.
 

Macrobb

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2016
Posts
2,380
Reaction score
1,234
Location
North Idaho
I've had it happen once. Picked up a JY motor, and it /would not/ start. Something wrong with it evidently. Well, we tried for quite a while to get it started, including trying glow plugs(by themselves), ether(by itself), and, well, at one point tried glow plugs and I guess there was enough flamable vapor inside the motor that it went "fwump" and the pan bulged up just like that.
We decided that it wasn't going to start and stopped trying at that point. Motor is still waiting for disassembly.
 

david85

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Posts
4,820
Reaction score
1,083
Location
Campbell River, B.C.
Was this by any chance a turbo IDI? Any evidence the crank case ventilation system was tampered with?

Years ago on FTE, one of the moderators mentioned that his valley pan blew when he went above 20 PSI of boost on his 6.9 IDI. That's where I first got the idea to use studs on the intake and exhaust manifolds instead of the original bolts. So far so good, but I'm no where near 20 PSI.
 

RetiringColt

Registered User
Joined
Mar 18, 2019
Posts
58
Reaction score
31
Location
Washougal WA.
That's an interesting set of photos. I've only seen similar damage on one gas engine. PCV valve failed during an engine backfire while setting timing. Bulged the pan and shot the dipstick like a bottle-rocket.
 

ttman4

Last Nite's Dream..
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Posts
1,095
Reaction score
612
Location
Hi in the Cascades, Nearly- Redmond,Oregon
Well I hate to fess-up to these kind of things.....things that get put under the list of "STUPID!"
But I learn from my list & always keep the list around! LOL

Once I was working on "Bessie" my '90 here in the driveway. Had the 088 turbo off, was cleaning up things in & around valley pan area with lots ether & rags & scraper. Cloudy day so I had one those HF work lite with a 500wt bulb in it, lense got gone off it, had it hanging/sitting there really close, pointing kind'a down. I'm laying up across the radiator & engine, laying there grunting & cussing, head & face up over & close so I can see what I'm doing...... & kind'a close to the lite.

My wife was standing on a 5gal bucket leaned over talking & helping. I had grown a really nice, fuzzy, red beard, about 4"-5" long, needing a haircut really, really bad. And Carol was in a really, really nice mood......
Well either fumes everywhere, some had run down the oil drain hole inside/under the valleypan. When the worklite lit the either off there was a BIG KERR-BOOM, flames shot up past my head, burned most of my beard off, eyelashes, eyebrows, hair..... Carol screamed, stumbled off the bucket, bumped/banged her head on the hood, tried to run for it!

When the smoke cleared, we settled down, took time to ck damage, the valley pan was pooched up around the intake, all wrinkled like an old style clothes rub-board, rubber grommet blown out, sort'a toasted!

Like I say, I keep my list of "STUPID" around.......and I won't go into Carol's mood change over the next few days. LOL

& someday I'll tell you about my other crankcase explosion.....
 

ttman4

Last Nite's Dream..
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Posts
1,095
Reaction score
612
Location
Hi in the Cascades, Nearly- Redmond,Oregon
Well killing time so I'll go ahead & tell about the other crankcase explosion I did.
I sometimes pour couple gal diesel down thru engine when/after I drop oil when changing oil, let it sit for a while, then drop diesel.
This one time I decided to use gas instead of diesel. Shouldn't matter, shouldn't make any difference, right? Just giving extra internal cleaning. Well I got gas dropped out, filled with oil, filter on, etc.

Got everything done, filled, ready to crank & ck things. Cranked the engine over. It went KERR-BOOM, didn't start, smoking from every place internally it could come from.
Apparently the gas fumes in the crankcase did it. Didn't hurt the engine, didn't hurt the valleypan or anything. Very lucky!

Lesson learned tho! Another item added to my "STUPID" list. LOL
 

IDIBRONCO

IDIBRONCO
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Posts
12,235
Reaction score
10,925
Location
edmond, ks
It's odd that I had to change out an IDI engine on a truck that was running on gasoline. One tank was filled with gas and that's the one the truck was running on. All we knew was that the truck needed an engine. I cycled the glow plugs and drove the truck inside the shop. It ran rough and smoked pretty bad, but it started with no explosion. I guess the gas must have evaporated in the hot engine. It did sit overnight so the fumes must have dissipated. I'll also guess that the timing was extremely advanced.LOL The other tank had diesel in it so wee switched tanks and ran the truck off of it. Naturally the couple that brought the truck in to us denied ever putting gasoline in it. We just told them to be sure to not run the truck on that tank until it had been drained.
 

chris142

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2012
Posts
3,007
Reaction score
353
Location
SoCal
Nope. I did see a gasser Ford with a pan full of gas blow the distributor cap off once though.
 

IDIBRONCO

IDIBRONCO
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Posts
12,235
Reaction score
10,925
Location
edmond, ks
For some reason, that sentence sends my imagination running wild LOL
At one time, I had a 79 F150 4x2 with a 302, 2.75 gears, and 33" rear tires. The glasspack mufflers were just there for looks. Somehow, I discovered that if I dropped it into 2nd gear while doing 60 down the highway, turned off the ignition for 15-20 seconds, kept my foot steady on the throttle, and then turned the ignition back on, it would have a loud backfire and would shoot flames out of the dual exhaust (only visible at night). That was an on demand trick. I still have no idea how I figured it out. 20 year old kids anyway!
 
Top