Catastrophic Engine Failure

[Albertan]

My son spun a bearing on a 2.4 litre Cavalier motor. It ran fine but had a LOUD and heavy knock. It started with a ticking and got louder. He was able to drive it for a few miles to park it. When the engine is torn down, you should be able to determine what happened. If you dropped a valve, it will be quite obvious when you pull it apart. Let us know the result. Good luck.

[thebigjimsho]

keep us abreast of the situation...

[The Boss V]

ohhhhh sorry to hear your loss I checked my engine spot but no ls6 was listed you may try them prices look good never tried them though.

http://www.citymotorsupply.com/index.html

[thebigjimsho]

some junkyards will actually warranty used engines...

[ccextra1976]

I would start with local dealer, but the head of the service department see what he/she has to say, then call corporate HQ if you get no where with the dealer. I think it will be had to get anywhere now a days with all that GM is going through, but what does a phone call cost right?

[rand49er]

If the dealer can't do anything for you, there are LS6 motors out there ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004-...Q5fAccessories

[ravenv]

Sorry to hear about your engine. Like others have said I have never heard of one coming apart other than 1 ls1. I saw a piston just turn to dust pretty much. Rod was still in one piece and still in the cylinder. looked really weird with the heads off

[p0ng0rs]

I've seen just about every possible way to blow an engine, experienced some myself (72 monte carlo tossed a rod through the oilpan on an 80mph rip down the highway ) and seen the teardowns trying to diagnose failure.. I forget who said it in this thread but things don't just happen like that.. someone should be able to figure out what happened whether it was a spun rod bearing, rod cap bolt backed off, etc. Aside from the financial aspect of this sucking I would watch out for a dealer trying to cover something up so they don't feel obligated to help you out.. there is no such thing as poof the rod just let go cause it felt like it. Might have been cast w/ a bubble and it cracked, might have been crap in the oil (I've seen a head that got glass beaded then not properly cleaned out.. once the motor was assembled all the glass beads just washed around w/ the oil, that was a biotch to diagnose since the car was getting gradually worse as it was being diagnosed over like a week.. finally we pulled the oil pan and found a bunch of spun bearings.. then found the glass bead) It's especially weird for a motor to break with that many miles on it.. usually catastrophic failure like that happens within the first handful of miles or doesn't happen at all, so be aware of anything that could have caused it.. improper oil used in a change.. accidentally getting something in the oil during a change, getting water in there, sand, anything.. Sucks to hear stories like this for sure, I see this stuff happen all day on heavily modded cars.. not usually on a bone stock daily driver.

[mostoyzwinz]

Originally Posted by onebadcad

swap the wifey too,.

Marriage should be like a drivers license. It expires without cost after 5 years unless ones purposefully renews it.

[mostoyzwinz]

Originally Posted by FactoryFast

Only time Ive ever seen modern day engine failures without excessive abuse or modification is when someone does not conform to a proper maintenance shedule.

No engine mods, only Corsa, CAGS defeat, K&N, Kars Stage III, UUC short shifter etc.
Oil changed religiously at 5,000 miles with Mobil 1 5W30...as specified.

[mostoyzwinz]

Originally Posted by ccextra1976

I would start with local dealer, but the head of the service department see what he/she has to say, then call corporate HQ if you get no where with the dealer. I think it will be had to get anywhere now a days with all that GM is going through, but what does a phone call cost right?

Thx to all for the condolences. Dealer contacted. He's working up a quote for a new engine....ballpark is $7k. He gave me the Cadi customer service line. They told me to take it to the dealer to have it 'diagnosed'. I guess they don't trust me when I say the connecting rod broke through the block. This will be a long drawn out affair I'm sure. I'm not willing to let the vehicle sit at the dealer while we slug it out, so I'll be trailering it back and forth a few times I'm sure. If they agree to warranty it, I wish I could just get the $7k and put a stroker motor in or get a stock motor and maggie it. But we all know that will never happen.

I work in an industry where we perform failure analysis on many types of metal. If they do cover it, I'd like to get the engine back and have my metallurgist take a look at the pieces if it isn't something obvious.

Fortunately I have several other vehicles to drive.

[urbanski]

i'm sure they'll ship it to GM for analysis if covered. you'd have to do the swap on your own to get the dead one back

[mikes2nd]

gm aint doing chit... im sure your on your own. Dealer will blame you for the problem somehow. Say OH YOU WERE RACING it werent you!!!

forgot to put oil in it huh dummy? stuff like that.

Swap a junker in it yourself for fun.

[lollygagger8]

Mine did the same thing at 56k to the previous owner. (who was 58 years old and I had it faster on the test drive than he had it ever) I have all the documented paperwork, and even talked to the GM of Hedrick dealership in NC that did all the work and it was all legit.

Cadillac paid for a brand new one and wanted to see the old engine. Take it to a dealer, and be nice!!

[The Tony Show]

GM and Cadillac aren't legally obligated to do anything since your warranty has expired, but I've seen lots of situations over the years where they make exceptions due to the car being just out of warranty or a failure that is obviously the result of a manufacturing defect.

Hopefully the latter happens in your case, so keep your fingers crossed and be nicer than you've ever been in your life to the Service Manager so he'll be your advocate to GM.