The Samurai's engine died of Sudden Engine Death Syndrome on the way home today. It looks like the best case scenario is a new head gasket. I really hope the scrapey noises it was making in its death throes weren't as grave as they sounded.
The only hint I ever got that something was about to go wrong was a very faint buzzing noise in the minutes before (I figured the airbox might be loose or it might have a tiny exhaust leak). I shut down to test the oil pressure sensor just to be safe and kept driving. As I got close to home it started to feel a little choppy, then about 1 minute from home it felt like it was running on 3 cylinders, then 2, tried to limp the last normally 45 second distance to home at 20kph with the accelerator half way down (no visible smoke mind you), then the temp started to climb and it sounded like it was eating itself so I shut off and let it coast down the hill to my driveway.
The coolant tank was suddenly empty now...I'm worried it could have sucked all the coolant into the block somehow, turning the oil to non-lubricating milky soup and ruining my <3yr. old engine.
After that it wouldn't fire up, I could feel that there was an uneven loss of compression.
This is the 2nd head gasket I've gone through in 2 years, so I can't chalk this one up to the PO.
Checked if the oil has turned into mayonnaise yet?
Time for a 2.8L GM swap ;)
Pop the oil filler cap and smell. There's "smell of death" that I can't describe but you'll know it.
I bought my Sammy after a woman ran it out of oil. Zero oil = too much friction = crank, rods & bearings melting into a ball in the oil pan.
Dan
Strizzo
SuperDork
7/16/10 10:09 a.m.
do you have any reason to believe that the samurai has been shaken in the last week?
Strizzo wrote:
do you have any reason to believe that the samurai has been shaken in the last week?
That's basically all it does.
I didn't check the oil afterwards, I imagine if the oil had disappeared somewhere I should get an oil pressure warning.
Last night I just rushed to tow it to the mechanic and get the AE92 ready to drive the next day (the battery needed a jump after being left disconnected for a couple of months, that's what I get for leaving my parking lights on one afternoon).
And now I've locked the keys in the AE92 - see slim jim thread in off-topic.
I'd consider the tracker engine swap, but I'm really hoping my rebuilt G13A isn't damaged that badly.
I think others were suggesting you look at the oil to see if the missing coolant had now made it's way into the oil system, not to see if you still had oil. If they did mix, it will make your head gasket failure idea a much better bet.
914Driver wrote:
Pop the oil filler cap and smell. There's "smell of death" that I can't describe but you'll know it.
I bought my Sammy after a woman ran it out of oil. Zero oil = too much friction = crank, rods & bearings melting into a ball in the oil pan.
Dan
Nothing smells like burned up bottom end, except burned up bottom end. It's like if you set well used gear oil on fire and put it out with a cat.
Wally
SuperDork
7/16/10 4:52 p.m.
Have you been haing trouble with ninjas in the area?
Nothing smells like burned up bottom end, except burned up bottom end. It's like if you set well used gear oil on fire and put it out with a cat.
Nothing smells like burned up bottom end, except burned up bottom end. It's like if you set well used gear oil on fire and put it out with a Live SKUNK.
fixed it for you.
carzan wrote:
VW TDI swap 
This
Or
the aforementioned tracker engine swap. It really does bolt in.
I know this guy... with a G13B short block. The one with forged internals.... and high compression. I bet he'd make you a killer deal on it.
cwh
SuperDork
7/17/10 12:42 p.m.
Shipping to Barbados might run the cost up a bit.
Lesley
SuperDork
7/17/10 3:01 p.m.
Ewww... does it smell worse than exploded turbo? Or fried clutch?
if it smells worse than a fully grenaded GM 3800 supercharged V6 complete with oil that smelled like ass, then I'd say it's good scrapyard fodder. we had a Pontiac Grand Prix in the auto-tech shop late in the school year that had spun a bearing, thrown a rod, and just in general eaten itself, and once the 2nd year students had gotten the engine out and onto the table, next day we walked in, it was like skunks had staged a very violent coup d'état in the shop. if it smells bad enough, chances are it's deceased and deserves a proper burial in the scrap yard. when my Escort blew a head gasket a few months ago, it honestly smelled like nothing, or even like a bit of burnt engine oil. it also felt like nothing was wrong for about another 5 or 6 half-course runs on the autocross, until it started to feel sluggish from oil fouling on the plugs. it also didn't make any nasty noises
The 'death funk' is nasty and pretty much unmistakeable, it has a large 'burnt wood' component to it along with hot oil and eau de skunk. I'm of the opinion that an engine that's been that hot anywhere is not a good candidate for a rebuild, there's just too many things that could be cracked, warped etc.
About the 'death funk': it's not just engines. A few years ago we had a pickup in the shop which the owner had driven ~100 miles at highway speeds with low rear axle lubricant. It got so hot the paint on the housing started flaking off and there were black and brown spots on the cast iron case near the pinion bearings. 
When the tech pulled the rear cover, he ran out of the shop with a rag over his face. The general manager's office was on the second floor of the next building over, he called the service manager wanting to know what the smell was.
Well good news: The head gasket is intact, turns out it's a timing problem (strange because the timing belt was changed last year). The horrible noises could have been the timing belt slipping. That doesn't explain the coolant disappearance though.
44Dwarf
HalfDork
7/23/10 12:31 p.m.
Water pump is T-belt driven? Replace water pump at same time doing the belt and tentioner.
