[DeTomaso] Autopsy

Will Kooiman wkooiman at earthlink.net
Mon May 19 18:09:31 EDT 2008


The #3 spark plug is pretty much wasted.  The electrode is completely broken
off.  Who knows where it landed.

I had an O2 sensor in the passenger's header.  It showed about 2 clicks too
rich.  That's on an autometer a/f gauge.  I don't know what a/f ratio it
corresponds to.  Of course, #1,#2 might have been overly rich and #3,#4
might have been lean.

The exhaust valves on the driver's side are white.  I didn't clean 'em up
when I had it apart last, though, so the whiteness might be from the
previous setup.

The #3 rod is bend, but not pretzled.  It's probably less than 1/4" shorter
than it is supposed to be.

Detonation on #3 sounds likely.  That would explain the pounded rod journal.
The exhaust valve doesn't look burnt, but there was so much steam, etc. in
the cylinder when it let loose all evidence might have been steam cleaned
away.

Thanks for all the input.  I promise to post pics when I get a chance.

Oh yeah, I'm planning on sleeving the block and using it until I get the
Chevy 307 together.  Yes, I'll clean it thoroughly.

Will.

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
Behalf Of Daniel C Jones
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 4:56 PM
To: Pantera List
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Autopsy

One scenario:  The carb over cylinder #3 sucks up some debris and goes lean.
That cylinder heats up and starts detonating which pounds the rod bearing.
Meanwhile the piston is also getting hammered and eventually fails which
then pretzels the connecting rod.  Check the spark plug under a lighted
magnifying glass for flecks of aluminum from the piston.  Perhaps pistons
7 & 8 touched the exhaust valve when the cam broke?

> All of the rod bearings are worn.  All of them are deformed.

Perhaps you were detonating on all cylinders with #3 being the worst.

Dan Jones
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