Engine seized

Discussion in 'Mech Tech' started by Alec237, Sep 15, 2019.

  1. So we took the bay to Cornwall, 307 miles,engine had just been serviced and set up.
    25 miles from our destination- perranporth, it lost power and cut out,white smoke coming out of air filter and when I dipped the oil was empty.

    Will turn over on key but not by hand.

    Oil light didnt seem to come on and I have a temp dipstick which wasnt flashing.(as far as I know).

    Will the engine be a total right off?

    I do have a 2.2 legacy engine with kep adaptor sat in the wksp.

    It's being recovered back in the week.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Pudelwagen

    Pudelwagen Supporter

    I'm no expert but if it turns over it hasn't seized. I would get some oil into it and turn it over a couple of times but not try to run it.

    Don't take my word though. Experts will surely be along once they've sobered up from Techenders.
     
  3. mikedjames

    mikedjames Supporter

    It has run without oil siezed and melted bearings onto the crank hence the friction . It can probably can be rebuilt if you can determine why it dumped the oil and fix that. Its probably still got good heads, pistons and cylinders but you might have wrecked the barrels with no oil.

    Alternatively something broke inside and there is a hole in the engine case. An all new Type 1 engine is less than the cost of doing a Subaru installation properly, but a new Type 4 is unobtanium so the Scoooby wins.

    The save my bug thing wont work if you have a dodgy oil warning light because it uses the same circuit, so it has a single point of total failure.
    Useless junk as they flicker at normal bus engine temperatures so you dont notice when they light up solid.


    You probably did not realise that you are supposed to fix it immediately if the oil and alternator warning lights do not both come on when you turn the key. This should then be followed by the oil light going off as you start cranking, and the alternator once its running faster than idle.

    Next time use the dipstick regularly during a long trip - every petrol top up ..

    And think about a proper temperature gauge and an oil pressure gauge. Then you will have three semi indpendent verifications of oil condition. Then when one stops working you can look at the other two and make a judgement on whether to stop immediately.
     
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2019
    ginger ninja and Surfari like this.
  4. No oil on dipstick, engine seized. Its unfortunate but there had to be a reason which may be related to the engine service just before the long trip. Did you do the service or a garage?

    Is the sump drain plug loose or missing, sounds to me oil was leaking during the trip, you didn't notice anything wrong until suddenly the engine blew.
     
  5. Sorry to hear that.

    Post some pictures up when you get the bus back.

    I wouldn't try to start it as you may just make matters even worse.

    Take photos of:
    Under the engine
    Sump cover
    The rocker covers
    Where the engine and gear box join
    Anywhere that is covered in oil
     
    mgbman likes this.
  6. Baysearcher

    Baysearcher [secret moderator]

    307 miles of the M5 is a lot of photos!
     
    Fruitcake, bernjb56, Lasty and 5 others like this.
  7. :rolleyes:
     
    F_Pantos likes this.
  8. I did the service,I'm a mechanic,I know its probably spun bearings,but was weighing up whether to rebuild or not.
    I already have the 2.2 ,was fitted in a jarman this,I bought it from limebug,as the owner was putting it back to standard.
    Wirings a mess but useable.

    I'm also toying with ultimate engineering tdi conversion.anyone have any experience with it?
     
  9. So where did all that oil go then?
     
  10. MorkC68

    MorkC68 Administrator

    Well...

    there is around a litre of oil on our brand new housing estate for a start, some one with a tintop had a rocker cover gasket go n it pi***d out everywhere.

    Apparently the owner wasn't popular :eek:
     
    mgbman likes this.
  11. Hopefully they made him clean it up.
     
    SweeneyTodd likes this.
  12. Apparently he mopped it up with a couple of seagulls, they are great for collecting oil! :eek:
     
  13. Syria?
     
    mgbman likes this.
  14. Haha,engine looks pretty dry so I'm guessing its run on it.
    Get it back tomorrow so will have a proper look.
     

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