Piston disintegrated!

[Xman77]

My last vehicle, a 1998 Escort w/4 cyl, had a piston break apart while driving. It had 180k and I generally stuck to an OCI of 3k with 60/40 hwy. I wasn't pushing it when it broke apart. What would cause this? Simply age? Poor maintenance previously?

As an aside, I spent $1100 to rebuild the engine and it lasted another 16k before getting totaled by someone running a red.

 

[tom slick]

detonation? failed valve?

 

[wytstang]

A piston breaking apart while just driving is very odd. The only time I've seen that is when another part failed (piston smacking a valve) during a race not just driving. Even the cheapest of pistons don't just fall apart, I would suspect it had a major problem prior to ownership.

 

[sciphi]

IDK, but something similar happened to my fiancee's old 95 1.9l SOHC Escort at ~140k miles. The engine shut off fine and trashed itself when re-starting. She also ran that thing like the beater it was. It had the oil changed every ~4-5k miles, which is about the only maintenance it saw engine-wise for the past few years.

 

[Colt45ws]

I don't know if those engines are timing belt, but if they are and are interference engines, that could explain it...

 

[Jim 5]

I'd guess timing belt.

 

[mechtech2]

Very very unusual.
If the piston was broken, almost certainly the valves were damaged also, by a timing belt malfunction.

 

[Shannow]

I've seen quite a few broken pistons, usually #2 or #5 on a holden 202 c.i. 6 cylinder.

Something to do with harmonics, and the oil ring slot behind the groover, but seen three lose the tops, and one about to fail on stripdown.

 

[punisher]

If you don't have valve damage(bent/broken) then preignition is a prime suspect. It burns holes in the middle of forged pistons and cracks/shatters cast pistons, and it does it quickly.

Hard to tell sometimes what let go first in a cylinder.

 

[J_Myler]

I was driving my friends moms car and the same thing happened to me and it was a escort with a 1.9L sohc motor in it.

 

[oilyriser]

[censored] and broke? happened to a Subaru I know...

 

[Virtuoso]

There was a thread a little while ago about Escort 1.9's dropping valves into the cylinders after high miles or overheating.

 

[94 saturn sl1 2000 saturn sc2]

thats called a F O R D period.

 

[Challenger71]

valvetrain failures usually cause piston damage, Virtuoso's comment is the most likely culprit.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: 94 saturn sl1 2000 saturn sc2
thats called a F O R D period.


Yes, if it was burning 1qt of oil every 200Km, we'd call it a Saturn instead.....?

Come on, what kind of [censored] comment is that?

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: Challenger71
valvetrain failures usually cause piston damage, Virtuoso's comment is the most likely culprit.


+1 seen more than a few. those SPI motors are usually good buys for dealer employees to flip to make some quick money.

 

[artificialist]

I have been told that hydrostatic lock can shatter a piston, but I don't have much experience there.

 

[BuickGN]

Detonation period. I've never seen a valve take out a piston and I've nailed quite a few valves in my younger years.

 

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: 94 saturn sl1 2000 saturn sc2
thats called a F O R D period.


Yes, if it was burning 1qt of oil every 200Km, we'd call it a Saturn instead.....?

Come on, what kind of [censored] comment is that?


Agreed. I mean, you have to have a Honda or Toyota to make fun of Ford.

Kidding. Dumb comment.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: BuickGN
Detonation period. I've never seen a valve take out a piston and I've nailed quite a few valves in my younger years.


Exactly. Hypereutectic pistons especially. Shatter like glass.