Quick one! I have posted previously about overheating on my s type v6 2.5
I changed the thermostat and drove around 200 miles. Temperature gauge shot off the top and then hit the bottom. In the time it took me to stop I got lots of black smoke. AA Mechanic came and car won't start as according to him it has no compression due to a blown oil cooler. So... Does it need a replacement engine or is there anything that I can investigate before taking such a drastic step? This is the best body work wise s type I've ever had so if I can keep the engine by replacing the oil cooler and doing other things (head gasket?) any suggestions gratefully received. Or should I just bite the bullet and swap the engine?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Nick

 

Unless you are doing the work yourself swapping the engine will be very similar- pricewise to do head gaskets. Depending on your local cost for a replacement engine. . here and engine would be cheaper than the head gaskets themselves.
replacing whatever else caused the failure is important regardless.
This really does sound kaput 💀- with your description.
Did the engine make any noises accompanying the temp spikes?.
was there any coolant or oil escaping?
If it was a head gasket it should only be missing compression on one or two cylinders..
Black smoke is very unusual for a petrol engine.
Unless extreme over fuelling has occurred.
This can happen.
with heat seizure.
if all cylinders have no compression you really do have some serious issues.
it might pay to find a good reasonably priced mechanic for a second opinion as the first opinion seems very vague.

 

Hi - I didn't notice any noises as I was more worried about the smoke and parking safely on a busy motorway :-(
The mechanic was one of the AA (roadside recovery service in the UK). The recovery lorry took me to him at the nearest services so it wasn't the best place to look at the car.
The smoke was due (he said) to the car losing all oil and water "within a few seconds".

I told him about the temperature going up suddenly and then going right back to the bottom and the car filling with smoke. My impression was that it dropped to the bottom as their was nothing in the coolant (water) system to measure. My impression (I am in no way a mechanic!) was that the oil cooler somehow failed/exploded, all the water boiled off very quickly (less than 50 metres at 70 miles per hour) and this causes a high pressure in the engine.

When the key is turned their is NO attempt at even turning over which he said was due to NO compression. He said it *could" be that the pressure blew the head gasket, cracked the engine, or blew a core plug?

Either way, the black smoke was definitely oil as the tray under the engine is swimming in the stuff.

When we changed the thermostat (first step in nailing down the random temperature fluctuations) we ran it without the oil filler cap in and oil was circulating well and was not sludgy or mayonnaise like so before the "event" we presumed head gasket was OK. For a few seconds we saw steam coming from the left hand rear side of the engine as viewed from the front (it's a RH drive) but it went away before we could work out where it was coming from and didn't come back. When the roadside mechanic ran his hand under the LH passenger wheel it seems the oil was mostly coming from the rear LH side of the engine (roughly where I recall the steam appearing). Not sure what's in this area?

As you tell I am not a mechanic or very knowledgeable about cars but I am learning and I guess I am really wondering if there is a quick and easy way (without dismantling the engine or spending a LOT of time on it) to decide whether it's worth stripping it down or just put a new engine in it.

I've been quoted around £300 for an engine and the guy who will fit it for me is charging "£300 maximum". I only paid £1495 for the car and it is in very good condition body work wise with an MOT (road worthiness certificate in the UK) needed in Jan. I've only had it for three months and I really want to keep it and get it mobile again.

Thanks.

Nick

 

Im gonna guess the engine ran after dumping its oil until it destroyed the crank, rods and rings and a whole lot of other stuff

 

Hiya Nick,

Sorry to hear about the engine trouble. This quote for 300 pounds labor, is this the same guy who did the quick 'from the hip' diagnostics, or will the car be towed elsewhere for the repair? That amount doesn't sound outrageous at all, but it might still be worthwhile to pay for an hour or so of diagnostic time to run a compression check and a cooling system pressure test. The first test will look for compression problems caused by a lack of lubrication. The second test will check for the possibility of a blown head gasket due to the overheating. There's still a good chance the rod and main bearings are trashed from the lack of oil. But given the chance to spend your time and money, I'd want to know a little more before pulling the trigger on any major work.

 

@nickbird, what is the MY of the vehicle?