"Jules" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:28:52 -0600, Red Green wrote:

AZ Nomad wrote in
:

On Tue, 8 Dec 2009 10:16:08 -0500, JoeSpareBedroom
wrote:
My ex's 1999 Subaru Legacy (4 cyl, 126K miles) began making some nasty
noises in the motor a week ago. She drove it 2 blocks and it's been
sitting in the driveway ever since, while she ponders what to do.
Except for warranty work, It's been maintained by one very competent
mechanic throughout its life. He's hesitant to mess with it because he
says that evaluation could require major engine disassembly which
could cost so much that no sane owner would want to even go that far
just to find out that the car is toast. Car is in otherwise excellent
condition.

Unless you're primarily interested in adding a room, or perhaps
replacing a toilet, this doesn't belong in a.h.r., even if you live in
the car. Try rec.autos.tech.

Joe: Next time post cool devastation pics and you won't get your ass
reamed :-)

Mmmm, engine devastation... :-)

Fond memories here of an old friend buying a vehicle once where it was
obvious that the engine was about to go (it was dirt-cheap, and he had an
engine already lined up for us to drop in). Sounded like a clothes dryer
full of bricks when it ran. It was about 5 miles to the house, so the
decision to risk driving it back was made. He kept the revs low, tried not
to stress it too much, and amazingly it got to about 50ft from the house
when the engine went bang - a *loud* bang, too. Managed to coast it right
up into the driveway... and then we had to go back along the road and
clean up the trail of engine parts.

Near as we could tell from the wreckage it was an oilway to a main bearing
that had originally blocked; the loud knocking sound it was making (which
was the point when the previous owners parked it up on their driveway) was
the crank bouncing around after the bearing shells had started to
disintegrate due to lack of oil. When it let go completely, the (alloy)
sump was demolished when one of the big ends exited the bottom of the
engine, whilst the corresponding piston went upwards and high speed and
completely trashed the head.

A picture's worth a thousand words, and I really wish I'd taken photos at
the time :-(

cheers

Jules



I see a reality show in the making. :-)