Sheared Piston Rod

whylee3 · January 16, 2010

I have a Gmc 3500 cube van with a 5.7 vortec engine with 83,000 miles. Oil changes every 3,000 miles all the maintance done. Wed while drive the truck heard a grinding noise engine stopped, coasted into a spot on the side of the road. Just finished pulling the engine and dropped the oil pan. 1 cyclinder piston rod is sheared in half about an inch above the crank journal. The crank bearing looks like it came out off motor with 2 thousands miles on it. The cyclinder wall is clean except a very small chip at the botom of the cyclinder. You can see the casting failure area in the rod. Can I get G M to cover the repairs on this? if so anybody know who to contact?

Thanks for any info.

bigredmariner · January 16, 2010

Probably not, that really sucks though. Hope you get it all fixed up again.

Nytemare · January 16, 2010

Why would GM cover the repair on a 9 year old vehicle? It ran for 9 years and 83K miles without problems. Sometimes shit happens man. Just pop a new con rod in that hole and put it all back together.

gmtech4 · January 16, 2010

no

ybsane · January 17, 2010

Why would GM cover the repair on a 9 year old vehicle? It ran for 9 years and 83K miles without problems. Sometimes shit happens man. Just pop a new con rod in that hole and put it all back together.

You got it, while you are at it, throw some new gaskets on the intake and exhaust and be done.

Nytemare · January 17, 2010

Why would GM cover the repair on a 9 year old vehicle? It ran for 9 years and 83K miles without problems. Sometimes shit happens man. Just pop a new con rod in that hole and put it all back together.

You got it, while you are at it, throw some new gaskets on the intake and exhaust and be done.

Yeah...thats a good idea...get an entire gasket kit...swap the head gaskets out, intake and exhaust and as many seals as you can get at.

Gasket sets are cheaper than buying individual gaskets...and if you have them you may as well use them.

A new rod and a bearing for that journal and you should be good to go.

Or you could look into a replacement engine from GM and it will have a 3 year 100K warranty, if your in the market for something with a warranty.

cbxeric · January 17, 2010

While your in there.

Stroker

My only concern would be any bits that might've escaped into the engine.

Nytemare · January 17, 2010

While your in there.

Stroker

My only concern would be any bits that might've escaped into the engine.

He should be fine...the big parts would have fallen down in the pan and the particulate should have been trapped in the filter. An oil flush wouldn't hurt though...just in case.

00_Extended · January 18, 2010

Leaking ot cracked head, blown head gasket, crack in the cylinder? All these could allow water into the cylinder and hydraulic the hole. This can bend or break rod. Rods just don't usally break fro no good reason. If the engine has been detonating the the rod could bend and from there it could break. What do the bearing look like from the rod? The crank can look good but the bearing might tell some of the story, also check the rod next to it because the one that broke is bound to have smacked it or burred up the sides of it.

If your rods top bearing is worn more that's a possible sign of detonation. If you have the engine out it's not much more work to take the rest apart and have stuff checked out or check it your self. A Crank polish, a cylinder hone and freshen up the heads along with a re-ring kit for less than $200.00

http://www.northernautoparts.com/ProductDe...?ProductId=2023

For the cost of re-ring kit and some other stuff I would do it right and not cheese it back togher unless you plan to sell it. I would also spend a little time cleaning out the metal junk that has gotton into the engine and take close look to see if you can tell what made the rod break.

Nytemare · January 18, 2010

Leaking ot cracked head, blown head gasket, crack in the cylinder? All these could allow water into the cylinder and hydraulic the hole. This can bend or break rod. Rods just don't usally break fro no good reason. If the engine has been detonating the the rod could bend and from there it could break. What do the bearing look like from the rod? The crank can look good but the bearing might tell some of the story, also check the rod next to it because the one that broke is bound to have smacked it or burred up the sides of it.

If your rods top bearing is worn more that's a possible sign of detonation. If you have the engine out it's not much more work to take the rest apart and have stuff checked out or check it your self. A Crank polish, a cylinder hone and freshen up the heads along with a re-ring kit for less than $200.00

http://www.northernautoparts.com/ProductDe...?ProductId=2023

For the cost of re-ring kit and some other stuff I would do it right and not cheese it back togher unless you plan to sell it. I would also spend a little time cleaning out the metal junk that has gotton into the engine and take close look to see if you can tell what made the rod break.

I would love to know where you are doing a freshen up on an engine for 200 bones....shaving the heads is 160 bucks, and a gasket set is 150...so your already over 300...now you have rods, bearings, crank polish, lubes, and fluids on top of that. I think you may have misplaced your decimal point man. 2000 bucks would be more like it.