00stanggt

Hey, A few days ago i was pushing my car (probably a little too hard) but it was against a chevy . Anyways, i got home that night did a few things and went to go out again, when i got back into my car there was a horrible knocking coming from the engine. Fearing the worst i brought it to a local shop which was packed so he recommended me to his brother. This guy doesnt seem all there, so i wanted to bring up a few things to make sure im not getting screwed here. He did a compression check off the back and all cylinders were running 175 psi except the first which was at 30. He determined it was the piston and had to send it to another shop to get it repaired. He told me i would have my car back in a few days with a bill of around 1700$. He also said i need all new gaskets, and head bolts (because "they are like springs and once they are used they cant be re-used) I told him that was all fine and good but what he thought the problem was that cause the piston to have a problem in the first place to which he replied, that he didnt know but that i should get my fuel filter and injectors changed and recommened that i replace all of the pistons/rods to prevent future problems. My mustang has 69,xxx miles which are mostly all highway miles. Can someone give me an opinion on what they would do, and what you think about this man's suggestions.
Thanks

hookandpull

All I know is that one cylinder with 30 psi means some thing is really f'd up. And your gonna have to tear the block down to get to it most likely.And when you dont do that **** yourself its gonna get real expensive.

ShadowDrake

Could have been a slightly faulty piston that just broke when you were getting on it. That stuff happens. Of course, it could have just been a blown head gasket, too... but you would probably be leaking and burning coolant and possibly oil.

If it's just the head gasket, it's inexpensive, but the heads gotta come off, so the biggest charge there is for labor. If the piston is indeed damaged, the engine has to be pulled and rebuilt, which will probably run you quite a bit more, along with labor. If they are re-building the engine, you should buy some forged internals and have them throw them in there But you're looking at a lot more than they are already charging you for.

Without looking to see what the suspected damage to the piston was, you have no way of telling what damaged it, if anything.

bigmudder

ok i had a problim like that on an S-10 i had (biggest POS) well it was the 4 banger and it had a knock and did a compression test and the last one had 0 compression. so i knew it had to be a rod that broke and i didnt worry about it much becuase it cost more to fix then the truck was worth but any ways i drove it around with this knocking for about 400 miles then one day some one said that the truck couldnt do a burn out, well not backing down from a challenge i reved it up and droped the cluch went in to 3rd gear still spinning the back tire and then a huge knock and some thing hit under the truck found out that half of the rod finaly shot off the crank through the oil pan and pounced off the ground. well i was only 5 miles from my house so i started it up and had to have the rpm over 2000 or it would stall so i drove it all the way home with no oil and a huge hole out the pan and a really bad sounding engine. it locked up about 20 ft from my house and i costed to the drive way and then pulled it to my shop behind the house too the engine out and found out that the piston was at TDC (top dead center) and the rod had knocked the cylander wall hollow. had a good laugh then beat the crap out of the truck.


ok now to your problim was your motor built and instaled by some one other than the factory? because my friends car had a rebuild engine and where the rod was bolted to the crank thoes nuts came loose then went through his pan but it sounded kinda like yours does

00stanggt

Hehe Thats funny what happened to your chevy, i talked with the mechanic today and he told me that he had ordered the piston from an auto supply place and they sent him the wrong one which he said means one of two things.
1. the supply place messed up and sent the wrong piston
2. the engine in my car is different(or like you said was re-built) than the original engine that was in my car, hence when they sent a piston for a 2000 mustang it wasnt the same piston.(i am the second owner btw)
He told me that once the piston and rod is replaced i shouldnt race my car because or fear that the same thing might happen in another cylinder. I dont really believe this to be true because i personally think that that one cylinder just ran lean causing the piston to expand beyond the limit of the cylinder wall. He still doesnt have a good answer for me on what caused this to happen and when asked about it he gives me a different response every time. Today he told me that nitrous might have been run on my car and that it would be smart to replace the engine, but just last week he told me the other cylinders and pistons look brand new except for that one..... I dont know i guess i will just have to see what happens. I'll keep you guys updated and thanks for the responces

Another question...in the event that the piston sent from ford doesnt fit the rod...is it possible to get a matching rod to go with that piston and have a different rod in just that one cylinder or would all the rods have to be the same?

roadrunner

Just rebuild the whole lower end