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Perfect Suspension Finally - then BANG!

5K views 53 replies 20 participants last post by  Pud237 
#1 ·
After a year of ownership i finally bit the bullet and decided to replace the entire suspension.

I bought Koni FSD Dampers, Eibach Pro Springs, Eibach Sports Stabilizer Anti-Roll Bars. Ive also powerflexed everything front and rear. Peak Alfa did the work and did a very good job (took over a week to complete)

All work & parts came to a total of £2000.

Ive been tootling about in the car for the past few weeks and have been very impressed with it, i wanted to get the work done before a holiday trip to Scotland.

Was driving up north from Derby this morning and i remember thinking to myself that the cars driving better than ever - perefect handling, better ride comfort on the motorway (ive got 18" wheels and it now feels better than stock suspension with 16" 's). Performance was good and was giving saab turbo sportwagons a run for their money. I wasnt driving it hard it at all for most of the 150 miles into the journey. I noticed my girlfriend listening confused which is when i noticed the ticking sound for myself. There was a strong wind so we thought it was that and i slowed down from 75 to about 65 but it carried on.

I didnt know if it was a wheel or the engine so i dropped it down a gear to 4th which is when the ticking noise turned into a loud clunking so i immediately slowed down and just as was pulling onto the hard shoulder doing about 50 the engine just went bang and plumes off smoke pured out of the front, bits of metal were flying everywhere tapping the bodywork etc. I slammed the brakes as hard as i could which is when a ball of flames shot out of the sides of the bonnet and accross under the windscreen. I just pulled the handbrake and told my girlfriend to get the f' out. We just got out as quickly as we could and ran up the embankment. The car was on fire for about 10 seconds but it put itself out and then was just smoking.

The car had dumped all of its oil all over the M6.

Called the fire brigade but by the time they arrived it was already out; felt a bit bad for wasting their time but i suppose it was best to make sure it was out.

Had to pay £300 to get it back to derby even though i had breakdown cover (thanks tesco) - only covers you for 10 miles!

Took the wheels off and jacked it up earlier; removed the plastic undertray and found loads of pieces of metal on it. Had a look round underneith and found a gaping hole with what looks like a bent con rod sticking though. Looks like something out of Alien!

It is completely loose but i couldnt pull it out, everthing is mangled in there shining my torch through the hole. The force of it has even blown an engine mount off.

It looks like the fire was caused by oil spraying onto the exhaust manifold igniting it.

Does anyone know what could have caused this? My first thought was timing belt but i only had this (and tentioners etc) replaced 4,000 miles ago. Ive tried to take the cover off for the cam belt but i dont know how to get the auxilery belt off in front of it (does anyone know?) Also does the big pulley need removing that is on and looks like it goes though the cam belt cover?

Ive undone enough bolts to bend the cover back and the cam belt is not snapped and seems quite tight, i take it this was not the cause?

I now need a new engine, does anyone reccomend where i can get one supplied and fitted. Ive looked at the ones on eBay - £1250 fitted (but will probably be more as my engine has been shot gunned)

Ive still not been put off from this car, i bought it knowing things like this happen. Hopefully i can get it back on the road soon. I havent told the insurance company as they would write it off straight away (ive put too much work into this car)

Thanks :(
 

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#5 ·
Broken cam belts do not usually cause that end result however a belt snapping in the past may have damaged the big end shells which over time have lowered the oil pressure resulting in a big end siezing up which will do exactly what you are looking at now!
It could also have run low on oil, or the pump failed.
Whatever, there is little point in trying to find the reason now as that engine is toast!
 
#8 ·
That is one big blow up.
I would say its safe to assume the engine is wrecked, but I would take the head off as that may be ok, if it is you can resell it and put the cash towards the new engine.
 
#9 ·
Darn! Sorry to hear and see what happened. :(
 
#10 ·
Mate... sorry to see what happened.

Any chance you've driven through a huge puddle? ... looks exactly like what happened to my dad's volvo S80. He went through some flooding carefully... and as the engine didnt stall, thought everything was alright.

A week later, it went bang and hoisting the car up, we saw exactly what your pictures showed. A small amount of water apparently got in... and over time, caused one of the pistons to go bang through the engine block wall.
 
#11 ·
Hi Guys thanks for your input. Yes is annoying as if it had happened a few weeks ago before i put in the suspension i would have got a GTA.

I didnt go though any puddles, although i was driving though heavy rain yesterday and the car does have an induction kit. It was driving perfectly for the first 150 miles.

I know this has been talked about before, but is it possible to combine a V6 engine with the selespeed system?has anyone done it?

If not, i am thinking of using this unhappy encouter as an excuse to maybe improve a 2.0 TS engine. What possible options do i have for improving an engine ; Performance cam shafts etc or can these engines be bored out to 2.3?

Thanks
 
#12 ·
Most likely it was a big end failing ...

As for overbore, I think the max is about 20thou so you'll be lucky to get it to 2000cc (remember it is actually only 1970cc to start with). IIRC there is a kit around to up it to 2.1 but that's expensive as you need a new crank, rods, pistons, etc.

TS and V6 gearboxes are completely different so no V6 Sillyspeeds ... V6 got a proper auto box as option.
 
#14 ·
Forgot about that one ... my guess is the bell housing is completely different but I'm no expert here ....
 
#16 ·
So sorry to hear your news i have just had a complete suspension overhaul myself new Koni sports new upper & lower front arms and powerflexed the rear hubs / wishbones. Hope you find an engine soon and stick with it as you say these things happen...
 
#22 ·
Thanks! i'll check out these companies.

I checked my oil evey week & topped up where necessary. I even checked it 2 hours before the **** hit the fan :rolleyes:

Just before i jumped out of the car as quickly as i could i checked the temperature guage and it was the same as normal (in the middle).

Ive not had the car from new, i bought it 20k miles ago so it could have already had a cam belt failure i suppose. No evidence of it in the history (easily hidden i suppose).

Apparently a V6 will fit in ok but the issue will be with the Selespeed ECU working with a V6 ECU. Is the V6 fly by wire?Could i use GTA selespeed\v6 parts?

I dont think i could go back to a manual. Are the standard Automatics any good?
 
#23 ·
Apparently a V6 will fit in ok but the issue will be with the Selespeed ECU working with a V6 ECU. Is the V6 fly by wire?Could i use GTA selespeed\v6 parts?

I dont think i could go back to a manual. Are the standard Automatics any good?
:eek:

The amount of work it will take to fit a 2.5 V6 into a 2.0 Selespeed will be ridiculous, for only a 40bhp gain! All the engine/gearbox mounts, subframe, not to mention wiring looms, making the engine mate to the gearbox.. The list goes on and on. IMO, your best bet if you want that sort of power is the AutoDelta turbo or supercharger kit, which if you want to fit it your engine needs internal modifications to lower the compression, so the engine needs to be out of the car anyway. You are in the best possible position to do this at the moment, buy a 2.0 block, take it to AutoDelta for their bit of wand-waving, get it fitted in the car and mapped up. Sorted. :thumbs:
 
#24 ·
Ha, yeah i think im being over ambitious here lol.

I definitely want to at least improve a 2.0 ts somehow before getting it fitted.

Do you think a recon engine is best or a second hand low mileage one?

Still toying with the idea of a GTA, but would prefer a selespeed.

What do people think a 52 reg 2002 156 2.0 Selespeed, drilled brembo front brakes, drilled autodelta rear gta brakes,goodridge brake hoses,eibach pro springs & Arb's, Koni FSD dmpers & powerflex fitted is worth (with a knackered engine of course).
 
#25 ·
Ha, yeah i think im being over ambitious here lol.

I definitely want to at least improve a 2.0 ts somehow before getting it fitted.

Do you think a recon engine is best or a second hand low mileage one?
Rebuilt engine if you can, you could buy a second hand one and the same thing happen again. If you can find a broken engine (say cambelt failure) for £100, take it to somewhere like Autodelta or AHMotorsports, get them to re-build it up to as high power as they can for your budget, then get it fitted, I reckon that would be the cheapest way of doing it.

Still toying with the idea of a GTA, but would prefer a selespeed.
GTA Selespeeds are so rare..

What do people think a 52 reg 2002 156 2.0 Selespeed, drilled brembo front brakes, drilled autodelta rear gta brakes,goodridge brake hoses,eibach pro springs & Arb's, Koni FSD dmpers & powerflex fitted is worth (with a knackered engine of course).
About a grand, tops really :(

Worth quite a lot more if you sorted the engine out first.
 
#26 ·
Ive been looking on Autodelta and AH Motorsports, getting crazy ideas.

That 230bhp 2.1 engine on AH Motorsports looks good - dont know how much it is though.

well there is £1000 worth of brand new suspension parts on the car so i'd hope it was worth a bit more than that in its current state. Saying that i know that you dont expect to get back what you put into a car.

Do Autodelta supply complete engines? Ill ring them when i get back from holiday.
 
#28 ·
Do Autodelta supply complete engines? Ill ring them when i get back from holiday.
I've got no doubt they'll keep a few engines in stock, ring them and ask. But doing any mods now saves you getting a new engine fitted only to have to remove it again to do some stuff to it..

This is the best way to turn a bad situation into a good one :thumbs:
 
#30 ·
Maybe so, although i know the selespeed system in the car is perfect and ive never had a problem.

There is a few GTA Sportwagon's on Autotrader but they seems to have a high mileage - 92k .Will this mileage be ok with the V6 or am i likely just to have more problems in the near future?

I then have the decision wether to swap the suspensions over or just letting my selespeed go as it is.
 
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