Had it four days and threw a rod!!!

[Farmertedd]

I bought a 2001 SVT Cobra convertible on Saturday and it purred like a kitten! 121000+ miles on it, 20k on a new factory installed motor. Wink, wink... Drove it about 250 miles over the weekend, and then to work Monday and Tuesday. On the way home I got on it at a stop light and wound first and second up to around 6000 rpm, not to red line. I noticed the motor bog in fourth and then in fifth right after that. Then at the next stop light I heard the unmistakable sound of a rod knock. Limped it home the last mile and there it sits in my garage. I have had it for four days and now I want to set it on fire!!! Does anyone out there know why I would lose a rod after one burnout??
It is definitely a rod knock. The piston seems like it has a hole in it and is blowing by into the crankcase…
O.K. I calmed down and read up a lot on this site and around...I read that the bearings fail on these engines. More than they should but that is just the case. I love the car and can't stomach selling it for a loss so I am going to have to rebuild...So, if you are still reading..

Do I pull the engine from the top?? I read a lot of threads about pulling the motor out of the bottom. This seems a big pain in the garage...I need to change a rod but think that pulling the motor is the best way to proceed. Let me know what you think!!

Thanks,

New Guy

 

[COBRA90GT]

Sorry to hear. Did you check the oil level before you purchased it or after that 250 mile drive over the weekend?

Wonder if it was driven low on oil (or burned through a good amount of oil after you took possesion of it?). As you have probably read, lots of 4v motors tend to yield to a rebuild due to being run low on oil.

It's basically your choice on which method to use to pull the motor for your rebuild, g'luck !

 

[Blown331LX]

Id start with a compression test, then a cylinder leak down test to isolate and confrim source. Needless to say youre looking at pulling the engine either for rebuild or replacement. Alao are you sure it was a "brand new" engine 20,000 miles ago or just a "used - new to the vehicle" engine. ?