Even more destruction to post after today; the rest can be seen down in the competition forum--->Camshaft Issues

Truck died spontaneously today; upon restarting it seemed that the starter would only freespin. Towed to the house and got to work...here's what I found.

Removed glow plugs thinking that a cylinder had hydrolocked; stilll wouldn't turn over. Upon getting under the truck and trying to turn the torque converter and flywheel manually, I found that I could turn them both with my thumb Obviously at this point there is a problem.

I dropped the transmission and found this- the flywheel totally sheared (a clean shear) around the first step flange closest to the crankshaft flange. The outer piece stayed with the transmission and the inner piece stayed with the crankshaft. I thought at the time, "no big deal, flywheels are cheap". I miscalculated. After I bolted up and torqued the new flywheel, I found that it would still wobble if I wiggled it...obviously at this point I had a more serious problem. Removed the new flywheel, removed the pressed on flange and rear cover to take a closer look at the issue- the rear main seal was also severely chewed and mangled. I grabbed the rear of the crank and found that it would wiggle...ALOT. Side to side, in and out, any direction. At this point it's quite serious. My first suspiscion was that the bolts holding the rear flange of the crankshaft together (which cannot be removed or serviced without destroying the crank) had walked out, but found them still tightly torqued and anchored. Discovered the real issue after I turned the rear of the crank and finding the front didnt turn with it...and vice versa

I don't have the engine out yet, but at this point its a safe assumption that the crankshaft has been ripped in half. Anyone who has seen one of these cranks knows how absurd that sounds, and of ALL the parts in this engine, I would have suspected this to be one of the strongest. Obviously not. I don't know where it has failed yet- I assume between one of the main and rod journals, at the unmachined webbing, or along the center of a journal in line with one of the oil passages. I suppose at this point, after the absurdity of the issue subsides (yes, this one shocks even me) I'll be giving SIC a call to get my billet crank into the lathe, a measure I really never expected to find neccessary. I'll post pictures of the crank as soon as I get the engine out; just thought I would share in the meantime.

I am now permanetly paranoid of any engine part in a 6.0 that has a Ford or International part number stamped on it...at least for my purposes.

 

That is just wild. What were you doing when this happened? I too would have thought that would be one of the strongest parts in there. But knowing your truck, that doesn't mean anything. LOL.

Crazy just crazy.

 

The truck was not being ragged on that the time of failure; that is another interesting point. Damage was probably done at an earlier date and reared its ugly head at this random time.

One of those issues that I'm aggrevated about due to being an PITA, but highly interested in. In some demented way I am somewhat excited to get it apart and have the chance to see what went wrong- seeing this kind of failure is extrodinarily rare and very well may pay off in the future.

I have had my worries about the stock flexplate/flywheel assy for some time now, but given that I had not had one fail I didn't put much thought into the issue. I suppose it will go back to the drawing board along with the crankshaft now. The timing of it actually isn't bad seeing that the redesigned rear gears I am in need of (mentioned in the linked thread in my first post) will be FAR easier to install onto a fully redesigned crank rather than a retrofit to the stock piece- the only concern is the obnoxious price of the work.

 

"Good Training" Is what we would call that. LOL

 

Matt,

All i can say is Wow! Pay to play takes on a whole new meaning

I am waiting with great interest to see the pictures of the crank etc, when you get it apart. I sure would have thought it would have taken more than what you have been throwing at it so far to break the crank, learn something new everyday

 

Looks like the rear main seal wasn't leaking....

I doubt if the crank just snapped, it will be interesting to see the chain of events that led to this failure.

 

Another confirmation of the old addage..."Speed Kills"

Please keep all informed as this looks like it will be a continuing saga. If for convenience sake you want this moved to the Competition Forum...just let us know.

 

When you get a chance, I'll take you up on that. Would probably be more well suited there anyways

 

Done......

 

yawoo
i have seen many flex plates broken in that area and shape around the crankshaft flange on all brands usa and far east at LEVEL10power. but sure would like to know what you find. like was it right at the inside of the crank flange inside the seal.
please keep us all up to date.

 

Good place for this ......

 

It was amazing how smooth the break was----all the way around. I hope to see the crank when he gets it out. I've seen flex plate's break like that also, and I think your original assesment of the issue is a contributing factor without a doubt, but maybe not the total cause.

 

One broken crank, one totally destroyed connecting rod bearing, and a totally missing crankshaft thrust bearing (literally reduced to flakes, recovered from oil pan with a small brush and a shop rag).

This is the nastiest overall forceful carnage I have seen to date.

Luckily the engine can be reparied with one new connecting rod, a new crankshaft, oil pump, new bottom end bearings and a new oil cooler. Crankcase does not have a scratch on it and the oil filter caught every drop of stray metal before it could reach the high pressure system or top end of the engine. Around a ~1000 dollar repair bill so considering what happened, overall damage is minor.

Still have no conclusive determinant cause of failure at this point, but plan to investigate further. DEFINATELY back to the drawing board for a crankshaft in the 4-digit motors.

 

Matt,

I wonder if there were any flaws in the metal or bad heat treating of the crank that aided in this failure.

Another thought, lack of oiling, what number cylinder was this?

 

I looked for air bubbles and spots where the inductive heat treating may have not reached but didn't find any. It wasn't an oiling issue because if so, there would have been damage to the other journals (even if minor) and they looked just like they had rolled off the assembly line; the cross drillings in both the block and crankshaft were totally clean, so it wasn't plugged up either.

I'm pretty much at a loss on this one. I think it's time I get someone a little higher up on the FMC engineering chain at Skunkworks to take a look at this one...