blown piston

[Tommyg]

I have a blown piston in the center cylinder on the left bank. The other cylinders have 150lbs of compression. Should I just replace the one piston,buy a new/rebuilt short block or rebuild my whole motor? Thanks in advance for any input, Tommy

 

[49-blues]

Replace the one piston- i have spares if you need them.

 

[texasturbo]

What really happened to the piston????
What does the cylinder look like????
Are the rings bad??????
Will you be able to replace the piston and rings and get the new rings to seal properly??????
Are you sure the others aren't hurt either???

Alot of questions you need to have answered before you just replace one piston.....
Just my 2 cents......

 

[jshilli1]

Either pull the head to get a look, or find someone with a bore-o-scope (sp?) to look at the others. If you consider all the work getting to the 1 piston, maybe replacing them all or at least inspecting them all is worth it...

 

[Tommyg]

My mechanic advised me to buy a new long block to avoid multiple problems that could occur after opening it up. He said why pay all that labor to find out I have more damage than originally thought. I think he's right but I called Buick and they said that this motor is no longer available. Any suggestions?

 

[Russell Stover]

If it was me I would search on here for someone who is a good engine builder ( for these engines) and get that one you have done.

 

[GN ERGY]

Sure you don't just have a blown head gasket? You just don't have any compression in that cylinder?
Most of the time these motors just blow head gaskets.
Tarey D.

 

[Tommyg]

head gasket?

I just assumed it was a blown piston because it is pushing oil out of the dipstick tube and the right side valve cover filter. Should I spend the money in labor to have the heads removed only to find the worst case senerio?

 

[texasturbo]

It could still be just a head gasket.... regardless, you have to pull the heads off to take a look. Might as well do that and see what the next step is......You might get lucky and it only be a head gasket......

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

do yourself a HUGE favor-

put a post out in the lounge for a mechanic/turbo buick guy who is in the area of where you live-

i can guarantee you that you dont have a blown piston, and its the headgasket that blew out- its a common problem with these cars when you dont have a good fuel pump....

i can see that you are new to the buick site, there are many people here to help you out and even lend you a hand getting the car back on the road-

your looking at 300.00 in parts to fix the car, 100.00 for gaskets, 100.00 for head bolts, 100.00 for a new fuel pump....

if you lived close to kansas city, i could do the head swap the same day and get the car on the road asap....

more than likely there is a qualified buick guy near you, dont even take that car back to the mechanic you have now, sounds like a guy looking for money out of your pocket
BW