Zombie Neon refuses to die

We had a neon towed into our shop by one of the local wreckers, he picked it up off the side of the interstate because it "just stopped running" on the owners. A little poking around showed it wasn't getting any spark, but the timing belt still looked whole through the cover. The coil packs and cam sensor checked out OK, so I reached underneath to pull the crank sensor and discovered it unplugged. After plugging it back in the car fired right up, but sounded really rough and it was leaking oil at a rate to rival the Exxon Valdez. (and not from one of the normal Neon oil leak locations, this was near the crank sensor / oil filter housing)

I finally got it up in the air to check on the oil leak and found a rod sized whole in back of the block, it appears that when the rod decided to part company with the rest of the engine, it unplugged the crank sensor on it's way to freedom. Being bored and curious, I cut a metal patch to fit the whole, securing it through the oil pan rail and wedging it against the casting ribs in the block, with a generous amount of silicone. It no longer leaks any oil, and I disconnected the injector on the dead cylinder, but WHY is this thing still running?

You need more then just a hole in its head to kill a zombie.

That's too funny - running just fine on three cylinders! Where is the piston?

I had a GM 2.8 v6 towed in. The center two rods had left the "building". It still ran on the other four. Drove it into the shop.

Sell it as a 3 cylinder fuel economy version. Uses 1/4 less fuel than comparable Neons!

somebody used Prolong...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSiS7UYok_Y

In reply to jstein77:

I'm assuming the piston is still in the bore, the whole wasn't big enough. It could be laying in pieces in the bottom of the pan though.

It does run just a bit unbalanced, shook all of my tools off of the cowl when it fired up, LOL.

pics or this whole story is fake

RossD wrote: Sell it as a 3 cylinder fuel economy version. Uses 1/4 less fuel than comparable Neons!

Until you want it to accelerate.

Before Patch

It doesn't want to embed the image from google, so here's a link

Its private. Won't allow us to see it.

Yep had a Jeep Wrangler come in one time check for oil leak and runs rough. Same thing number three rod went out for some milk and never came back. With a "little" sealant I bet you could have driven with that engine for sometime.

Paul B

In reply to psychic_mechanic:

Neons will actually run with the crank sensor damaged/disconnected. It will be very hard to start and will barely move off idle but a Neon will "run" with any single engine sensor failed. We took third at LeMons Detroit in 2007 with a failed crank sensor. It barely ran for the last hour but we finished.

I've had 4 Neon engines killed. My nephew hydro locking my daily was the most effective.

BBsGarage wrote: You need more then just a hole in its head to kill a zombie.

Always, always, aways double tap.

In reply to psychic_mechanic:

That's some crank case ventilation right there...

iceracer wrote: I had a GM 2.8 v6 towed in. The center two rods had left the "building". It still ran on the other four. Drove it into the shop.

That 2.8 is tough, friend had one in a S10 that poked a rod through the block. The rod blocked the hole quite well so he continued to drive it for another 9 months or so like that. Finally got another vehicle and stopped driving the S10 and sold it to a junkyard (he did drive it to the yard).

It is surprising how some engines will keep going no matter what while others will stop from just looking at it wrong.

BeaterBlogDave wrote: I've had 4 Neon engines killed. My nephew hydro locking my daily was the most effective.

"watch out for the river next time."

I had often driven down a flooded road for fun when I came upon a brand new Cobalt just before the road was flooded. Noticing his hubcaps were folded at a 90 degree angle, I was interested in why he was jumping his car. You should have seen the "surprised face" I had shown him when he said it didn't work. He asked if I could help. My response: "Help what? Rebuild your motor?" Mechanically disinclined people are funny when they try to act.... Mechanically inclined.

In reply to N Sperlo:

Agreed, my nephew should have known better. The road was flooded and he followed an SUV into it. Water was up to the head lights. The cold air intake didn't help either. There was a serious amount of water in the intake manifold.

He learned a lot about cars after he pulled the engine, swapped the head onto a different block and reinstalled everything.

He also pulled out the carpet and seats to get everything dry. Its been 6 months and still doesn't smell.

In reply to BeaterBlogDave:

I was just discussing what would be the first thing to break upon the attempt to compress water in a Cobalt. How many parts said "no" when he tried to be a truck?

During C4C, I saw a video on YouTube about a Volvo redblock that refused to die even with the "liquid glass" poured in, in place of oil.

In reply to 81cpcamaro:

I love the 60 degree Chevy V6s. In 1986 I bought my wife a 1980 Citation with the 2.8 and the damn thing could take 305 Camaros stop light to stop light.

We had a Ford Pick em up with the straight 6 that we had to destroy during C4C. The thing caught fire with no oil and the liquid glass in it, and refused to die.

OHC engines often run with bits missing- no camshaft to break in half. If the rod broke in half, and left the big end still bolted to the crank, it could run for quite a while. If its got an oil passage in the crank wide open, it will seize itself under load eventually.

that happened to a friend's boat that had the "iron duke" engine in it. We ran it for half an hour with the most aweful noise and smoke until we got to the dock.. once he throttled down.. it died and refused to turn over again.