We had a little accident and drove a U Haul from Redding CA home with the car on a trailer.

The accident was weird. We were sight seeing around Lake Shasta and decided to check out the Lake Shasta Caverns exit 695 on I-5. We looked around Holiday Harbor Marina and decided that a houseboat vacation would be fun. We checked out the caverns and decided $22 a piece was a bit much so we got back in the car and headed back up the hill to I-5. This road is really narrow with no shoulders and fall offs on 1 side and banks on the other. There are signs on I-5 saying "Trucks not Recommended". We met a septic pumper on a turn, he was over the center line and I could only head for the ditch. We came down with a big blow on the sump but popped right back out. I stopped and looked underneath and expected to see a puddle of oil, but it looked fine and so we took off. The truck never completely stopped and we didn't exchange info.

We climbed the rest of the hill and merged with traffic and I'm calming down and feeling really lucky. We crested a rise and when the engine transitioned to compression something went boom and then rattled and the engine died. I put in the clutch and we coasted off at the next exit 698. I did another check, there were no oil leaks and the oil level was fine. I reached in and wiggled the fan and it feels like there is excessive end play. We called our insurance and set up a tow back to Redding where we rented the U Haul stuff and drove home. We got in last night and I just couldn't bring myself to post anything until now. We tracked the truck down. It belongs to the Marina but, they are saying no big deal people go in the ditch all the time. I suspect our insurance company won't see it that way. There is already a 40 mile tow on tilt bed truck and our $728 U Haul bill.

Jake is right I have the worst luck with mechanical stuff. 20 seconds either way and none of this would have happened. This was a good engine and I was proud of assembling it. I have a hard time believing in Karma but, this was just too weird.

I have an insurance guy coming out to look at it tomorrow afternoon. It really doesn't look too bad from the outside. I hope he will let me start tearing it down cause I'm really curious about what happened. Right now, I'm betting on a broken crank or a cracked case at the thrust surface. The insurance people are not real keen with having to come to my garage to look at it but, I said no one is touching it but me. Somehow, I see a big stink coming with them.

Here's the pics from underneath. It doesn't look bad and suspect most of us would have made the same decision I did.

By the way, I'm not returning the mug for furthest drive in a 914. It's already christened. John padded his distance by driving in circle in God forsaken eastern Oregon.

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Dave

As Roseann Roseannadanna would say: "It's always something"

That's a shame Dave. If your suspicions are correct the insurance co. is going to bricks.

Good luck with that. Glad you and Betsy weren't hurt.

Oh my gosh! Dave, words escape me.

Except these: Before the asshats get started, this is most definitely not Jake's fault.

I hope it all goes well for you Dave. That is a really lame excuse they made for driving the truck down that road.

I also hope it won't be too hard to fix. Let me know if you need a hand.

Holy crap.

Take heed!! Before it is too late!

We must all make a sacrifice to Westcoastramblen, destroyer of cars!

Who will be next???




Seriously, Dave, sorry to hear about your terrible accident.

Dave - I read the title and screamed out loud "NO F'ing Way".

I'm so pissed. What a terrible event to happen at the tail end of your trip.

AAARRGGGHHHHH!!!!

definitely a shitty way to end a great weekend

Dave,

Best wishes for a happy ending.

You have got a long run of good luck coming your way ... you have used up all the bad luck.

Compared to you I feel lucky only having one engine drop a valve and go KABLAMO, the supposedly "good running" replacement engine having a sump full of gear teeth, and a transmission go bad.

Let me know if I can help.

Cheers,

Edde

unreal...that had to be a long 600 miles. i'm glad you're both ok.

k

Wow.
I'm really sorry to hear that Dave.

Damn Dave that sucks. I was worried about another "no start" but wasn't thinking that. Good Luck and if I can help with something please PM

Also, I have been on that Holiday Harbor Rd many times and people fly on it. The caverns are worth seeing. The price is high because they have to shuttle you across the lake and then take you on a bus ride that would scare a Billy Goat to the top of the mountain. I swear the bus wheels hang off the edge on the turns.

I am sure that our words cannot begin to measure how you feel. I hope all comes out well in the end. Essentially the marina is saying that they drive over the center divide all the time and frequently put people in the ditch. that is not good.
I am sorry.

There goes another day of mine ruined. (awesome.)

Sounds like the crank broke to me.. Or the flywheel bolts sheared and the flywheel is loose.
Dave has been a real sport and incredibly tolerant of issue after issue after issue and I really hate this... This car should be named "Christine", because this bitch isn't happy about something.

If it is a broken crank it'll be the first one we've EVER had.. Thats nothing new, Dave is used to being the person who breaks things of ours for the first time..

Dave, let me know how I can help.

Damn it Dave!!
that is most definately a crapper...i was hoping for smooth sailing for you two!

Sorry to hear about that Dave. Used to have a friend, his 914 broke and ran on three cylinders so much I nicknamed it the 913

Sorry about your misfortune!.....if you lived in San Diego,I'd invite you to
the gas lamp quarter to 1 of my blues gigs?

I really don't know much yet. I haven't even drained the oil yet and looked in the sump because of the insurance claim. I'll find out more tomorrow. They have already said they want to hear it so, I'll have to crank it over.

Paul, once I got down out of the mountains starting and tune was fine. As I said to you I suspect the injection was overcompensating for the altitude. Thank goodness for the tuning knob SDS has. I'll send the ECU and MAP sensor into them for a checkup while the car is down.

Jake, I know you take a lot of flack when something goes haywire especially it seems when it involves my stuff. I'm not sure why that is. I wish it weren't so. I made my own choices right from the beginning and especially with this build. Just so it's clear to everyone, if other people feel like they should hassle you over my business, they should butt out. My engine, my responsibility! I appreciate your offer of help and I'll give you a call when I find out more.

Dave

Time to pull in the local support. How can we help?

Dave,

if it wasn't for bad luck you would have no luck at all....

Sorry.

Dave,
So sorry to hear this. Hope all will turn out OK in the end. Just glad you are both OK. If I can help, let me know.
Tom

son of a bitch!!!!

well i'm starting to look at it this way.... Dave is gonna be the Jake of the west with his experience in breaking type 4 stuff and putting engines together.

Wow. That car of yours has all the luck Dave.

Yeah, son of a bitch....
Yes, my phone rang today and the caller on the other end of the line referenced this thread and it wasn't positive... I guess people will do anything to take a stab at us.

Anyway, Dave has been great. He has been one hell of a sport and came all the way across the country to stay a week with us to get it back together right, then he still broke the damn thing!!

There is no way to deny that we have absolutely sucked at getting Dave something together that is as reliable as every other engine that we provide parts for. No matter what we have tried to do from supplying new parts to totally redesigning the engine combination (and providing more parts) the shit always hits the fan....

Hell, I have two sets of his old cylinders that wouldn't work for him in two of my personal cars, and they run flawlessly!

Hell, I don't know... Dave is one tough guy and I like to think that I am as well, but at some point we have to realize that this can't go on forever... With every failed situation Dave wastes more time, more money and more parts and the whole time we look like a bunch of idiots. Hell, maybe we are. We've built hundreds of engines since I started working with Dave on his engine kit about 8 years ago, he has had more failures during that time as an individual than ALL the other engine kits (or even turn keys) we have built during that time.

Jake, as many engines as you build you are prone to have one or two that cause you hell. However, this is no relection on you as it was a collision. How anyone could blame you on this is beyond me and total BS. Well, unless you start to make bulletproof engines that can take a blow like that. As far as I know there is few engines that curb to the bottom. Maybe we should make skid plates for our cars.

Again Dave, I'm sorry to hear this and happy to help if I can.

Dave, I met you for the first time at WCR and it sounds like you have some history with your motor, but none the less you struck me as a great guy. Very undiserving of this!
As conedodger said "it's time to make lemonade"


I'll get back to you if I find the recipe

Damn Dave, I figured it was gonna be about the hot start/altitude/wtf syndrome we encountered after the pass.....I am so sorry that you and your lovely wife had to have that kind of a problem. I used to live near there and that road has been crap since the middle 60's......and the caverns are worth 22.00 per head IMHO. I'm just glad that there wasn't more damage to the car (body and such) one could get a pretty good scab on a car going off that road depending on the location. And everyone kinda drives in the middle because the sides are goddamn scary.....but that doesn't excuse the "squeeze"....especially if the guy is on the road everyday. I'm glad you got home ok and I hope this doesn't sour you on the WCRs......we really enjoyed you guys, but you really need to work on your liquor consumption....increase it. Take care. Jim

Anything I can do to help....just lemmeno.
I'm able to resist the urge to post here a vid from our road trip this last weekend.....I must be gettin' old.

Sorry to here about that Dave.
You'll get it sorted and hopefully the Ins. will pay for most of it.
Great to see you again and meet your wife.

I drained the oil and have the engine out. There is bearing material on the sump screen and a bunch of end play. There is also a crack in the case near the passenger side upper tranny mount. Tomorrow I'll strip the engine down and start tear down. I wonder if the blow could have destroyed the thrust surface of the rear main bearing.

Dave

OMG!

Damn that sucks Dave. Glad you guys are ok.

come over, pick up a couple o' cases, and choose the one that would best for you.

k

You know, things could be worse, I have a case that is already decked and the the registers are done. I also have a set of KS bearings to fit it and the crank. If the crank is still good and nothing else busted, I could be back together before too long. We'll see. I'm praying for a crank that is straight and just needs a polish. I hope I got the clutch in quick enough.

Oh ya one of the plates that the engine bar mounts to is bent.

Dave

I just saw this thread and can't believe it.

I hate to say this, but have you thought about... a miata?

Word on the street is they are darn near unbreakable


NO- stay the course! You WILL have a smooth running 914, one that rewards your sweat and blood spilled to build it.

Good luck.


-Dave

i wonder about the tranny input shaft. see what the pilot bushing looks like.

and i would agree that the thrust bearing took the bullet on this and the crank should be ok but you might see some heat on the all the mains from the crank having a lateral load on it.

best bet to scrap the crank and get a new crank and case.

Damn Dave! You are the most resilient guy I know . Let me know how I can help. Sounds like you have a case. If you need any other parts I have 3 different GA case motors. Happy to make a trip up to help & bring whatever. I have a few transmisions too if need be. Let me know

Here's a little more info. I checked crankshaft end play at the flywheel and the fan end of the crank. At the flywheel .0045. At the fan .031. It sure looks like the crank broke.

Dave

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I'll keep taking it apart. I'll get some new parts and put it back together.

Since this an insurance claim now, I have the pics of the indicator zeroed. I'll get the adjuster out on Wednesday.

Dave, you have the patience of a saint. Your wife I nominate as a Saint for her patience with you. I hope when you get it all apart that the build goes quickly and without issue and you are back on the road.

Dave,

So sorry to hear about your troubles! It was nice to see you at WCR and I was impressed you drove all the way to California again after last years marathon drive to Socal.

Hope the insurance company does the right thing on this and you can get the car back together quickly. Stay strong. Oh, and if Jamie is saying YOU are the most resilient person he knows that is saying something!

Keep on keeping on!

Jim

Well here is the nasty pic. The good news is the heads and pc's are ok.

Well, you can fix that... It's a pain but good news that it didn't take out the rods and pistons and heads.

so the crank broke? it's hard to see....

Ouch...
I broke one just like that about 3 years ago
I was easily cruising down the road about 65mph when suddenly...
brapppp brapppp... brapppp.

thats about the 5th one I've seen/heard of breaking in the last 4 years
sorry...

also.. when I pulled the motor apart for a rebuild I found the case needed 2 sizes over on a line bore. Make sure you check when you come apart. I don't know if the case was out of round causing the crank to break, or if the broken crank beat the case out of round. Make sure you check.

glad you found it
brant

i think he said the case is cracked from the detour through the ditch.

oops...
missed that

I think I have 1 more 2.0 crank I could dig up and sell if you have trouble finding one.

brant

Brant:

Objective discussions of the T-4 weaknesses are not allowed here.
That said, you're the fourth OR/OS main bore/busted crank that I know of.

Rand, remember our conversation?

Not to side-track the thread but....

This is the biggest limitation I see with IV's There is a main bearing between two cylinders\connecting rods instead of supporting the crank between every cylinder like a 6. In addition, the crank is not counterbalanced and relies on the cylinder next to it to provide that. The two issues results in a lot of crank flex. Not a big deal for lower HP applications but in my opinion is something to be at least aware of as you extract a lot of HP out of a four cylinder. This is not a put down of the four but something to think about when dreaming of a that 150 HP motor.

So here is the gory truth. I appreciate all of the offers of help and PM's I've gotten. I'll try to answer them when things slow down. I'm trying to deal with insurance now.

Dave