Anyone been watching 'The Garage' (discovery channel)

Had broken rings on a Triumph engine a few years back - one of the pieces carved a hole up the side of the piston and ended up sitting on top of it!

Careful, he might "come down & see you"

chamber???????????

Nah, he only comes doon to see yoo if yoo sweare at hem doon the phone. 'Dunnae sweare at mee or ahl come doon and see yoo. (Jimmy)

"...would result in a valve being in a position where the piston could hit it, bend it/snap it and result in the sparkplug damage.

Also, if it was a non interference engine, it could turn over without any nasty noises."

What was the point, then?

If it was a banana, you could turn it over without nasty noises, too. It wouldn't have a broken valve, though. How could a piston hit a valve on a non-interference engine?

Ian Dalziel ( snipped-for-privacy@lineone.net) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Broken valve spring, broken valve...

Broken valve I'll give you - and I suppose a broken camshaft (!) might do that. Broken spring shouldn't make the valve go anywhere new, though, should it?

Ian Dalziel ( snipped-for-privacy@lineone.net) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Unlikely, unless there's a bit of cam flailing about, in which case, it should be easy enough to spot by peering in the oil filler cap and spotting the trail of wreckage...

Depends. It might allow it to protrude further into the combustion chamber than it normally does.

I didn't watch the program, and I have no intention of joining in the speculation as to how the engine featured in it was broken or the capabilities of the mechanics featured within the program - other than to point out that "It's cheaply made television, what the hell do you expect?"

Well it did fit in the end, though they did have to swap the sump.....

It is possible. I've seen snapped cams, and usually the same damage as a cambelt failing.

I've seen belts snap, causing valves to bend/snap. Always nice when you take a head off to find the valve head wedged in the piston crown.

That really was a laugh. Maybe possible in extreme cases, but it ain't just going to happen driving down the road with no warning.

The best bit I thought was when they plugged in the diagnostic kit to see if that showed up any problems. FFS no electrical problem is going to cause the engine to knock like that.

The whole garage is a farce. Like the guy who's supposedly came from a BMW dealership, he certainly goes about things arse for tit - Car not running, and making funny knocking noises - lets check for any electronic faults, before checking the mechanics. Car running rough when hot - let's check all the mechanics first, before checking for diagnostic faults.

Then there's the safety. Lets dangle a couple hundred kilos of engine on the crane, then work directly underneath it. And talking about that engine, wet and dry to clean up the crank???

As for the anal whinger with the toolbox, the term 'all the gear and no idea' springs to mind.

I think the series should be renamed 'The Ranch'. It would certainly be far more accurate.

That was a bit extraordinary, wasn't it! Also the fact that they went out and bought a set of shells, and fitted most of them before they had even bothered to check if the crank was usable or not! Didn't see them bother to check the mains either, though it is possible they checked them off camera.

:-)

At least you know where not to take your car next time you are in Marbella!

Ian Dalziel wrote on Wed, 01 Feb 2006 14:58:47 +0000:

Cue silence from Conor....

Sorry, I have a life and was out visiting friends. I understand friends are a concept you can't grasp as you are a Billy Nomates.

See my reply about how a valve can drop.

The message from Conor contains these words:

D'yer know, I've never had that happen when a spring breaks. When it's happened to me there's always been sufficient tension left to hold the collets nicely. In fact, 'cos I don't often rev engines hard the only times I've found a broken spring is when I've had it apart for other things as normally I can't tell.

Isn't that used these days to demonstrate lack of clue? :-)

Conor ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

All becomes clear.

Er, yes. That's why it took me 13 hours before I replied again.

I worked in dealerships in the 80's.