[shootfirst83]

Not sure if this is the right forum for this thread but here goes...

I was driving home from the gym tonight, in second gear running about 2k rpm's, and my motor went. I took off from the light and right when I hit second gear, I heard a pop, a bunch of metal grinding, and the car died on me. When I got out of the car I immediately noticed the oil on the ground and the smoke. I managed to push it off the road and called the tow truck to have it towed to the local dealership.

I'm heading in tomorrow to see what could have caused the issue. I have a feeling that one of the impellers in one of the turbos broke and went through the motor. On Sunday I hit a monster pothole that damaged my front right rim and popped my side wall so I think that may have caused damage to the turbo. At least I'm hoping that's the case. Otherwise my insurance won't cover it...

[Ænema]

It's possible a turbo inlet pipe popped of in the collision with the pothole and the turbo ate some debris...

[e92oholic]

Originally Posted by Ænema

It's possible a turbo inlet pipe popped of in the collision with the pothole and the turbo ate some debris...

sounds about right to me.

[Tony@vargasturbotech]

Don't get too worried just yet. We had a customer's car lose a stock turbo so bad, the car died and had oil on the ground and coming out the exhaust. Once we got it apart it had lost one of the turbine wheels out the exhaust. New set of turbos and about 2 weeks burning all the oil out of the exhaust and it was fine. Hopefully you will have something similar and not a motor.

[GabeS]

I have never heard of an engine blowing due to debris entering the turbo or intercooler piping. althought I am not saying it isn't possible.

I had intercooler piping pop loose on me a few times, and the pop does sound scary but it should sound like a crazy subaru or an old truck after due to the incorrect amount of air flow entering the engine..and would have almost no throttle response and feel like 20 hp...
It would be kinda

but the fact you heard grinding metal and then saw oil under the car almost sounds like you blew a hole through your block. depending on how hard you were pushing it and if it had low oil the temp can get really hi and I have seen rods shoot through a block...it happened to me once..heard the pop/breaking sound, then metal clunking and grinding and saw metal sparks flying in my rear view, when i pulled over I noticed all the oil and sure enough a hole in the side of my block.

hope its none of the above but keep us posted.! and good luck.

[shootfirst83]

Originally Posted by Ænema

It's possible a turbo inlet pipe popped of in the collision with the pothole and the turbo ate some debris...

I'm hoping it's something that easy to diagnose. Convincing the insurance company will be a different story.

[shootfirst83]

Originally Posted by Vargasturbotech

Don't get too worried just yet. We had a customer's car lose a stock turbo so bad, the car died and had oil on the ground and coming out the exhaust. Once we got it apart it had lost one of the turbine wheels out the exhaust. New set of turbos and about 2 weeks burning all the oil out of the exhaust and it was fine. Hopefully you will have something similar and not a motor.

Thanks for the reply!

Would the car start after the turbo went? I know I probably shouldn't have but I hit the ignition last night to see if it would crank and all it did would turn over constantly. I originally thought it was the transmission since the fluid on the ground looked red but once I got it off the road, it was easy to tell it was oil. The motor had no compression and there was definitely about 5 quarts of oil on the ground. When the tow company got it on the truck, it was still spitting out oil on the flatbed. Hopefully it's just the turbos...

[shootfirst83]

Originally Posted by GabeS

I have never heard of an engine blowing due to debris entering the turbo or intercooler piping. althought I am not saying it isn't possible.

I had intercooler piping pop loose on me a few times, and the pop does sound scary but it should sound like a crazy subaru or an old truck after due to the incorrect amount of air flow entering the engine..and would have almost no throttle response and feel like 20 hp...
It would be kinda

but the fact you heard grinding metal and then saw oil under the car almost sounds like you blew a hole through your block. depending on how hard you were pushing it and if it had low oil the temp can get really hi and I have seen rods shoot through a block...it happened to me once..heard the pop/breaking sound, then metal clunking and grinding and saw metal sparks flying in my rear view, when i pulled over I noticed all the oil and sure enough a hole in the side of my block.

hope its none of the above but keep us posted.! and good luck.

I definitely think there's a hole in the block. The crazy part about the whole thing is that I was only turning about 2k rpm's when it went. I had just taken off from a light and was having a casual conversation with my buddy when it went pop. I don't usually push my car hard either. The most acceleration it usually gets is merging on the freeway. I have a motorcycle for the reckless driving...

[Greatdane84]

Did you call your insurance company after you hit that pothole? If so it will help when telling your story to them about this and how it caused the continual damage. Good luck & keep us updated

[shootfirst83]

Originally Posted by Greatdane84

Did you call your insurance company after you hit that pothole? If so it will help when telling your story to them about this and how it caused the continual damage. Good luck & keep us updated

I didn't call them since my deductible is more than the price of a tire. I did call the cops and have them come out and give me an Incident Number so I hope that will be enough.

[demontwinz]

good luck bud

worries me sometimes to be FBO

[shootfirst83]

Originally Posted by demontwinz

good luck bud

worries me sometimes to be FBO

Thanks man!

The thing that blows my mind is that I'm fully stock.

[135Pats]

Originally Posted by demontwinz

good luck bud

worries me sometimes to be FBO

Originally Posted by shootfirst83

Thanks man!

The thing that blows my mind is that I'm fully stock.

OP obviously I hope this works out for you, but as you said you're stock in terms of power….All I can go off of is anecdotal evidence since I've never seen an N54 fall apart myself, but with that being said these appear to be damn strong motors. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of FBO N54s out there with essentially zero grenades that were directly attributed to the increased power and load. The one's that really go kaboom seem to be outliers on the margins, or heavily tracked cars that get oiling failure or some issue with meth delivery. Seeing something like this is scary, but it doesn't lower my confidence in the N54's block. Hopefully this "just" ends up being a blown turbo...

[shootfirst83]

Originally Posted by 135Pats

OP obviously I hope this works out for you, but as you said you're stock in terms of power….All I can go off of is anecdotal evidence since I've never seen an N54 fall apart myself, but with that being said these appear to be damn strong motors. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of FBO N54s out there with essentially zero grenades that were directly attributed to the increased power and load. The one's that really go kaboom seem to be outliers on the margins, or heavily tracked cars that get oiling failure or some issue with meth delivery. Seeing something like this is scary, but it doesn't lower my confidence in the N54's block. Hopefully this "just" ends up being a blown turbo...

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for. I've never tracked my car and honestly don't drive it very hard. I bought it used so I'm not sure if the person before me ragged it out but I bought it in July 2011. You would think that this problem would have surfaced sooner. The shop said they should know something after lunch today. My fingers are crossed.

[GeorgiaTech335coupe]

I had 2 tires and a rim damaged beyond repair from a pothole on an expressway in a construction zone a few years ago. There was probably about 20+ other people who experienced the same thing on the same pothole. I was able to get reimbursed by the construction company working on the road. Something you might consider, but not sure of all your circumstances.

[Wescuddles]

Sub'd for update. Good luck OP.

[shootfirst83]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaTech335coupe

I had 2 tires and a rim damaged beyond repair from a pothole on an expressway in a construction zone a few years ago. There was probably about 20+ other people who experienced the same thing on the same pothole. I was able to get reimbursed by the construction company working on the road. Something you might consider, but not sure of all your circumstances.

I originally called the cops and had them come out so I could put in a claim with the city for the tire and rim so if it does turn out that the pothole caused something to break and go through the engine then I should be covered.

[Greatdane84]

That's great that you got an incident report. Sounds to me like you can get insurance to cove this. Just is lame that anything that you claim goes against you insurance wise for a few years

[Carl64]

Originally Posted by Wescuddles

Sub'd for update. Good luck OP.

Good luck man! Makes me a bit worries as a new N54 owner in a city with terrible pot holes.

[shootfirst83]

Originally Posted by Wescuddles

Sub'd for update. Good luck OP.

Thanks man.

[shootfirst83]

Originally Posted by Greatdane84

That's great that you got an incident report. Sounds to me like you can get insurance to cove this. Just is lame that anything that you claim goes against you insurance wise for a few years

As long as the dealership comes back and says that the pothole caused the issue then I'm good. I'm being really optimistic right now. I really don't feel like paying for a new motor...

[E92mech]

Originally Posted by Greatdane84

That's great that you got an incident report. Sounds to me like you can get insurance to cove this. Just is lame that anything that you claim goes against you insurance wise for a few years

Not true. A claim like this is made under comprehensive, which does not count against the driver like a collision claim.