Hey everyone.
It's on a somber note that I am writing this. My FiST was badly injured on Saturday. I spent 8 hours installing the 2J-Racing Catless Downpipe, methodically labeling nearly every bolt, taking my time and learning as I went. After I finished, I noticed one small screw left over. I still assume this is a bracket mounting screw and has nothing to do with what happened, but I'll let you be the judge. Once I reassemble and reconnect everything, I jump into the driver's seat. I can see the map lights, the gauges lit up, everything looks normal. Since I had removed the battery and disconnected the ECU, whenever I reassembled the car, my AccessPort detected juice again and sprung to life. It couldn't have been on for more than an hour though, on the "looking for vehicle connection" gear-spinning screen. So I doubt that caused any issue, but who knows? I step on the brake & clutch pedals, press the Start/Stop button, and boom, everything turns off. Every single light. I freak a little, think I might have blown a fuse or something, but I stay calm and pop the hood. I check to ensure both battery terminal clamps are snug (they were) and I head back to the driver's seat. Lights are already on. I try to start it up, and boom, it cranks over and starts right up, like nothing ever happened. The infotainment system says something along the lines of "downloading an update" with a progress bar. It completes by the time I have reversed the car out of the driveway. I roll out and after not even 15 seconds, a message flashes on the screen that says "key out of car." It's in my pocket. I proceed, it goes away. I drive for about 8-10 minutes, using up to 75% of the throttle, and notice absolutely nothing wrong. No lag, no sputters, nothing out of the ordinary. I have the AP turned on and I'm cautiously watching all my temperature gauges. I did not heatwrap my downpipe, we can argue over it's merits another time, but I am seeing no spikes in temperatures anywhere.
I come to a stop light and I see a small amount of smoke coming up from the rear. I expected a little, my CBE smoked and stunk as it was burning in/carbonizing the inside of the tubing/whatever. I make a turn and step on it at the most, 50%. All of a sudden, a huge plume of white smoke bellows from behind my car. I think "shit, it's oil." As I think this, the red oil light appears on the dash. I am now stuck on a 55mph road with nowhere to turn off. I go easy on the throttle and semi-coast to the closest parking lot. In the time it takes me to reach a safe place, the "key out of car" message reappears briefly, then the door ajar light appears (wtf?!?). At this point, the smoke is pouring out from the edges of the hood. This is the point where the lump formed in my throat, I know it's bad. I then notice some clicking noises coming from the engine and an all-too-familiar sensation... I feel the serpentine belt slipping. I've driven friend's neglected cars and remember the distinct feeling. I make it off the road, kill the engine, pop the hood and face my fears. As I opened the hood, I am gassed. Tons of smoke rolls up and I see the damage. Oil thrown around the engine bay like a Jackson Pollock painting. It was mostly concentrated on the passenger firewall, suspension, wheel and tire. The engine cover had a little splash in the upper left corner, and some oil made it onto the belt and pulleys.
I didn't know what to think. I thought I might not have tightened the bolts between the DP and the turbo enough, I thought I may not have plugged a vacuum line in, I thought a sensor might not be connected, etc. I also think about a blown head gasket. It made sense to me at the time, seeing the catastrophic damage in front of me. In hindsight, I feel that steam would have also been present had it been a head gasket, but I don't know. What I do know is the oil level. I checked the dipstick, and it is virtually bone dry. Now before you suggest it might have been low before, it's unlikely. It had only been ~600 miles since my last change. When I did pull the dipstick out though, smoke escaped through the tunnel it previously occupied. I know oil can get hot, but I lack the knowledge on whether it would smoke on it's own. Something tells me not.
Either way, I call AAA, get towed to the Ford Dealership I bought it from, and make my way home. I dropped the car off with a brief description of the incident. They were closed yesterday due to Easter. I called today around 3pm and they still had not moved it from the parking lot. They were closing in an hour and a half but the service manager told me he would definitely get someone to take a look before they left, but I received no phone call. I'm anxiously awaiting the assessment, hoping for news that isn't horrid. In the meantime, I am forced to drive a Nissan Versa.
![[xx(]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_dead.gif "Dead [xx(]")
BBBLLLLEEUUUUGGGHHH
. The CVT transmission is just awful, and it just feels so devoid of life. But at least it'll help me appreciate my FiST when I get it back.
So what say you? Is it a blown head gasket? Is it a cracked/burst hard oil feed line to the turbo (my favorite scenario)(also somewhat likely as I was leaning my hands/arms all through the engine bay, trying to reach tough spots, it's entirely possible I may have bent/twisted/kinked one)? Something else I'm not thinking of?
My car is completely built by myself, and I've never had any issues prior to this. I am pretty handy and resourceful.
Cobb's OTS Stage 1 map
Cobb drop in panel filter
Stock airbox otherwise
Cobb CBE
Cobb RMM
Boomba BOV Spacer
Boomba Throttle Body Spacer & Intake Manifold Spacer
Boomba Sound Symposer Delete
That's about it performance wise. Sorry for the novel. Please help.
