<![CDATA[Motor Carnage (Pics inside)]]>Just wondering if anyone could tell me/ Guess why this happened...
Car- 2001 Ford Focus SE Single Cam
Problem- Parked the car one day. Started it the next day, loud knocking coming from the motor, had to hold the accelerator halfway to the floor to keep it running. I let it die. after trying toi diagnose it for another 30 seconds or so of keeping it running, it seized. f
I opened the motor up today in the middle of swapping it, to reveal this...
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Pieces of piston skirts in the oil pan

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Small Dents in the Piston

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Matching dents in the head...

Weird things...Valves are fine and fully intact, No Metal between head and piston, no visible damage to top of piston and the crank turns freely now that the heads off, and all pistons still move with the crank.

]]>https://fargostreet.com/topic/19938/motor-carnage-pics-insideRSS for NodeThu, 28 May 2026 11:16:27 GMTSun, 05 Dec 2010 02:01:10 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Motor Carnage (Pics inside) on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 21:24:11 GMT]]>Have you taken the pistons out yet? Sounds like either a cold seize, or a spun bearing. If the piston expands too fast before the rest of the motor, your piston to cylinder clearance will decrease, and will seize, and being you revved it up the skirt broke, because the skirt is the largest part of a piston. The marks on the top of the piston could actually be from pre ignition from pieces of the piston making its way up there.

]]>https://fargostreet.com/post/305794https://fargostreet.com/post/305794Tue, 07 Dec 2010 21:24:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Motor Carnage (Pics inside) on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 23:20:53 GMT]]>I was kinda waiting to see a miata motor.... lol

]]>https://fargostreet.com/post/305782https://fargostreet.com/post/305782Mon, 06 Dec 2010 23:20:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Motor Carnage (Pics inside) on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 13:07:08 GMT]]>there was pieces of piston skirt in the oil pan... thats all I have gotten to so far. I think all the pistons and head wear is from detonation the more I look at it... severe detonation.

]]>https://fargostreet.com/post/305773https://fargostreet.com/post/305773Mon, 06 Dec 2010 13:07:08 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Motor Carnage (Pics inside) on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 03:59:07 GMT]]>Have you torn any farther into the motor or just removed the head? Once you get a look at the the bottom end you will most likely see what happened, I'm still guessing bearings.

]]>https://fargostreet.com/post/305766https://fargostreet.com/post/305766Mon, 06 Dec 2010 03:59:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Motor Carnage (Pics inside) on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:48:45 GMT]]>

Bookem;317494 wrote:
Did she let it idle for a really long time warming up in the days prior to the carnage? Or started it up cold and took off right away driving at highway speeds?
It wasnt cold when this happened...

]]>https://fargostreet.com/post/305759https://fargostreet.com/post/305759Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:48:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Motor Carnage (Pics inside) on Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:56:09 GMT]]>Did she let it idle for a really long time warming up in the days prior to the carnage? Or started it up cold and took off right away driving at highway speeds?

]]>https://fargostreet.com/post/305753https://fargostreet.com/post/305753Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:56:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Motor Carnage (Pics inside) on Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:51:45 GMT]]>My guess would be spun bearing/s

THat is sort of true, a few knocks from a spun bearing may only need new rod/s bearings and some machine work. Seized motor usually takes a bit more.

]]>https://fargostreet.com/post/305752https://fargostreet.com/post/305752Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:51:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Motor Carnage (Pics inside) on Sun, 05 Dec 2010 12:58:55 GMT]]>

Top End;317486 wrote:
Were are the dents in the pistons that your refering to?
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Top End;317486 wrote:
So you started the car, motor knocked so you held the it at half throttle to make it run and forced it to run until it seized...?

yep... motor is shot anyways once it started knocking, from the way it sounded... fyi i said thirty seconds but it was more like 5 or 10 seconds.

]]>https://fargostreet.com/post/305749https://fargostreet.com/post/305749Sun, 05 Dec 2010 12:58:55 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Motor Carnage (Pics inside) on Sun, 05 Dec 2010 06:17:45 GMT]]>Were are the dents in the pistons that your refering to?

So you started the car, motor knocked so you held the it at half throttle to make it run and forced it to run until it seized...?

]]>https://fargostreet.com/post/305745https://fargostreet.com/post/305745Sun, 05 Dec 2010 06:17:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Motor Carnage (Pics inside) on Sun, 05 Dec 2010 05:14:20 GMT]]>how many miles were on it???

]]>https://fargostreet.com/post/305743https://fargostreet.com/post/305743Sun, 05 Dec 2010 05:14:20 GMT