92 caravan 3.0 v6 w/52k - blown motor

This is a church vehicle used to get the mail, deliver groceries, cart
the nuns around, etc. Since it's life with us around 1995 or so it's
not been beat on and has been taken care of. Monday we took it to the
boss' house 10 miles away and back. Then it was driven another ten to
my coworker's house and parked for the night. Tuesday morning he
warmed it up (it's winter here) and left his house. Not 1/2 mile up
the road it made a noise like a belt let loose and started smoking out
the exhaust (white smoke - head gasket?). I told him to try to limp it
in and watch for the temp and/or oil lights. He called me about 5
minutes later and said the oil light came on and he had parked it on
the side of the road. When I got there there was oil on the ground and
a hole a bit smaller than a tennis ball in the front side of the
block. Needless to say, I towed it from there back to the church. I
find it quite odd that the motor gave no warning whatsoever. I find it
odd also that it only has 52k on it. I've looked around and all I can
find for the most part is people having trouble with blown head
gaskets on this motor.
Anyone heard of this happening before or know what might cause the
motor to blow like this? Could the head gasket have blown and the
continued driving (about 1 mile) caused it? I checked the coolant and
it was right up to the radiator neck. So it doesn't appear any leaked
out. If it was a rod or bearing, why did it give no warning? The
vehicle has never had any engine trouble to this point.
Anybody have any ideas? At this point I'm just curious. The value of
the van, both monetary and what we now need it for, doesn't justify
dropping another motor in it. TIA

Mike

 

What happened to you is quite unusual. Say what you want to about the 3.0L,
the bottom ends are supposedly very strong. Rare manufacturing defect may
have been a cause, but that's pure speculation.

The white smoke was probably coolant, but that's not necessarily an
indication of a blown head gasket.

So a van with only 52K miles on it doesn't justify getting a junkyard motor?
--Geoff

 

Could be enough coolant got inot the chamber to cause hydralic lock. Pretty
unusual to blow one though. Bottoms are pretty durable it's always the top
ends of these engines that are caca.
Larry

 

That was an error. Why did you tell him that? I hate to be the bearer of
bad news, but you've probably got this van's blood (or coolant...) on your
hands. Banging noises and exhaust smoke, and you told him to keep
driving?!

Not enough info to comment. Could be improper maintenance, could be
operator error, could be plain old bad luck.

Yep. Hit www.car-part.com and find a nice, juicy, low-miles 3.0 to replace
the toasted one.

Sounds like interesting math. A van with 52K on it? What kind of van are
we going to buy with the (let's be generous and say) $1000 you'd spend
installing a good used engine?

DS

 

I wasn't bashing the 3.0. Just that most of the posts I've found
regarding problems with it were with head gaskets. The book value of
the van is about $1500 with a running engine. I figure about $3000 for
a "good" motor and to have it put it in. We don't have a need for a
van, never did, but the previous priest thought so. We need a truck
for trash removal, moving furniture, etc. So now would be a good time
to get rid of it and get a truck. Thanks for your reply.

 

I told him to try to limp it in because a vehicle with a blown head
gasket is driveable unless it's dumping coolant all over the ground.
And I said, the coolant level wasn't affected whatsoever by the whole
ordeal, not that I knew that then though.

I stated the vehicle was maintained. how/what operator error would you
mean that would cause such extensive damage, especially to a block? He
let the engine warm up for about 10 minutes, just long enough for the
temp guage to start moving and then he drove away. Like I said in the
initial post, it was never horsed on either. I lean toward the plain
old bad luck (dodge).

$1000 for the motor, to have shipped and installed? that's interesting
math. The KBB value is listed at about $1500 with a running motor. I
just can't see dumping that much or more into it. Yes it only has 52k
and it was maintained. The next oil change wasn't due for another 1k.
We just had it changed a 2-3 months ago. Maybe we can block it up and
use it as a toolshed. )
We're not buying another van. Personally I'd like to see it towed away
so we can get something useful like a truck (Toyota preferably) for
the things we need it for. It seems the boss feels the same as we're
shopping next week for a new one. My post was asking for insights on
possible causes to such a failure. Thanks for your response.

 

Continuing to drive the vehicle upon its giving signs of severe mechanical
distress.

Shipped? You live, perhaps, on an island?

The KBB value? Who cares? You said it is a church van. Its value is not
measured in print on a website or in a book, it's measured in whether it
does its job as a church van, and my question stands: What kind of vehicle
are you going to buy with the $1000 you'd spend installing a good used
engine?

DS

 

yeah, shipped as in transferred, moved, freighted, carried, relocated
across land by way of road or rail. not across the atlantic nor the
pacific on a 'ship'.

I suppose KBB, Edmund's and NADA are just printed to waste paper?
Nevermind.
Anyways, here's a good truck that would be a better use of $1000.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2460314480&category=6059

 

Irrelevant. The question was, "what are you going to find for
the price of installing a used engine that is comparable?"

You're joking right?

182K miles, tie rods shot, no tailgate, that stupid lift kit,
wheel spacers, 36" mudder tires. You're going to spend more
money just keeping this thing in universal joints for a year than
it's going to cost to do a bone yard engine in the Caravan.

I thought you said that the church needed a truck for hauling
trash and grounds maintanance, this thing is better suited to
someone having a mid-life crisis who has yet to advance to the
stage of making intelligent decisions.

 

No it isn't - a number of people have thought that in the past then ended up
destroying their engines.

If your lucky when a head gasket goes the leak will be small enough that
it won't matter. If your unlucky then the leak is really large and if your
running at speed you can suck a cylinder full of uncompressible water
and break the side of the engine out.

The problem is there's no way to know how bad the failure is. It's like
a sudden drop in oil pressure, if your quick and you shut down the engine
you can save it. Unfortunately most people aren't quick and a mile
down the road the engine seizes and that's the end of it.

It wouldn't be worth it to you. But for $200 someone out there with a
garage and some time and a need for a van can get yours and then
go buy a 3.0 with a bad top end out of a wrecking yard for $300 and
mix and match parts to get a running engine out of it. Or another way
is if someone has a van that they just smashed up and that has a good
engine in it, they can buy yours.

Ted

 

You must live in a very isolated location not to have used-parts sources
that are local to you.

My goodness. First telling someone to keep driving a vehicle that gave
ample indication of serious mechanical trouble, causing the catastrophic
failure of the engine. Then your idiotic notion that there are no local
used 3.0s in good condition. Then your moronic bleating about the Kelly
Blue Book. And now, of all the trucks on god's green earth, *THIS*?!

I cannot believe how incredibly stupid you are. I mean rock-hard stupid.
Dehydrated-rock-hard stupid. Stupid so stupid that it goes way beyond the
stupid we know into a whole different dimension of stupid. You are
trans-stupid stupid. Meta-stupid. Stupid collapsed on itself so far that
even the neutrons have collapsed. Stupid gotten so dense that no
intellect can escape. Singularity stupid. Blazing hot mid-day sun on
Mercury stupid. You emit more stupid in one second than our entire galaxy
emits in a year. Quasar stupid. Your writing has to be a troll. Nothing
in our universe can really be this stupid. Perhaps this is some primordial
fragment from the original big bang of stupid. Some pure essence of a
stupid so uncontaminated by anything else as to be beyond the laws of
physics that we know. I'm sorry. I can't go on. This is an epiphany of
stupid for me. After this, you may not hear from me again for a while. I
don't have enough strength left to deride your ignorant questions and half
baked comments about unimportant trivia, or any of the rest of this
drivel. Duh.

*owned*

DS

 

<snip incredibly good, and accurate, dressing-down>
You need to create a web page somewhere for the express purpose of
preserving that, and you need to slap a copyright on it. It deserves a
place in the Retorts Hall of Fame.

Seriously.

--Geoff

 

Thanks, Geoff, but it's not mine. I shamelessly lifted it from somebody
else years ago. Do a groups.google.com advanced search on the exact phrase
"Stupid gotten so dense that no intellect can escape", and you'll see it's
in wide use. I'd like to track down the author and thank him or her,
though.

DS

 

Thank you Ted.
Your first description sounds like that may have been what happened.
Someone
else suggested too that the oil port in the crank got plugged and the
rod bearing seized or came apart. I can't find any sign of lost
coolant.
We'll probably end up just turning it in to the dealer when we get our
new truck.

 

We're not. We're getting rid of it and getting a truck because that is
what we need and now is a good opportunity to just that.

Yes I was. I thought most people would figure it out that I was
replying
with sarcasm and DJS gullibly ate it up.

Thanks for your reply.