What could cause a car to blow an engine?

Question

My '96 Ford Escort (yeah I know...a FORD) blew out the engine and I had the engine replaced. Well what do you know the sucker blew another one! Any thoughts? Only people who might have an answer please!

The mechanic only said that the car needed a new engine because the computer had caused the problem...the computer was replaced also

Answer 1

You could of ran out of oil or had not changed oil, no coolant (overheats), revving it up to far and any unecessary abuse.

Answer 2

if when you drive, you like to run a lot RPMs than that could cause it, don't try to race it's not built for that. the engine must at all times maintain a certain oil pressure, I'm sure it doesn't have an oil pressure guage, so you might think of installing an aftermarket guage to make sure it does keep pressure. it could just be bad luck. or maybe you should go to a different mechanic. the computer should not have anything to do w/ the engine blowing, the mechanical parts will not break due to computer problems. and yea it is a ford. also pay attention to if you park on steep hills from side to side often while the car is running, but I mean steep hills. if that's the case than this could be that there is not enough oil makeing it to the oil pump. probably not but that is a possibility. good luck.

Answer 3

That's some luck. You were not specific enough for a proper guess. Engines break when they are low on coolant , oil , run too lean(not enough gas), lose the timing belt or chain and gears. run too rich ,have an internal coolant leak( kills the rotating assembly). ping that breaks piston tops. And about 10 more examples. I would say that the engines could have had the same failure, There could be a problem with the car, that caused the problem. But this is all a hypothesis , Try to get the garage to find what broke in both engines. This is crucial. And now that I confused you all to hell, it could have been any of the problems stated previously.

Answer 4

To answer your first question. It is highly unlikely that a electrical problem made your motor blow. There is a whole list of problems that could make that happen ranging from poor maintance to a major problem inside the motor. Secondly, the car stalling could be the motor is bad or even something as minor as a plugged up fuel filter. So it is hard to say that this problems was a indication that your motor was fixing to go out. As far a a motor for this car you are looking anywhere from a low side of $800 plus labor for a motor coming out of a junk yard with no warranty to about $1900 plus labor for a good motor with a warranty and all that good stuff. This is one of the most costly repairs for a car, I am sorry to bring the bad news on tis part. Now I do not know about lemon laws in Utah, my best advice there is to look it up on the internet. But in most cases lemon laws apply to new cars, I may be mistaken on that one. In most cases used cars are sold "AS IS" and there is no warranty and no legal actions that can be taken. The only way you could really take any sort of action, if this is the case, is if you could prove that the dealer knew that the car had a bad motor and still sold you the car under the pretense that there was nothing wrong with the car. But like I said you will want to look up the local lemon laws for Utah. I hope this helps some.

Answer 5

Any number of things could have caused the problem.
Some of the things are over revving the engine, advancing the timing too much, nitrous oxide, running the engine too lean, not maintaining the fluids and running the engine too hot and it will seize up. If you were low on oil then again the engine will seize up. You didn't say exactly what happened, did you put a cylinder through the side of the block? Did it seize up. Who knows, but these are some to the things that can blow an engine.

Answer 6

Improper maintenance, Low or bad oil pressure/Lubrication. Bad replacement motor. Poor driving habits, improper cooling, Broken Timing belt, improper installation (On the 2nd motor) Not enough break in time for the new motor (if 2nd engine was a remanufactured engine and not a junkyard motor) This is one reason why I have the motors rebuilt (If it's a good block) instead of replaced. Costs about the same and you often get a warranty on the rebuild. No warranty on junk yard motors. You can also get crate motors from Ford them selves that have a warranty. It's the only way to go. I no longer trust junk yard motors unless I have torn them down and checked them out myself.

Answer 7

my f150 4.9L straight six just got a complete engine rebuild to prevent blowing up. it was clicking and tapping and leaking a little too much oil. it had 239,000 miles on the odometer. cost me $2700 total. i think it is reasonable to believe the 1992 f150 is good to go for another 100,000 and i am 64 and rarely go more than 30 miles a day. i went 3000 last year to visit relatives in texas. so, makes me wonder why some people hate fords? i don't know the statistics. i would like to know the facts.

Answer 8

not much to go on - most common on Escorts are broken timing belts which bend valves and break camshafts.
Old age, worn out parts, no oil, no coolant, coolant and oil mixing because of a broken head gasket, over revving the motor, overloading the car could break the crank if you were doing jackrabbit starts. You really need to know what part of the engine failed to evaluate.

Answer 9

THE MOTOR BLEW DUE TO INPROPER MAINTANCE ARE SITTING IN A CAR THAT DIDNT RUN FOR A WHILE ARE SOMETHING LIKE THAT BUT THERE HAS TO BE A REASON WHY THE ENGINE BLEW I FIND IT VERY HARD TO BELIVE THAT A COMPUTER WOULD CAUSE SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO HAPPEN I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF SUTCH A THING AT ALL AND IVE BEEN WORKING ON EVERYTYPE OF CAR AND VAN AND TRUCK AND WAGON AND THERE ISNT ANYTHING WRONG WITH A FORD ESCORT IVE OWNED 4 OF THEM AND I LOVE THEM THEY ARE DEPENDABLE AND RELIABLE AND THAT IS AS IF THEY ARE PROPERLY MAINTAINED AND CARED FOR LIKE I DID MINE AND I DROVE IT FOR OVER 2000.00 THOUNSAND MILES AND SOLD IT FOR 1300.00 AFTER THAT SO DONT KNOCK A FORD AFTER ALL YOU OWN ONE AND SO DO I THANKS AND HAVE A GREAT DAY..............

Answer 10

Not sure what you mean by "blown" but the mid 90s escorts were notorious for timing belts dying. If you replaced your engine with a used one, I'd guess at around 75k miles for the first and same for replacement ... If motor just flat out died and won't run but spins freely, my guess is timing belt, in which case he pistons are now chumped as well.

Answer 11

Running without enough oil in the crankcase or coolant in the radiator will blow an engine. A bad oil pump or a bad water pump could do the same thing.