130K on a cheap rebuild that had 200k before ,
i didnt rebuild it so no idea how wore the pistons were from the first 200k ,

#3 hole on a 76 300D

__________________
current fleet
Ford f350 dully 7.3L 1990 . ats turbo , zf5
Mazda 4x4 b2600 with 617 20-26 mpg
Past fleet
1983 240D w123 232k 25-30 MPG
1984 Ford f250,1979 ford 150 300-6 (sold@ 251K )
81 300D, 79 240D , 2x 76 300D ,74 240D , 2x 89 grand prix , 85 grand fury , and several other fords

Custom machine shop work ..

Are you saying a broken ring did all that damage?

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Looks more like something got sucked into that cylinder and beat up that piston before it was spit out the exhaust. Does the head and valve show the same?

Probably a nut or a spring washer found its way in from the air cleaner.

__________________
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

That also may have been from a broken glow plug.
Is the glow pug for that cylinder broken?
if not the PO may have broke it and left it to flaot aroun until it came out the exhaust.

__________________
'85 F250 6.9L diesel 2wd XL XC LB Centurion, Gone
'95 Mercedes E 300 Diesel W124.131 with a OM606.910 and just over 200k on the clock, needs top end engine work and a transmission.
2000 S500 W220 with a 5.0L V8 gas power.

glow plugs looked fine ,.

you can see the spot there on the side of the piston where somthing pushed UP

actually the engine does run .,,..or did .. but it blows wicked black smoke ,,

guess we wont know for 100% untill i get the engine apart all the way ,

__________________
current fleet
Ford f350 dully 7.3L 1990 . ats turbo , zf5
Mazda 4x4 b2600 with 617 20-26 mpg
Past fleet
1983 240D w123 232k 25-30 MPG
1984 Ford f250,1979 ford 150 300-6 (sold@ 251K )
81 300D, 79 240D , 2x 76 300D ,74 240D , 2x 89 grand prix , 85 grand fury , and several other fords

Custom machine shop work ..

Was this a car that you had for a while or one you just bought?

Any idea how long it was driven running poorly / smoking?

well , i bought it for parts few months back ,. , he said it started banging and smoking when they were on a trip , so they had it towed home , wasnt ran like that for a long period ,

__________________
current fleet
Ford f350 dully 7.3L 1990 . ats turbo , zf5
Mazda 4x4 b2600 with 617 20-26 mpg
Past fleet
1983 240D w123 232k 25-30 MPG
1984 Ford f250,1979 ford 150 300-6 (sold@ 251K )
81 300D, 79 240D , 2x 76 300D ,74 240D , 2x 89 grand prix , 85 grand fury , and several other fords

Custom machine shop work ..

Bummer! Curious to see what it turns out to be, That's not what I'd expect to see from a broken ring but the physics inside a running engine are beyond belief. I don't know why they don't all fly apart.

Dan

Just as a starting point, I've built / repaired / failure analyzed untold numbers of motors over the years.

I figured the miles post symptom was pretty low, ( sub 50 miles ) but start of failure miles are likely in the hundreds or even thousands. The pic shows a dark spot in the center but that looks like liquid rather than a hole. The 4 and 8 o'clock positions are missing the top ring land.

This isn't really a piston ring failure, it is more of a upper ring land failure. Broken rings ( rare ) will just score the cylinder.
You may find the land between top and 2nd rings to be broken as well allowing the rings to hammer the upper land. What causes this? On high mile motors it is metal fatigue. It can also be caused be ether on a diesel. Gas motors , if flooded with fuel then run hard, can break lands too. What happens is that liquid fuel trapped between the rings expands and hydraulics the land off the piston.

In another thread, someone is claiming a few minutes of idling ( with full oil pressure mind you ) and driving 2 blocks on surface streets caused the damage in the attached picture after a " botched " oil change.

Damage to that piston occurred over a thousand + miles all the while the owner was oblivious to what was going on. Their claim is that oil pressure issues caused the piston to get hammered and crack. They are totally ignoring the near perfect rod bearing in the picture. But hey, when you can sue someone for your own incompetence, why accept hard facts?

Attached Thumbnails