What causes a motor to throw a rod?
A thrown rod is usually the result of metal fatigue, insufficient lubrication or over-revving of an engine. When gasoline combusts in a cylinder, it drives the piston head downward, pushing the connecting rod and turning the crankshaft. Throwing a rod is usually a catastrophic engine failure.
Is it possible for a connecting rod to fail?
Connecting rods are some of the hardest working parts inside an engine. Fortunately, rod failures from severe overloading don’t happen that often. However, they can occur in racing or extreme street performance applications. So here’s what you need to know. Connecting rods are some of the hardest working parts inside an engine.
What happens when a connecting rod breaks in an engine?
For some engines this results in catastrophic engine failure–the connecting rod goes through the engine block or the crankshaft is bent–but for some engines it just causes a dramatic loss of power. If the engine is stopped immediately after the pin breaks it might be possible to save the engine.
What causes a connecting rod to get fatigued?
Running the engine hot can also speed up the process. Sometimes a fairly new engine can have fatigued connecting rods if it is a rebuilt engine and the mechanic used cheap parts or the wrong parts for the engine. The pin that connects the connecting rod to the piston (called the piston pin, wrist pin or gudgeon pin) gets a lot of wear.
What causes a connecting rod to lose lubrication?
Loss of lubrication may also be from using a thin oil that lacks the shear strength to stay between the rod bearings and crank journal. Using an oil that has too low a viscosity for loose bearing clearances can do the same thing.
What causes a connecting rod to wear out?
Sometimes a fairly new engine can have fatigued connecting rods if it is a rebuilt engine and the mechanic used cheap parts or the wrong parts for the engine. The pin that connects the connecting rod to the piston (called the piston pin, wrist pin or gudgeon pin) gets a lot of wear.
For some engines this results in catastrophic engine failure–the connecting rod goes through the engine block or the crankshaft is bent–but for some engines it just causes a dramatic loss of power. If the engine is stopped immediately after the pin breaks it might be possible to save the engine.
What causes a connecting rod to break on a tachometer?
If the tachometer hits the red–even briefly–the connection rods are in danger of breaking. This is because the forces acting on a connecting rod increase dramatically at high revolutions.
What causes a car’s connecting rod to snap?
If only a little water gets into the cylinder the car makes a knocking or tapping sound and it can be repaired (have the water taken out and the gaskets replaced), but if enough water gets in the cylinder that it takes up all the space available at spark time, the connecting rod will bend or snap.