Broken Down in Nicaragua

[a356kid]

Broken Down in Nicaragua. We just got back to the house with the borrowed Toyota 4 cyl. diesel 5 speed truck. Major engine failure today. On our way to take my wife Blanca's mom to the doctor this morning. We left from their house at 6 am headed to the doctors office about 85km from the house. We were about 10 km from the doctors office and BANG. The number 4 rod broke, holed and exited the side of the block. The rod was sitting on top of the frame rail. I had just shifted into 2nd gear and was lightly accelerating and at about 1800 rpm BANG..Sounded like a loud tire blow out.. strange on acceleration and not compression. The max rpm this truck received from me was max of 2700 rpm.. Blanca's mom and dad caught a bus to the doctors appointment and Blanca, Javier,(brother in law) and myself set out to drive the wounded Toyota back to their house in Las Calabazas with a big hole in the side of the block and the truck now running on 3 cylinders. We still had oil pressure and I made a quick call to my friend Steve Graham and he reminded me where we grew up,(remote Humboldt County) and said, "Drive her if she is running with oil pressure" We made it 65KM and used about 2.5 gallons of oil. We had to stop because we lost oil pressure and I thought it would not be safe if the truck locked up with oil sprayed everywhere including the rear tires... Blanca's brother Javier caught a bus, traveled to the house grabbed a rope and returned with his cousin and their Toyota to tow us back to Las Calabazas an additional 25 KM. If you have never pulled or been pulled by rope for 25 KM; You should give it a try especially with a 12 foot rope on the highway in a vehicle that has power brakes and is not running... needless to say the person who pulled me had never pulled someone before.. White Knuckles and a steering wheel permanently imprinted with the impressions of my fingers: We made it home and we are now waiting for Blanca's parents to get back too.
The last picture was taken after I lost oil pressure and after the 65 km drive on 3 cylinders. as you can see we were leaking and loosing a lot of oil. The gold truck is the one which pulled us home. I tried a call to AAA but the distance was to great.
God is good. We made it back to Las Calabazas as did Blanca's parents without further incidents.
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[majordad]

Respect ! I thought Toyota's were indestructable but you've enlightened me. Well done .

[a356kid]

Respect ! I thought Toyota's were indestructable but you've enlightened me. Well done .

I thought the same, indestructible. However, I have to say it did impress me being that after the rod failure, we were able to drive it just over 65 km on three cylinders and a couple gallons of oil.

[Frank Beck]

Oh my gosh!

Great story Andy. 65km with a holed block: A new record I believe!

I have to know: Did you have 2 1/2 gal of oil with you or did you stop at ever Pemex along the way?

God IS good!


Is that you with the horseshoe and red shirt?


I see the Toyota is sporting the traditional South American chrome wheels with whitewalls.

[platas]

Toyotas do brake, not that often, but like any other machine they are peone to failure ! this bien said, if you are in Nicaragua, o any part of Central America, they should have you up and runnung in no time.
Las Calabazas, is it close to Managua ? Rivas ?

Glad you wher able to make it safely and all turned out well.

[a356kid]

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Oh my gosh!

Great story Andy. 65km with a holed block: A new record I believe!

I have to know: Did you have 2 1/2 gal of oil with you or did you stop at ever Pemex along the way?

God IS good!


Is that you with the horseshoe and red shirt?


I see the Toyota is sporting the traditional South American chrome wheels with whitewalls.

Frank this is the way I wear horseshoes. The reinforcements have arrived. We are currently pulling the engine at 8:00 am Thursday July 23rd. It is raining cats and dogs but the rain doesn't seem to hamper the progression or the attitude of the workers pulling and changing the engine.
The question about the Pemex? Yes we stopped three times to buy oil. The last stop 3 km before The truck lost oil pressure we added 1.5 gallons. I was definitely not running with "Green" or global warming on my mind.
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[Frank Beck]

Fantastic!

Thanks for adding color.

Please keep us all updated on the great work you're doing in the community down there. You are to be commended.

[jos.hall]

Great thread so far. I too am interested to hear of what ya'll are doing down in Nica. If Top Gear actually existed anymore, you'd have to send pictures of the case blown. They had that red Hilux and couldn't destroy it.

[a356kid]

We have the motor out, stripped and on its way to the machine shop all in less than 4 hours.
Plenty of help here. From what I can see #4 cylinder hydro locked due to an injection pump problem and resulted in an instant rod failure. We stopped just in time as I can not see any other problems.
Plan is to change the block, change one rod and piston, new rings, new main and rod bearings, rebuild the injection pump and clean the injectors.
Bringing this subject to a MFI 911: Can this happen, hydro lock a cylinder and pitch a rod?
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[Frank Beck]

Stopped just in time?
65km??!! LOL!



Your last pic resembles what I imagined Motor Meister's shop looked like.


Guy on the left is sporting a very impressive boiler.