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Chrysler 440 engine explosion

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chipahoy72

New member
A friend has a 63 Egg Harbor with twin 440 's, the engines are original and have never been rebuilt. this guy knows very little about engines and getting details of the incident is very challenging. Anyway, the other day he tried to crank the starboard engine, a very loud boom went off in the engine compartment, when he pulled the hatch cover he found the RH valve cover was buckled away from engine and totally destroyed, the cover was blown over the bolts which were still intact. The LH cover wasn't as bad, but the gasket was blown out, I guess this was due to a backfire that wasn't directed out the exaust, can anyone explain what might have happened and why? I would really appreciate anyone's input on this.

Thank you,
Chip
 
Couldn't see a backfire thought either the exhaust or intake have that effect on a valve cover. With 5 bolts around each cylinder I doubt its a cracked head but I guess anything is possible. Maybe a hole blown through a piston? A cylinder wall that rusted through? Need to open it up to know.
 
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The boat was run hard a few days prior to this incident, I think that is when the real damage was done, the owener wasn't on board. There is no fuel in the oil and very little oil, I'm thinking a hole blown in a piston, before returning to port and not mentioned and the oil forced out the dipstick tube.

Chip
 
buick430 said:
fuel diluted oil?
Click to expand...
Yep.... there's a good chance that this was due to a mechanical fuel pump that's been suffering from a ruptured diaphram.
Or a carburetor that has been leaking repeatedly (while the engine is not running).

Either way, the crankcase contained volatile fumes, and decided to ignite while cranking.

There's little else that would explain this.



.
 
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