Jetdriver69

My young son hit a very large pothole at about 40 mph late last night. Luckily no one was injured, except the car.

Pretty much all the oil leaked out but my son assured me that he did not drive over 2 minutes after the pot hole hit. The oil pressure was normal and as soon as the oil warning light came on, he pulled over. We will have to see if all of this is true after a thorough inspection.

The driver's side tires (brand new) are toast and the TT wheels will need to be repaired, re-powder coated, etc. Luckily, the tires have road hazard warranty, so my $500 insurance deductible will be covered with free tires.

After towing it home and putting it up on a lift, the oil pan may have been cracked and the oil filter is definitely tore up. The skid plate below the radiator is pretty banged up as is the splash guard. I am not sure about the steering rack, front end suspension, alternator or AC compressor. It does not look like we have any external body damage, maybe a slightly dented frame rail.

My question is, if the oil pan is cracked, could there be oil pan stud, girdle or block damage from the impact? The thing is, the engine is a fresh rebuild with less than 3000 miles on it.

If the there is substantial engine damage what are my options besides the 4.5L? Euro 4.7? Hybrid 5.0? Uh, no Chevy 350 thank you. I know the 4.5L heads aren't the best in the world, but they are newly rebuild also. I would want a plug and play engine after a basic rebuild, no extensive electronic work.

Hopefully it is just cosmetic damage and the oil filter was punctured but I'm not holding my breath. The oil pan took a pretty good hit.

I have USAA Insurance and all my receipts, so I think I am covered money wise for repairs. But if I have to pull the engine, I may as well look for some more HP.

Thanks!!!!

SeanR

I would replace the parts that you know are damaged and have someone closely inspect the oil pan for any places where you can see that pressure was applied. If any of the "vanes" are pressed upwards you will be able to see in those areas for cracks. Unless you see some cracks in the pan or girdle I'd not even think about engine replacements yet.

For the suspension you will want to raise the wheels off the ground and move them up/down/left/right. If you have zero movement then you might have been lucky. I did the same thing a couple years back and had to replace my upper A-arm.

Jetdriver69

Yes we are going to replace the oil filter, fill it up and pressure test before anything crazy is contemplated. But if the worst happened, I don't won't want to replace a 4.5 with another if there is a viable option.

Is the heavy skid plate below the radiator replaceable or NLA? It is dented pretty good.

BC

Depending on insurance this sort of thing is covered. All the engine damage too.

Jetdriver69

USAA is great insurance, one of the perks of military retirement. They will even pro rate any damage or totaling the car based on receipts for recent work.

I don't think I would ever get all the money back I put into this car, but it should come close if it was ever totaled.

Basically, I need to know what is the best option if the block is cracked other than replacing it with another 4.5 or Chevy 350. Neither of those options are real attractive to me.

I really don't want source a bunch of Euro parts or cut the pistons. But can you use a 4.7L block with the heads and fuel injection off the rebuilt 1982 4.5L I have now?

19psi

Sorry to hear of the damage...that must have been one huge pothole. Any pics of the hole? City may be partially responsible too. Around here, it would more than pay for your deductible.

I would also be going over the insurance policy very closely to see if your young son is covered. For many specialty insurance companies, that's a violation. If at all questionable, I'd edit and reword the original post just in case.

Jetdriver69

No he is covered on the policy. No specialty insurance.

Apparently, a new vette hit the same pothole a few days ago doing over 60 and completely tore out the bottom of the car, $20K in damages.

The city told him to p!ss off, but I will contact the road department Monday for all the good it will do.

FredR

If the engine was seriously damaged I think you would have seen more damage than you report providing the engine was shutdown as soon as the alarms flashed up.

No idea here your car sits but if you live in an area with potholes always go with a ride height at the top end of the range of very stiff springs.


Hope it works out minimal for you

Regards

Fred

SMTCapeCod

take a close look at accessories/alternator mounting points to block, while your at it.

GregBBRD

Check the pan for cracks. Check the alternator and the A/C mounts. If everything looks good, put on a new filter, top off the oil, and start the thing up. Listen for obvious severe noises and watch for oil leaks.

joejoe

Just after we got the 944s2 cabriolet I spent 2 weeks changing wp/belts etc.. On the first drive my dad left, and I started to work on my '81. About 45 min later here is the car on a flatbed dripping oil everywhere.

About 10 miles down the road a trucker had dropped the 12" metal/hook tiedowns (about 8 or so) on the road. He had pulled off, with a semi coming the other way there waas no where to go but straight over one of them. The hook tore through the under splash shield (much like the 928s4) and took out the bottom of the oil pan from front to back.

The trucker paid for parts (he REALLY did not want this to go through his insurance) and cost to repair was about 2k Hardest part was finding a good 3.0 liter pan.

As Greg says check pan for cracks, on the 944 I replaced the bearings as it was catastrophic oil loss.

Jetdriver69

We are looking at the damage with an insurance adjuster today. But in good light the pan looks ok. I just happen to have a spare pan laying around in case there is a problem.

I think I may have gotten lucky and just took out the oil filter. There are a lot of dings and scratched on the undercarriage, but I don't think there is any suspension damage.

Two wheels will have to be repaired and both drivers side tires will have to be replaced. I may get out out of this with zero out of pocket costs as the tires have road hazard.

Damn potholes!!!!!