quick help - broken rocker arm - still driveable?

[Robin-535im]

Pulling in to work today the engine pops a bit and feels like it's got approximately 5/6 of the usual power...

Pull the VC and see a broken rocker arm!

Big Q: If I pull the injector wire and the plug wire at the cap, is it safe to drive home ~ 15 miles?

No gas & no spark = no heat... also no power but as long as I can get it home without causing any more damage I'll be happy. Anyone try to drive on 5 cyls before?

Many thanks!!

[ryan roopnarine]

i had to pull injectors 1 and 6 and drive about 250 miles once on my m50 (dme), but i didn't have broken valvetrain components. CEL light comes on, of course, power goes down, but nothing you didn't experience on your drive to work today.

[Robin-535im]

i had to pull injectors 1 and 6 and drive about 250 miles once on my m50 (dme), but i didn't have broken valvetrain components. CEL light comes on, of course, power goes down, but nothing you didn't experience on your drive to work today.

So you just let your spark plugs spark away in the dark with no fresh fuel... Can't decide if that's better than letting the coil not discharge - might just be best to leave the plug sparking since then the electrical system is still in steady state, and there shouldn't be any excess heat generated in the empty cylinder. Sounds like you were fine with it though... Thanks for the info!

[ryan roopnarine]

nah, the only reason that i didn't kill the spark is because the m50 is coil on pack, and i thought i might fry the dme even more if i left the connector to two of the coils disconnected. it worked out ok though, compression was checked (because it ate so much oil from the faults on 1 and 6-- fuel injectors constantly firing and causing smoke out the exhaust that caused me to disconnect them) and everything was fine.

[winfred]

it should be ok for a short time, just pull the injector wire and don't worry about the spark

[gale]

You over-rev'd it on purpose, didn't cha, just so you could get a kitchen pass to sanction funding for that Euro M5 motor you've been lusting after ;)

Just kidding. Have you gotten it home yet? Let me know if you need some help.

Cheers & Happy New Year's

Don

[Robin-535im]

You over-rev'd it on purpose, didn't cha, just so you could get a kitchen pass to sanction funding for that Euro M5 motor you've been lusting after ;)

Just kidding. Have you gotten it home yet? Let me know if you need some help.

Cheers & Happy New Year's

Don
Hah - you're on to me! Maybe like this? (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130064333079)


I went out and pulled out the piece of rocker arm, unplugged the injector and it seems to run okay. I'm about to hit the road and try to make it home now.

I doubt I can get a whole engine out of this, but I'll have to pull the head at least... and it's a good opportunity to drop in a 284 cam with fancy valves/springs/fresh port to match my m5 headers... I figure it can cost a few hundred to get it back on the road, why not spend more and get it on the road right!

[Jon K]

So you just let your spark plugs spark away in the dark with no fresh fuel... Can't decide if that's better than letting the coil not discharge - might just be best to leave the plug sparking since then the electrical system is still in steady state, and there shouldn't be any excess heat generated in the empty cylinder. Sounds like you were fine with it though... Thanks for the info!

Sparking without fuel is what your engine does when you engine brake - nothing wrong with it. However, the the whole broken rocker thing would bother me :)

[gale]

... it's a good opportunity to drop in a 284 cam with fancy valves/springs/fresh port to match my m5 headers... I figure it can cost a few hundred to get it back on the road ...

No-no-no, you're going about it all wrong. That's a long-term fix, obviating the need for a new motor -- now you'll really have to lobby hard to get that 3.6 or 3.8 M5 motor. You're shooting yourself in the foot if you get the cam & porting work done now. :p