hell, i have gone 100+ in my 95 gle and she took it with style, but i usually keep her at 80 or less because i know its old and that $hit can happen. especially if your not maintaining the fluids and/or mechanical end of things. always check fluids and change at regular intervals especially at higher mileage. and, i've got 165,000 and running strong.

 

100MPH crusing is not loading the engine much. About 4k RPM and maybe 80-100HP of load.

Likely some type of oiling failure as previously mentioned.

Was there any knocking prior to the rod getting ejected?

 

How can that be determined? Not caling you out as there may be some way to ballpark that figure that Im unaware of but that seems really hard to just throw at there no?

 

Air resistance is a square function of speed. All the other parameters at play should be constant for the same car (surface area, drag coeff, fluid density, etc).

I just did some rough mental math based upon a few facts.

For example: The top speed of a stock 4th gen (5 sp) is rougly 140mph (I have proven this to be the case in my vehicle). This requires a little over 6k rpms, where the stock engine is only making lets say 170 hp roughly.

So we know that roughly 170 HP required for 140 MPH, we can do the math to solve for what would be required at 100 MPH.

HP at 100MPH = 170HP * (100/140)^2 = 86.7 HP.

This is approximate of course. But since my original intent was to state that it was odd that the engine would fly apart under "moderate load" conditions unless something like the oiling system crapped out.


Linkage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_(physics)

 

Why are you all still stuck on the load and the RPMs? It's the load, plus the RPMs, plus the fact that it was being sustained for extended periods of time, plus the mileage, plus the fact that it was using conventional oils that apparently don't have names worth mentioning.

If all of those factors did not coincide, the failure probably would not have happened.

 

All I am suggesting is that the load and RPM were not such that they should not be able to be sustained for extended periods of time reliably.

If the engine is in poor mechanical condition, then all bets are off. However, there is no reason a high milage VQ (IMHO) cannot manage sustained loading of ~4k rpms and ~ 1/2 rated output. Use of conventional oil of proper grade does not change my conclusion on this matter.

At the end of the day, we are all just hypothesising (guessing) the root cause of the failure...

 

There's a big fat freakin' difference among engine oils, even within the same grade. The cheap stuff leaves deposits, pumps like molasses when cold (causing cold start wear), does not tolerate heat, does little to prevent acid formation, and most importantly, cannot be counted on to provide proper lubrication in a bearing experiencing high temperatures and shear conditions -- e.g. at moderate-to-high RPM and load conditions.

That's absolutely fine for 95% of Maxima owners, especially if it's being changed every 3,000 miles. But if that's the kind of stuff the engine saw all its life, it's not even slightly surprising that it broke at 180k miles when asked to sustain half its rated output at 2/3 its maximum rotational speed.

 

Yikes! Never seen anything like that in my life.

I would've seriously been scared shi*less thinking the car was going to blow.

Glad you're safe, and hope that you can get something out of her. Maybe even get another Max?

 

oh man.. another one bites the dust...

 

I have 295,000 miles on my 98 GXE 5sp. She runs good, burns a quart every thousand miles.

 

OH boy, I thought it was just me. I go through a qt every 3k, which's about oil change time anyways. I can't imagine every 1k, but maybe I might be getting there. Good luck!
Jae

 

OMG... How in the heck did that happen? Where u ever rough on it? I mean these engines can take a beaten but wow... I can't imagine that happening with regular maintenance with proper driving...

 

I drove her soso. Castro GTX 5-30 changed every 5k. No leaks or smoke just 1 quart every grand.

 

Castrol GTX? Why didn't you say so?

That definitely sounds odd, then.

 

Cruising @ 100 MPH being the cause of failure is laughable, quite frankly. It didn't help obviously, but there were definitely some underlying issues there beforehand. A healthy VQ would chortle.

 

Agreed.

 

Agreed,

"Use of conventional oil of proper grade does not change my conclusion on this matter."

Double

And definitly agree with nismology, something wasn't right previously, however my take on it all is that if you had shut down and pulled over RIGHT before it happaned, ya' know using your .org spidey sense, and checked the oil level................. ibuwouldntseeanyonthestick

 

hope your car feels better! <3

 

RIP ! just bought a 2000 Mazda 626, 4 banger 2.0L... 5 speed... no more max jollies only 85k miles on it tho (oooo, shiny) for $5 grand

 

Poor bastard. Oh well, at least it is a 5-speed. Good luck.

 

yikes, i had a rental 626 automatic and not near the power of the max. but, as long as your happy thats all that matters.... put some pics up of your new whip, i'd like to see it.

 

Congrats! Despite what people here will tell you, that's a pretty stout and entertaning car you got yourself! Treat her nicely, and she'll last. They handle pretty nicely too, for a stock car.

 

FTMFW!!!!


sorry bout your engine nade lettin loose ... but, that means it's time for a 3.5 swap right? ... and a 6 spd to boot!

Cheers!

 

actually most every car can run with a rod shot through the block. i can show you 2 in the shop right now that run with a rod through it. an altima and a camry.

 

Ok maybe not a Max but I had a Supra that exploded 3 rods and put four holes in the block, still ran... loudly... Spray painted a d**k on the block and named it... c*ck block. Then sold the body... Man I don't miss that... lol

 

OUCH! That must have been pretty scary.

 

I hope that won't happen to my Maxima.

 

that must have been a frightening/aggravating/frustrating thing all at once to go thru...