Engine Problem
 

HELP - my lovely 5.0 litre engine has decided to go up in smoke. Warning came on, loads of smoke and a few cylinders died. I managed to limp home (2 miles) and the engine ground to a halt. Can anyone suggest what could be wrong that isn't going to involve a second mortgage?

Living in hope

Mike

You've come to the right place.
Its like church, you eventually find it when the lord calls your engine to his bosom.

Lots of smoke means water. Means water pump or pipe. Limp home sounds promising. Ground to a halt sounds ominous.
Were you just saying that as a manner of speech?
Was the smoke like steam did it have a burning oil odor?

What is the odometer reading of your vehicle, what model year, and NA or SC?
Where did the smoke come from: exhaust pipe, engine compartment, or ??
What color is the smoke?
What warning did you receive?

If engine compartment, the most likely cause would be a burst coolant pipe.
If exhaust pipe, a failed engine head gasket is allowing coolant into a combustion chamber if white smoke; or excessive engine oil being burnt would result in bluish smoke.

If the engine "ground to a halt" then it may have been damaged to the point where you will need to look into buying a used or new engine. A new engine will likely result in a repair cost into low five-digits.

Thanks guys. Smoke from the exhaust. No steam I think. The engine stopped as I pulled up at home. It restarted but I had to use a few revs to keep it going and with a lot of trouble managed to park it in my drive. Definitely oil odour. Mileage 73,000. It's not seized if that's what you mean

Oh. 2010 Uk model.

Does your engine have an oil dipstick? If so, pull the dipstick, check the engine oil level and see whether there are any contaminants on the oil.

If there is no dipstick, check the oil level via the sensor. Remove the engine oil cap and look for anything unusual.

If the engine oil level is good and all other engine compartment fluids are good, then you might want to drive to your mechanic for inspection. Otherwise you may decide to have the car towed. Good luck.

What warning came on?
Was it making any unusual noises?
Are there any OBD codes present?

A severely cooked engine will smell like oil. My thoughts are to check the oil for coolant in it and check the coolant for oil in it.

To the OP, honestly you should pop the hood and try to sort it out before just driving it another 2 miles. Worst case you cooked the engine and warped the heads etc and it'll need replaced Middle case you cooked the engine and drastically shortened it's expected lifespan. Best case, you add coolant and it runs fine forever...

Edit to add that I would not drive it again without going over the coolant and oil situation.

Which warning?

I guess we're all waiting for this information.

Compression test would hurt either

The yellow engine symbol lit up and the reduced performance message came up. I have decided to get it towed to the dealers. I agree I don't want to risk any more damage.

Thanks for all the comments. I'll let you know what happens.

Well, it's fixed. It turns out that the injectors on 2 4 6 and 8 had destroyed themselves resulting in a load of petrol in the sump. £1700 later all back working perfectly.

What a great car- it knew when to save itself and still got you home.
Not too shabby that bill- in the states they can get that for scheduled service.

Why would the injectors on one bank "destroy themselves"?

Yikes, this makes me wonder if I should replace my injectors preventively as I have about 70k miles on mine!

I call shenanigans. Why would four injectors all on the same side of the engine all go bad at the exact same moment.

Problems with injectors on these engines are almost unheard of.

I agree , something is not right here. I don't suppose he got the old injectors back.

This does not make any sense to me either. I am very surprised that the injectors would fail OPEN.

I'm getting the car back tomorrow. I'll ask how they can justify the change of all four