I have the above Panda, new tyres, new battery, new exhaust, in Yellow, not a scratch on the body, the car has a busted piston, anyone in the business of rebuilding one, or has an engine spare ready to drop in, or fix it up, pick up near Blackpool and tow it away!

How did it break a piston on a 1.1 FIRE engine?

The only way I can see that happening is over-revving e.g.ramming it into 3rd gear at high speed.

Pre-ignition can do that, can't it?

That's what did for a piston in my old Golf TSI (the super / turbo charged one).

Stupid company only allowing me 95 octane fuel in a car designed for 98!

Schumi2001 said:

Pre-ignition can do that, can't it?

That's what did for a piston in my old Golf TSI (the super / turbo charged one).

Stupid company only allowing me 95 octane fuel in a car designed for 98!

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Pre-ignition will usually burn a hole in the piston, or in extreme cases punch a hole in it, so yes, could be the cause. Would need to know the cause and type of failure to know whether rest of car might be worthwhile. If thrashed to death, resst of car will also have suffered.

Can't say I want or need a project, but still curious as to how anyone can break a 1.1 in this way. Selecting a low gear at high speed I'd expect to destroy the clutch before a piston.

Be nice if the OP would give us some more detail. Please.

The other failure I've seen - on a motorbike, rather than car - was a gudgeon pin coming loose and launching the piston off the rod.

It hit the head, broke into several pieces and ended up in the sump.

portland_bill said:

but still curious as to how anyone can break a 1.1 in this way.

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One way could be to run the engine for an extended period without any coolant.

Sorry for the late reply, been very busy, the piston has a crack in it, somehow a small nut was left, or had fallen into the cylinder, the head is not damaged, but the piston is, the engine had only been turned over on the starter, not run, i really cannot be bothered crawling underneath it to fix it, i can get £100 for scrap so that is what i will do, it seems a shame because the rest of the car is perfect, that's life!

Stavros2 said:

Sorry for the late reply, been very busy, the piston has a crack in it, somehow a small nut was left, or had fallen into the cylinder, the head is not damaged, but the piston is, the engine had only been turned over on the starter, not run, i really cannot be bothered crawling underneath it to fix it, i can get £100 for scrap so that is what i will do, it seems a shame because the rest of the car is perfect, that's life!

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Friend did that with a rover V8..

Id rather change the FIRE engine

Schumi2001 said:

The other failure I've seen - on a motorbike, rather than car - was a gudgeon pin coming loose and launching the piston off the rod.

It hit the head, broke into several pieces and ended up in the sump.

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2-stroke motorcycles usually have wire circlips to hold the gudgeon pins. It is recommended that the gap in the circlip always be put at the top or bottom. If it is placed at the side, theory says the inertia when the piston stops and changes direction at top and bottom of its stroke can close the circlip up, allowing it to fall out. Seems improbable, but I have seen the results of this a few times, thankfully not on one of mine, or one I'd worked on. My father, always argumentative, decided that horizontal was better, and had to replace barrel and piston a second time. A 2-stroke of course has ports to allow the gudgeon pin to escape, whereas a 4-stroke just suffers bore damage.

When any piston damage occurs, it is important to clean the inlet manifold thoroughly, as debris gets ejected. If not cleaned, the debris gets sucked into the new or repaired engine.

In the eighties, the Rover 2300/2600 straight six could drop a cylinder liner if overreved. They were dry liners, but could slip if used hard. Liner would slip down a little, top ring would pop out over the top dragging liner down further, which would then get struck by the crank web. Liner stops, top of piston pops off, piston comes back up and smacks it. Liner breaks. Lots of debris, some lies in the inlet manifold awaiting fitment ot the new engine. Rat-a-tat-tat. Not warranty! Genuine remanfactured engines had the liners pegged in place, so better than original.

This was a 4 stroke.

A Kawasaki Z400J - 4 cylinder, 400cc. Tiny little pistons!

I've had a valve break of it's stem on a outboardmotor. It then completely destroyed the piston. I've found debris all over the sump and through the carb into the intake.

gr J

Stavros2 said:

Sorry for the late reply, been very busy, the piston has a crack in it, somehow a small nut was left, or had fallen into the cylinder, the head is not damaged, but the piston is, the engine had only been turned over on the starter, not run, i really cannot be bothered crawling underneath it to fix it, i can get £100 for scrap so that is what i will do, it seems a shame because the rest of the car is perfect, that's life!

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If you were a lot further south I might have been interested. My nephew has just passed his test and is looking for a project

Unfortunately it's a long, long way from Blackpool to Cornwall with a non-runner!

A3jeroen said:

I've had a valve break of it's stem on a outboardmotor. It then completely destroyed the piston. I've found debris all over the sump and through the carb into the intake.

gr J

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I had a professionally gas flowed cylinder head for a Triumph 500 twin. I got it for next to nothing because a valve head had fallen off. The cylinder head was peppered with dink marks but still perfectly ok for road use. It made a big difference to my bike.


I friend had a small screw go through a Honda 175 engine. He never found it and there was no harm done.

The car has gone! gone to a good home to someone who is going to fix it up.
have a good Christmas everyone!