96 Buick Regal Custom - Engine 'Exploded?'
 

Heres all of it.

Car runs out of gas. Walk to gas station with can. Gas! Back to station for more gas. Gas, again! Try to start it. Nope. Ticking noise and draining battery. Engine doesn't 'turn over'. Tow truck dude's jump box doesn't help anything. Starter? We'll see. Battery confirmed dead at Autozone (ACDelco, probably original sold with car). So lets try jumping it with with this big truck =D (ram 3500 diesel, plenty of power). Still nothing. Oh wait, sparks? Jumper cables spark, arc, whatever. (Intake pipe taken off to remove windshield reservoir and battery) Shortly (very shortly) after sparks start, engine shroud flys across the yard, intake manifold pwned badly (exploded) and small fire on top of engine. Fire extinguisher, etc. Afterwards, intake manfiold blown apart, shroud tossed, plug wires crispy, etc.

WHAT!? Father, hick neighbors have never seen an engine do that just trying to start.

Car has ~180,000 miles. Recent brake job and gas line replaced (few months ago) with no other problems to report. Accesory belt replaced a few days earlier, plugs checked (plenty of wear but no fouling), nothing leaks on the car. Car was running a little warm when I took it out but I thought that was just because my roommate had borrowed it all day.

There doesn't seem to be any major engine damage (Or I probably would be in the hospital, was standing in lucky spot between flying parts, huddled over engine).

Id assume it backfired, but why wouldn't the engine turn over? Like I said, car ran fine up until this. (Suspicious of timing chain though, grandfather never put any major work in to the car).

Is it worth the money to put her back together? Is it possible to put it back together? Anyone have something similar happen? I loved the car, but I have little money and need a new car soon.

Your intake manifold was flooded with gasoline, and when it finally sparked, it ignited the whole mess.

Your fuel pressure regulator or an injector is leaking, causing it to flood, or your injectors flooded it naturally during all your start attempts.

You weren't artificially 'priming' the system, were you?

We have seen this type of thing happen rarely, and it's typically due to a recalled FPR, which I don't think affected your year. It was 97 or 98 IIRC.

Wait, do you have the 3100 or the 3.8? Because my grandpa has a 1996 Regal Custom and it has the 3100 (aluminum upper intake).

Never touched the gas pedal, if that is what you mean.

With your explanation, the explosion makes sense, but any ideas as to why the engine wasn't turning over?

I doubt the starter was going (it always started right up). The battery shouldn't have mattered with all of the jumping. The coolant level was always consistent so I don't believe the EGR valve was leaking. Haven't checked the timing chain yet, but why would it break while parked?

And if I do get the engine to crank, what am I looking at to replace to get it running again?

fuelforthesoul:

Car has a 3800 Series 2

Doesn't matter if you touched the gas or not. Every time you try to start, the PCM will 'rattle' the injectors. That fuel could have pooled up over time. This might have been prevented by holding the gas pedal to the floor to disable the injectors (yes, it does that on GM vehicles).

I'm assuming that the engine advanced just far enough to hit the next spark/timing notch, and lit it all off.

Without pics of the damage, I have no idea of the condition of your injectors, fuel rail, throttle body, MAF sensor, etc.

Sounds like a prime opportunity to do the APN UIM and aluminum LIM gaskets.

Your no-start issue is a seperate problem. Can't really test that out with the condition of your motor. Do the top end repairs first. If it doesn't start easily, whack that starter with a hammer while someone turns the key.

(and replace your battery)

Yes 96 Regals can explode.
The center of my explosion was at # 2 injector or # 2 intake runner.

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...light=exploded

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/800/012aah8.jpg

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/5513/006axc0.jpg

http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/5...car007acj7.jpg

Please post some pictures.

Yes although the 96 was not included in the recalls they too have the issues... The reality of this is thats it possible for this to happen to any 3800 II L36 with a leaky fuel pressure regulator

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Mine is not leaking but I guess it is worth changing it now to avoid ka-boom :shock:

pictures of blown intake (explosion didn't take it all off, but cracked it up), various melted vaccum lines, and some sort of device (not the regulator, i believe) on the fuel rail (seems intact) that is rather burnt

white dust is fire extuingisher muck (will that cause any problems?)

Attachment 38513

Attachment 38514

Attachment 38515

the white is from an extinguisher right?

Also...is that the stock FPR? Doesn't look like the one that was on my 98. Mine wasn't gold.

i have a skimming problem. i need to read more. thanks wj

quick update
 

engine cranks (pulling on the accessory belt), electrical system ok (wiring)

if it turns out just my starter was bad and i flooded the engine and blew off the intake, i think i'll punch myself in the face

Re: quick update
 

but if the eng cranks, then the starter is good.

is that correct, the eng cranks, it just doesnt fire, or didnt, should i say.

Good pictures Kevin.

Wow the supply side fuel line was melted, I am surprised they were able to put out the fire.

Re: quick update
 

errr... didn't use the starter, i think i used the wrong word

the engine 'turns over' meaning all the mechanical bits are working, i turned it over manually by pulling on the accessory belt

i emptied an entire extinguisher on it, im surprised none of the wiring harness burnt up, even the plug wires were ok


EDIT: so can anyone guess as to how salvageable this is? will a new UIM, new lines make the motor run again? is the extinguisher dust going to mess with anything (if so, how do i remove it)?

bump
 

bump: how do i remove dust/will it be a problem?

what do i need to replace (should replace) to get it running again?

please.

Replace all the melted ,burnt, or broken parts. clean up dust with compressed air or pressure washer AFTER you get your engine sealed back up.

I'd vacuum up the extinguisher dust as best I could from the intake area and from the alternator. I'd also open up the wiring looms in the immediate area and look for melted wire insulation.

You'll need this stuff at least:

UIM (the obvious) and associated gaskets
PCV
FPR
Vacuum lines
The round thing pointing near the camara in the first pic will at least need a new oring if the whole fitting itself isn't cracked
Fuel line with quick-connect to replace the melted one that went to the rear port on the rail

96
 

96 had a campaign recall on Bonnevilles to return them to the dealership to flash the PCM to avoid this exploding intake problem.

no such things for buicks? if so, would a buick dealer still honor that?

Kevin you will never see any help out of GM on the explosion unless some one was injured in the explosion and went to the hospital.
When my Regal exploded I went round and round with GM and talked to more than one lawyer.
All GM will tell you is your car is out of warranty go away.

Are you going to scrap the car or repair it your self?

well, the cost is the parts is the only real thing im worrying about right now, my dad could probably help me out with the labor. i looked around it'll be ~150-250 dollars to fix in parts as long as there aren't damages i don't know about

what luck have you had repairing yours?

don't want to send it to a scrap yard and don't want to buy a "new" used car with possibly worse problems. however, i can't afford a money pit

ebay
 

you can get new or used intakes on ebay for 50 or less. If you decide to fix it, when its up and running take it to the dealer to get the PCM flashed. It should be free.

Keven the first thing you want to do is remove the fuel pump and ignition relays from the right side fuse box.
Then open the radiator drain and let the coolant drain out.
Then you will attack it with a shop vacuum and suck up all the white stuff and all the bits of plastic that went down the intake runners. You will have bits of plastic siting on top of the pistons too.

Just my 2 cents worth but I would fix the no starter problem before doing any thing else.
With the fuel and ignition relays removed and the intake ports cleaned out it will be safe to fix the no start problem and spin the motor over.

ron:

hmmm, does this mean i'll be taking the heads off? I saw some bits almost down in there but i managed to pick them out. will the bits just blow out? were you able to repair your deal?

bits
 

You should only have bits lodged in the ports with the valves open. the runners you could vacum out.

No you do not need to remove the heads.

I made the mistake of rotating the motor by the accessory belt and dropped lots of plastic into the cylinders.
It just so happened that 5 intake valves were open when I started vacuuming out the intake ports. One valve was held open by a long sliver of plastic intake. I used two vacuum cleaners to clean out the cylinders the best I could without having a bore scope. Rotate the motor so that the intake valve is open stick one vacuum hose in the intake port and with the other vacuum cleaner blowing air in the spark plug hole. I did this several times and reversed the vacuum and pressure direction of the hoses. You can do the same thing with just one shop vac but I had better airflow using two.

My Regal is on the bottom of my list of things to finish.

were you able to get enough out to continue repairs?

Without a bore scope to look in the spark plug holes I can only hope I vacuumed out all the plastic.
After doing all the work with the vacuum cleaners I recovered about 20 pieces of black of plastic the size of BB’s or smaller.

When I have time I plan to remove the spark plugs and spin the motor over hoping any left over chunks will blow out the spark plug holes.
If there is any thing left on top of the pistons after that I hope it ends up some where in the exhaust system.

are you a busy man or is just a huge pain in the ass, junk the car kind of deal? did you try an air compressor?