Disassembling Bentley’s 6.75-Liter V8 Reveals Hydrolock Harm

Classic Bentleys aren’t identified for his or her reliability, but it surely’s not often the engine itself you hear about going incorrect. It is different outdated automobile stuff, just like the hydraulics techniques, the electronics, or the notorious Bosch Steady Injection System (CIS) that malfunctions. This 6.75-liter L-Collection V8 is an exception, and an awesome demonstrator of how hydrolocking an engine results in catastrophic failure.

In accordance with the I Do Automobiles YouTube channel, this 6¾-liter V8 doubtless got here out of a 1987 Bentley Mulsanne S. The host acquired the motor from a salvage yard, the place it beforehand sat for a number of years. Although a lot of the engine appears clear, two holes within the oil pan level to critical harm hiding contained in the block. 

A lot of the auxiliary elements hooked up to the V8 come off with out a lot bother, together with that nasty CIS system talked about earlier. The I Do Automobiles host runs into bother after they attain the motive force’s aspect head, although, because it’s fused to the block because of ultra-rusty head bolts. After what seems like an eternity of working with wooden and pry bars, they lastly get the top off to disclose a particularly nasty-looking (however largely intact) gasket.

Issues get far worse as soon as the I Do Automobiles host strikes to the passenger-side head. They uncover it is simpler to take away as a result of sooner or later, this aspect of the engine obtained a brand new head gasket. That did not do a lot good, nevertheless, as a result of whoever carried out the work did a horrible job of resurfacing the block. Including insult to harm, the substitute gasket has already begun to disintegrate.

Weirdly, it is an space on the motive force’s aspect that appears to have suffered probably the most harm. One of many pistons is ready to transfer freely throughout the cylinder, indicating it is not hooked up to the crankshaft. Afterward within the teardown the host discovers the connecting rod has been ripped aside in spectacular vogue, which is probably going what induced the holes within the oil pan. They hypothesize this cylinder aspirated liquid (what form, they are not certain) sooner or later. As a reminder, you possibly can’t actually compress liquid. So one thing needed to give. On this case, it was the connecting rod.

Take this engine’s destiny as a lesson to take a bit extra warning while you drive via that deep puddle. It may prevent from an enormous headache.