Pieces of steel in cylinder??
Hey everyone, this is my first post regarding technical advice. I tried using the search feature, but I think this situation might be too unique.
I'm new here, and new to Mopar vehicles. To be honest, I'm pretty new to old cars in general. That being said, I have a '71 Plymouth Scamp with a 318LA, 904 3 speed. Was running fine, I installed some headers with a dual X-pipe exhaust recently. Still ran fine, but started to overheat on shorter and shorter trips. After having it towed, I discovered a clogged overflow tube to the coolant reservoir. I repaired a few leaky areas, but upon attempting to start it up for a test run, it wouldn't start.
I checked a few different things and ended up at the spark plugs. The electrodes were smashed and the tips were pinged. I pulled the heads and found the same with the pistons. Valves seem ok. What I did find, other than the damage, were some small, pellet sized pieces of steel in each cylinder (about 3/16" square). They're somewhat uniform in size and shape. They seem to be hardened steel, as they do not file easily. What I can't seem to figure out, is where they came from and how they got into my cylinders. Only thing I can think of is foul play. What do you guys think?
Hey everyone, this is my first post regarding technical advice. I tried using the search feature, but I think this situation might be too unique.
I'm new here, and new to Mopar vehicles. To be honest, I'm pretty new to old cars in general. That being said, I have a '71 Plymouth Scamp with a 318LA, 904 3 speed. Was running fine, I installed some headers with a dual X-pipe exhaust recently. Still ran fine, but started to overheat on shorter and shorter trips. After having it towed, I discovered a clogged overflow tube to the coolant reservoir. I repaired a few leaky areas, but upon attempting to start it up for a test run, it wouldn't start.
I checked a few different things and ended up at the spark plugs. The electrodes were smashed and the tips were pinged. I pulled the heads and found the same with the pistons. Valves seem ok. What I did find, other than the damage, were some small, pellet sized pieces of steel in each cylinder (about 3/16" square). They're somewhat uniform in size and shape. They seem to be hardened steel, as they do not file easily. What I can't seem to figure out, is where they came from and how they got into my cylinders. Only thing I can think of is foul play. What do you guys think?
