Sorry to see the condition.
I have never saw this on any of these engine before.
Only a guess but it seems the cylinder was running very lean with the absence of a lot of carbon buildup.
I don't see any evidence of the crown hitting the head or other obstruction unless the obstruction was small chips of some kind..That would show up on the head surface as matching marks and should have been heard by sound even at cranking until the piston broke through.. There should be debre in the pan as a result.
The ragged appearance suggest the piston might have been a manufacture defect with a thin spot in the crown..

Now, in hind sight, you could have detected this kind of failure just by taking the oil fill cap off and heard or felt the pressure blow through the top of the piston into the crank case as the engine ran or cranked with the starter..
This could cause oil bleed out gaskets and seals, and any other function that would be affected by excess pressure in a sealed system like it is..
Good luck..

 

Just happened really. Oil is fine, no leaks or anything. It has sat all week since. And this started last week when I had an emergency and drove it like a bat out of hell responding to it.

So... here is what might have contributed.... or caused it, who knows?!
The same cylinder fuel injector was missing the top o ring between it and the rail! I can't find it. So I wonder if it just never was noticed when I put my intake back together. And it's been driving for a year just fine. Well, I wonder if that lack of o ring possibly caused a gap in air or fuel or something, and with my crazy driving made a problem. That would be a change in the fuel/air mixture and could make the explosion in the cylinder be odd out of it's norm.

 

If that port was allowing air to be pulled in, the fuel injected would be about the same.
The result should be a very Lean air to fuel ratio. causing the cylinder to run at elevated temperature. Over drive would make it worse yet when the EGR opened.
This would overheat the spark plug tip, exhaust valve and even begin to melt the piston crown in the thinner location.
Along with this, the power would be down in that cylinder resulting in a code P 30X.
In a running engine, a test of the exhaust manifold port temperature for that cylinder compared to others would also show elevated heat temperatures indicating the problem.
Also a code P17X for a lean condition could set depending on the conditions and when the Ox Sensor detected it as a 'lack' of left over gas in the exhaust stream 10 milliseconds + after the cylinder exhausted which would be the length of time it took to travel the distance to/past the Ox sensor.
Not to leave this out, under normal conditions a small excess of fuel is left over to keep the cylinder cool enough and from heat damage.
You see, in a computer controlled system, how easy it is to put the pieces of all the action together for what can happen.
I ground all this out to show it's often not easy to diagnos a problem just from a code or trying to solve an issue by just replacing parts hoping to get lucky without considering the whole or bigger picture.
..
A for instance example; we ran an open wheel winged sprint car on 4 barrel carburation and straight Alcohol. The motor was run over 7500 rpm at 500+hp..
Under conditions like this, it only takes a few seconds to burn a hole through a Race piston if the carb goes Lean such as off the turns under wide open throttle. Alky needs to be run about 2-1/2 times richer than gasoline, so you can see how fast it will burn a motor if it goes Lean.
Ok beat this enough.
Good luck.

.

 

I mean, it makes sense that the leak of no o ring did this. I get it. just sucks.... and double-check everything! live and learn..... not sure if I am going to try and source a motor or what @ this point.....



stick a fork in this engine, it's done

 

Or put a new piston in it. Depending on the overall condition of the engine.

I have a 2005 Dodge Magnum with the Hemi V8. These engines sometimes drop a valve seat and destroy the piston. Many owners have replaced one piston and rebuilt the heads and kept on going even with high mileage. The Hemis can last a long time. So can the Triton 2V engines.

 

I am not in a position to replace 1 piston.

Truck is dead to me @ this point. For Sale if anyone wants it.

Got my quote today, $4700 for a used motor, but it will carry a 1 million mile warranty

 

Yeah, probably time to move on. I think that is what i would do in the same situation. But the used truck and new truck prices are high.

 

Used trucks are a some a dozen now. I don't have $4700 to sink into this one. I bought this truck for $4200, and have less than 5k miles on it since. So I am out. Nor that $ to buy anything else. So unless there is an easy way to drop the piston out from the bottom, with the engine still in, this truck is going to the junk heap.

 

Ah come on Jim, you know better than to ask if a piston can be removed/replaced from the bottom with or without the Crank in place.
And how you would get the ring pack compressed to get back into the cylinder if you could? Think!
Another engine even if used is a lot cheaper than another truck most of the time.
You just either had bad luck or brought the problem on yourself.
Life has to go on or it leaves you behind.
Roll with it.
Good luck.

 

Quote

 

Looks like a rebuilt engine from Powertrain Products costs $2747. I think Ford Tech Makuloco uses their engines.

 

That is actually who my guy mentioned when we were talking.

His quote of $4700 isn't out of line.... it's just a lot of $

Hell, I only paid $4200 when I bought it, BUT junking it gets me $100 and then I don't have a truck.

 

If it's not your daily driver, investigate how much it would cost you to fix your engine. If you still have that borescop\er, see if you can see if there's any head damage in that cylinder, you may just need to pull the head, drop the oil pan, and replace that piston. Not costly money-wise, just a lot of work.

 

That is too much work for me. Head I know won't come off without lowering the motor, or raising the body.

Not just going to replace the piston.

don't have the time,cor energy, or want to f with it that much.

It isn't my dd. But I am gett8ng laid off from my job next month, so I have too much to deal with already

 

So.......... what all do I need to do to just replace 1 piston? Trying not to go to a shop to do anything. But..... not sure what to do at this point.

Pull the oil pan, valve cover, head, intake and exhaust.

Can the head come off with the engine still in? I have heard it may not as it will hit the body

I did see oe cross hatching still in the bores.