My Ute motor went out with a bang yesterday :( I was just driving at 50km (no thrashing), heard a bit of a tap then a clunk clunk! I took the rocker cover off after been towed home, this is the damage: the exhaust valve on the no 4 cylinder is where it all happened. The valve spring is in two pieces, the top of the valve stem is smashed off and most of the push rods a bent. Has this kind of damage happened to any one else? Just wondering if the valve springs are meant to break that easy?

Thanks

The damage to the valve spring most likely happened a long time ago. It sounds like it has developed a fatigue crack & this has been steadily propigating untill it failed completely. It just happened that you were tootling along nice & steady when it went.

I'm guessing that it then allowed the valve to drop when it shouldn't & then the piston not only kissed it, but made passionate love to it, which is why it is now ####ed.

It's fairly rare that a part like this simply fails spontaniously. & they are not really meant to break at all, let alone "easily".