Hole in engine block , what next?

I conduct courses in failure analysis and in one a few years back, I guy with a PhD in metallurgy blew the engine in his Mercedes volunteered to use his experience as a case example.

To get at the Root Cause, you need all possible information leading up to the event. I asked him if he checked the coolant level before his trip (no answer), asked if he checked the oil level (no answer), last oil change, and so forth.

The guy was with his fellow workers and could not bear the possible humiliation for having neglected his car.

Several years before, we had a Heat Transfer Engineer seize the engine in his Mercedes from lack of coolant!!!

I guess it shows that lack of car care is not restricted to people who lack the knowledge of how they work.

I had one-lunger on a snowblower seize on me once. And it had plenty of oil. I stopped it hot to clear the impeller of slush, went to start it again, and it froze solid. I took the starter cord assembly off one end of the crank, the belt off the other end, removed the plug, and it was still stuck solid.

I managed to free it after it cooled off with some penetrating oil, a socket on the crank, and one BMF breaker bar. It ran fine for years after that. I lucked out.