Engine 'explosions'... what causes them?
 

Scenario

1991 Totoya Camry with 2.0l 4 cyl engine.
Oil changes July 07. Added oil two weeks ago as it seemed low.

Driving on interstate @ 70 (posted speed limit)

Engine bucks, car slows.

Engine explodes. Smoke, flame, bad noise.

Oil filter found on top of radiator when hood opened.

General question to the mechanically reclined:

What can cause an oil filter to be blown off the engine block?

Couldn't see what else was damaged at that point.

Engine still turned over so it did not seize but I sent it to the junk yard anyway.

You didn't tell me that the engine still turned over. You should have maybe popped for a new oil filter and tried your luck before junking it.

Gremlins. I have had this same experience and if you stay up late enough you can see them messing with your car and other properties. Be careful of your lawn mower. That's often next.

Bad case of premature junkyardation maybe lol :D

Ignoring the fire damage?

Was there a lot? I mean other than wire casings and belts?

The oil filter woulda been blown off because the crankcase was pressurized. This is usually because of a blown head gasket, warped head, or something similar but can't be sure unless the engine is torn down. Basicly there is a hole that when the cylinder tries to compress the mixture to fire it, the air is allowed to leak into the crankcase somehow and builds pressure in the oil galley.

The fire prob resulted from oil being blown out of the dipstick or from the filter location onto the exhaust manifold.

In layman's terms...totaled or no? I drive for a living and this can only help me as I go on. I have a basic understanding of the car and maybe slightly higher than most but not so much as to be considered knowledgeable. I also listen to the Car talk guys just to learn more. Not that anything has really stuck.



Also, strongly consider gremlins.

Anything is fixable Dawg. At worst, a junkyard motor and harness could have been swapped into it. The harness would have been the thing hurt by fire so if it wasn't bad on the wires then Andy could have probably put a head gasket,new filter, oil change and threw in a timing belt and abused it another 100k.