I threw a rod and I'm afraid my engine is going to blow up or something
I was wondering if it was possible to cap off a cylinder or two and run my six cylinder car on four or five cylinders just to give it a little more life until I can replace the car?
In a word:
If you've actually thrown a rod, that means there's already a lot of destruction going on. A thrown rod means a portion of the rod is being thrown around inside the engine. As you run the engine, it will continue to cause more destruction. In almost every case, if you've thrown a rod, complete engine replacement (at a minimum, most likely a shortblock) is needed to fix your issues. Even if you do run the engine (if you can run the engine), most likely it's not going to go very far anyway.
I was in the automotive repair business for 20 years. The simple answer is NO! However, it sounds as if the vehicle is still running (if the author is merely "afraid" it will "blow up" at a future time, and is considering working on it to get it to "last longer"). In that case, I'm wondering what has actually happened to the vehicle.
This question makes no sense. It's not equivalent to an airline pilot who has 4 engines, and one fails in the air; he can still cut the power to that engine, rendering it useless, feathering the props, and still make adequate headway, and be able to land safely. He will STILL have to repair/replace the failed engine as soon as he lands. He will NOT make another flight with only 3 engines working. The notion is ludicrous.
As is the notion of "capping a cylinder or two." [e.g., A range top has 4 independent burners, you don't need to have all 4 working and on to fry an egg, yet, an oven is a singular closed unit.] The author might spend some time studying the configuration of an engine and then decide if it is a number of independent cylinders or a singular closed unit.
This is an amazing question. I would be interested in watching someone "cap off a cylinder or two." I would be particularly interested in knowing what type of products they plan to employ to get the job done; hoping it does not involve duct tape or welding.
You can but not for very long, the combination of metal in the oil and a completely unbalanced rotating assembly will ensure a motors death in a measure of seconds not minutes. A decent cut in one of the pistons will cause a motor to shake it self apart, can you imagine the stress of a motor spinning at 4k missing an entire piston!
