anyone rebuilt a motor?

[profKenn]

Anyone rebuilt a tercel motor? If so, how difficult is it? I'm looking at a Tercel that has a bad motor--no compression in any of the cylinders.
Comments?

profKenn

[gator2764]

I rebuilt the engine in my 92 Tercel. We took everything out except the crank. It was an easy job. The reason we rebuilt was because of the oil consumption, one quart every 300 miles. The oil rings were collapsed and the valve guide seals were shot. When we lifted the head off the cylinder walls looked brand new, not even a lip at the top of the wall. We decided to not even touch the crank after seeing what the walls and compression rings looked like. Went ahead and replaced timing belt, water pump and oil pump as well since it was all apart. The head ran $300 for a rebuild. I think the parts ran about $700 including the head. This was done at 193K miles and now have 209K on it with no problems. It doesn't use a drop of oil between changes now.

[toylover]

Nice. I have a 90' with 197k mil. How long did it take you? My valve stem seals are shot... I am burning a lot of oil and she smells like hell on startup. I think she is about ready

[gator2764]

It only took a few days of actual work. I had to wait about a week for the head to be reworked. One tip, do not buy the gasket set from a machine shop unless they are Felpro gaskets. I used the ones that the shop sold me and had to replace the valve cover, oil pan and the damn head gasket after putting it together. The new head gasket was replaced after 7K miles when it blew. Valve cover gasket leaked like crazy after the first start and the oil pan gasket just looked cheap so we didn't use it. I was amazed at how the cylinder walls looked when we pulled the head, still had the hash marks from where it was machined from the factory. One tough little motor in these cars. The machine shop also had to replace the exhaust valves since they were a little burnt. The cam measured out to spec and looked new after it was cleaned.

[toylover]

Thanks for the tips. Was your 92 a manual or automatic? If manual, did you replace the clutch or leave the original?

[gator2764]

It is a manual trans. I just left the clutch alone since I haven't had any issues with it. I took a chance with it and hope I didn't make the wrong decision. I try to treat it nice since it is my daily driver.

[toylover]

Can you pull the engine and the tranny as one complete unit? Or do you leave the trans supported in the vehicle.

Did you do new main bearings?

I guess I better start aquiring some of the special tools.
-Engine hoist
-Engine stand
-Piston ring expander
-Torque wrench ( I can borrow from work)
-Ignition timing light (guy at work has it)
-Valve spring compressor (should I get this or just leave to machine shop?)
-drill mounted Cylinder hone (did you hone?)
-ridge reamer (hopefully I will have no ridges like you)

Parts
-head gasket
-rering set
-main bearings?
-oil and water pump
-I just use RTV on valve cover and oil pan works oK
-rear main seal, front cam seal, (i already did front crankshaft seal)
-Do I need intake and exhaust manny gaskets? Or can I go RTV?

What are the chances of this car running again once I start this rebuild

Thanks for the help

[gator2764]

Originally Posted by toylover

Can you pull the engine and the tranny as one complete unit? Or do you leave the trans supported in the vehicle.

Did you do new main bearings?

I guess I better start aquiring some of the special tools.
-Engine hoist
-Engine stand
-Piston ring expander
-Torque wrench ( I can borrow from work)
-Ignition timing light (guy at work has it)
-Valve spring compressor (should I get this or just leave to machine shop?)
-drill mounted Cylinder hone (did you hone?)
-ridge reamer (hopefully I will have no ridges like you)

Parts
-head gasket
-rering set
-main bearings?
-oil and water pump
-I just use RTV on valve cover and oil pan works oK
-rear main seal, front cam seal, (i already did front crankshaft seal)
-Do I need intake and exhaust manny gaskets? Or can I go RTV?

What are the chances of this car running again once I start this rebuild

Thanks for the help

I just left the block in and hooked to the tranny. Didn't buy main bearings, just left the crank in place .The head I didn't touch except to remove and replace( machine shop did the work). We honed the cylinders out but only ran it in and out once per cylinder since they were in such good shape. New oil and watwer pump, timing belt with new tensioners. Rod bearings looked brand new but we raplced them anyway. I was just hoping to do a patch job on the car to sell it but the thing runs so good now I am keeping it until it just gives up. You will be better of buying gaskets for the intake and exhaust, there are a few little gaskets for the intake you will need. Clean out the intake and egr really good while you have it off.
Does your car just smoke and burn oil or do you have anything knocking inside?

[toylover]

I like your method of leaving the block in, I am not too crazy about pulling the whole engine especially when I think its just the top end that needs the majority of the work.... Top end and rering may be what I need.

On startup I blow a ton of smoke (valve stem seals bad) that smells like death. Once she warms up she runs smooth as sink. I will use a quart of oil every 800-1000 miles say. I used to use a quart every 500 due to a massive front crankshaft seal leak that I fixed (I did the timing belt then too @ 185k). There is more noise than I would expect coming from the valve train but not horrible. I adjusted the valves a couple of months ago. Two of the exhaust valves had no clearance (meaning they were not fully closing I guess). Other than that it pops out of 5th gear sometimes on the highway, leaks coolant out of a hard to get to hose next to the starter and that is it. Clutch feels good and I changed the transaxle fluid a couple of months back.

I would like to run her to 300K, I do 90 miles a day for work. Its hard to determine when to rebuild, but I am afraid if I don't get it in the summer I won't do it in the winter. What do you think?

[gator2764]

I would pop the pistons out and replace the rings and rod bearings while you have the head off. I wasn't that much to do this. Just had to romove the oil pan. I think you have to swing the exhaust out of the way to get the pan off but you will have most of that off when you pull the head. I took the head with the intake and exhaust manifold all at once, it was easier to work on that on the bench. I bet your exhaust valves are burnt just like mine if you cannot get them adjusted right. It was worth the rebuild to keep the car.

Good luck.