need help 89 turbo, cracked piston!

[gtkriss]

ok... I am buying an 89 turbo supra, but one problem... it MIGHT have a cracked piston. I hear this clicking sound, and i took it to my auto shop teacher, (i'm 17) and said that it could be a possibility.. I was wondering what possible steps of action i should take, whether do an engine rebulild, return the car, or ship a used engine in from japan... i don't wanna lose this car.. I got it for 1500, fully loaded w/ targa, new clutch. Please advise. thanks.

P.S. what could happen if i were to continue to keep driving the car? The noise really doesn't bother me all that much.

[projectsupramk3]

It's very unlikely you have a cracked piston, most likely it's "valve tick", caused by the valve shim being slightly out of spec and the cam slapping the shim, no worries as it won't cause any problems anytime soon. It could also be "rod knock", if it is then do not even think about running your car anywhere as it'll just make it worse and you'll most likely end up ruining the crank and problematic rod. Take it back to your shop teacher and ask him to pull out the mechanics stethascope, if the knock/tick is from the top/head area then it's valve tick, if it's from the bottom/crank area then it's rod knock. One more thing to consider is sometimes supras tend to have very noisy injectors, so check the exhaust side of the head, then the intake side to make sure you don't get them mixed up.

[gtkriss]

hey man, thx a lot for your help, I never thought about those possibilities.... If anyone has anymore helpful advice, it is appreciated.