[Mk2] [Turbo] Engine rebuild dilemma....

[J-1]

Well, it happened today...

Had track tuition this afternoon and the engine gave up!
It's likely head gasket failure (maybe worse, piston failure etc). Two very different things I know, but I'm not a mechanic by a long shot so I'm guessing until it's inspected.

Accelerated in second gear, drop in power followed by a puff of smoke. Car won't start now. There's oil/coolant all over the engine bay now.

Looks like the engine will be coming out, so the question is;

What should I do when it's out????

I'm happy to rebuild the full engine to a standard'ish spec, but I'm not going down the fully forged road because I don't want the headache because I know it'll grow arms and legs.

My thinking at the moment is rebuild / refresh the standard engine.

[J-1]

What else could be added to this list;

Block honed and decked
Replace hoses from hell
Balance as much as possible
Uprated head gasket
Replace seals and gaskets etc

Would I be as well to replace with forged piston and rods?

[ashley]

Only deck the block if you have to- there's not much material between the top of the block and the water jacket, so if you can leave it alone do.

If you're sticking at stock power levels I'd reuse your stock rods, but take the opportunity to stick some forged pistons in, depending on the state of the bores you may be able to keep it at 86mm and just rehone for new rings.

Full set of new bearings, gaskets and seals, water pump, idlers, belt, etc...re-shim the head and stick a metal HG in there if doesn't have one already.

Fingers crossed you ain't got any real damage to fix

[J-1]

Thanks Ash. Sent you a PM.

Anything else anyone can think of, I'd appreciate as much info as possible.

[ashley]

PM replied buddy

[simpson_eh]

oil and water pump silly not to unless they are new and check clutch

[ashley]

Alright buddy

All good thanks [thumleft]

Depends what you mean by upgrading, what are you trying to achieve? More power? Stock power but more reliability?

First things first, you need to work out what's gone wrong with your engine and what (if any) other damage has occurred- not really much point in speculating until you know the deal. If you've done your ringlands you'd need new pistons- no point in sticking second hand stock pistons in, and for the price of new ones it makes more sense to buy forged.

Stock rods are already forged, so if you're not going mad power wise you should reuse them.

If the bores are damaged you'll need to re-bore to see if the block is re-useable. Best case scenario is you've not damaged the bores, so you can just get it honed and whack the engine back together with fresh pistons and rings, run it in and then go. If the bores are damaged you may need to rebore the block, but take as little out as possible to avoid weakening the cylinder walls- you need to know this first cos if you re-bore you'll need oversize pistons to fit it.

Other than that I'd be replacing the main bearings, the big end bearings and thrust washers (having measured and checked the crank journals for ovality, you could get the rotational assembly (crank) balanced with the flywheel, rods, pistons and clutch cover as well). Change all the seals (use Toyota), and replace all the gaskets.

Inspect the oil pump, if it's in spec I would re-use it.

New water pump, thermostat, cambelt and idlers.

Rebuild the head- so strip it down, clean it out, reseat the valves if they need doing. Rebuild the head and correct all the shim clearances.

Hope that helps- just shout if you have any more questions mate, I'll do me best [thumleft]

Ashley

[J-1]

Been making enquiries about a few things.

Hoping to have the engine out soon. Brief inspection tomorrow.

[J-1]

Compression test complete.

4) 160
3) 120
2) 80
1) 120

Full inlet tract is covered in engine oil.

Engines coming out.

[ashley]

Ooops...pretty much confirms it then, hope the cylinder is ok once you get the piston out

[J-1]

Yeah, that's certainly confirmed it.

Going to get the engine out, stripped down for further inspection and go from there.

Going to do the hoses from hell while it's out.
It's lasted until now... Not bad for a 16 year old car!

Is £200 reasonable to pay for the engine to be dropped, and subframe etc reinstalled so it's a rolling shell?

[ashley]

Depending on their rate per hour it seems reasonable- it takes me the best part of a day to remove everything and drop my turbo engine, but then it isn't stock so takes longer.

[J-1]

I thought £200 wasn't too bad.

I'm thinking about making the addition of gauges now. At the moment I've only got a boost gauge.

What other gauges would be the most beneficial to a track car?

[ashley]

Oil pressure and oil temperature, maybe fuel pressure and AFR's

[Shmed]

I have wideband, oil pressure, oil temp, boost and EGT.

Of those, I probably use oil temp, boost and wideband most, then oil pressure, rarely look at EGT.

[mrdb]

If bore is ok id do a refresh if it needs an overbore etc. you may be better off sourcing another engine and refreshing that then selling the broken one on suitable for forging etc.

One thing id say is find out why it went pop. because if you just refresh everything and put it back together it will probably go pop again.

Are you running too much boost, need better intercooling, engine running too hot ( new radiator ) etc etc. or was it just worn...

Double tripple check everything and clean it to death. If rings have gone the shavings have gone into oil etc. Turbo could be next etc etc..