legacycentral bbs

It's really quite fun tearing a motor down

It went pretty fast. I had it pretty much torn down to the long block in an afternoon. I would've took the heads off, but you need a 12 point 14mm to get the head bolts off, and I didn't have one. I picked one up tonight, so the heads will come off tomorrow.

This engine is a freakin oil bathed pig!! It looks like the person who had it before replaced the oil pump, and did a HUGE overkill with the supergrey silicone....it's all over the place. They did a horrible job at the oil pan too.....there's freakin supergrey all over, inside the pan, and in the oil pickup screen.

But overall, the internals look pretty clean, and not too caked. The valve train and rockers looked really good.

One thing I didn't see, but I'm not sure where they're supposed to be is the oil squirters. Maybe I'll see them once I get the heads off.

Another note, mineral spirits on the hands isn't that great for extended periods of time. It likes to eat rubber too. I used a toothbrush to help scrub some of the parts, and the rubber grip on the handle started discintegrating.

I cleaned a few rubber parts in there, but nothing that I'm really planning to keep. I'll have to clean all the other rubber hoses and stuff with some orange degreaser stuff.

I still haven't decided whether I'm going to bother pulling the short block apart or not. I'd like to replace the piston rings, which I think I can do without pulling the block apart, but I really can't tell how the bearings are, etc. I don't know....I guess I'll see. Any recommendations from those of you that have rebuilt these things. Plus I'll have to price out the cost for the parts, vs buying a rebuilt shortblock or long block from CCR.

Here's the pics
http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8 ... s/ej22t/02

One other thing I wanted to mention is that a few of the screws on the backing of the oil pump were loose. One was more loose then the others. It's so weird that some have this problem, and others like my n/a motor were tight as could be.

That is weird about the oil pump screws - I've never been able to get them loose. As for the squirters ... remove the oil pick up and the baffles in there and you should be able to see them at the base of the cylinders. I'm sure rebuilding it yourself is going to be much cheaper than a done short block, plus you can do the whole long block. I think mine came to about $600 for all the gaskets, new oil pan, oil pump, water pump, and misc. hardware.

Steve

The oil squirter are on the opposite sides of the pistons they're squirting to. You probably can't see them until you crack the block. Or at least remove the pistons. I too was confused about them based on the information that was presented here before. I could take pics if that would help you.

Those valves look plenty oily.

I may be remembering where they were wrong, but I never cracked the block or removed the pistons. I rotated the engine over on the stand and saw that they were all still there. Even wiggled 'em to see if they were loose.

Steve

Steve, did you end up replacing any bearings or that kind of stuff? Or did you just check to see if everything was in spec and wearing correctly?

I had planned to buy the gasket kit, oil pump, oil pan, and water pump. I'll probably have to pick up some bolts, or reuse mine....got to wait and see how it goes.

What's all included in the gasket kit? Is it pretty complete?

I'll keep an eye out for the squirters.

Steve, did you have the heads redone at all? I was probably going to do that, send the heads off for a valve job, and probably new get new springs.

I just posted over on your USMB thread Josh.

Opie tore his EJ22T down completely, and I think he took the block halves into the dealer to check clearances and all that, and the guy that checked it over for him told him he shouldn't have even bothered tearing it apart

What are ya gonna do with it once it's in the car though (i.e. mods)?

I just did a visual check of the bottom end as everything looked mint and it only had, like, 83k on it. I did replace the head bolts, too. I think it came to $90 for them. The gasket kit was very complete. No, I didn't get any headwork done as it was kind of an emergency to throw the engine in since the old one lost an exhaust valve. I did take the whole top end apart and checked everything and it was perfect.

Steve

I'm working up to doing this. I just know I need a rebuild. All I have to do is find a covered place to do the work and I could get started.

REmember the rebuild tips!

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=18218


Also, removing those screws in the block are easy if you use an impact wrench with a screwdriver tip!

I took the heads off today. Updated the pics.

Still not sure on the mods or what not. I'll figure out the specifics once I get the motor in, setup, and working well.

Doug, which screws are you talking about? The bolts holding the block halves together?

I'm sort of at a crossroads. I don't know what I want/need to do. Bottom line is the engine needs to be cleaned up. I'm not sure of the best way to do that with it still together. I'd like to replace the piston rings, however from what I've seen from tearing the motor down, I'd say the bottom end should be fine. But like I said, it still needs to be cleaned out. There's ultra grey silicone bits here and there, not to mention dirt and sand that was on the outside that has worked its way in.

If I can just stick the thing in my solvent tank and clean it up, I'll do that, but I'm not sure if that'd be so good. I know cost wise, it'd be cheaper for me to do the work myself, however time wise may be another thing.

I do plan to send the heads out to be rebuilt.

Anyone have any suggestions/pointers for me?

thanks

holy crap! sand in the engine! That doesn't sound good.

it's just the oily greasy dirt/sand that's on the outside of the engine. When taking the heads off and oil pan off, just a little bit of stuff fell in around the edges.

The ONLY reason to crack the block (separate the two halves) is to access the crank and bearings, and remove the rods. At least 99% of the time.

Removing the pistons is EASY and should be done so you can inspect the ring lands (which is where hair line cracks can be detected from detonation) and to replace the rings. When you have removed the pistons, you will see HUGE amounts of build up in the ringlands which should be removed one way or another, be it picking at it, solvent bath, wifes dishwasher, or in my case, a combination of all three. The dishwasher basically gives them a nice steam cleaning!

The screws I am refering to are the screws holding the plates to the block that are the access holes to the wrist pins in the connecting rods.

The last time my block was out, I removed everthing but the crank and took it down to the car wash and sprayed the heck out of it. Then I took it back and blew it out with compressed air which sitting it in front of a huge heater to evaporate all the water, and then cleaned it by running alot of solvent down through it to displace water in the crank area.

i have heard the the screws on the oil pump can work loose occasionally.

my mech. ( a senior master subaru tech.) always puts some loctite on them when he takes a oil pump off for whatever reason.

oh, that's not too bad then

If you can spray the hell out of the outside with engine cleaner and have a truck (which you do), putting it in the bed and blasting it would be a big help in cleaning. I had to do it in my kitchen, going through plenty of brushes, carb cleaner, paper towels, various solvents (I tried almost everything), and brain cells.

Can you detect hairline fractures by bringing the pistons to TC with the heads off one at a time?

Steve

Doug,

So you sprayed the inside and everything too? Can you remove the connecting rods wiithout separating the block? If so, how hard is it?

I really should try and clean up the other stuff before tearing into this thing all the way. I'll need some room to put all this stuff.

Wish I had a dishwasher I could put the stuff in

I don't think you can remove all the rods without splitting the block, but I know you can remove two or three of them as I've done it. I think #1 is a real whore to get and the block needs to be split for that one.

Steve

The only reason that I know of to remove the connecting rods would be either to replace them, or to replace the rod bearins.

Unless the piston is pretty fried (and this will be pretty obvious, ie part of it missing) you will not be able to detect ringland damage.

But if you are at the stage where you have pulled the engine, and have removed the heads, you have the skills to remove the pistons and clean them up and install new rings.

Remember, removing the pistons is NOT the same as removing the rods themselves. Pulling the pistons is "easy" and what I consider a neccisity. The rods are not easy at all and most likely not neccessary at all.

Yeah I'm leaning towards just pulling the pistons and cleaning everything up.

Is there something special or some sneaky way of putting something over the connecting rods so they don't knock up against the cylinder wall and damage things while I do the cleaning and such?

I'm trying to come up with a parts list of things I need to buy. Here's what I've casually come up with from memory, and from parusing the parts in the garage. Let me know if there's anything else I'm forgetting....which is very possible.

Engine gasket/rebuild kit
?? Headgaskets - Thought someone said these don't come with the rebuild kit, so not sure
Piston rings - size B
?? Head bolts - Probably will replace these, but not positive
Oil pan
Oil pump
Water pump
timing belt
All timing belt idler pullies & gears
Turbo oil return line
Turbo coolant return line
Coolant resevoir tank
plastic tube off of the F pipe
PCV hose
PCV valve
Temp gauge coolant sensor
ECU coolant sensor
CPC valve
?? Oil pressure switch - not sure whether it's worth replacing this

I'm going to reuse the following parts from my motor:
crank sensor
cam sensor
coil pack
magnacor wires
O2 sensor
igniter
knock sensor
TPS

Thanks for the pics. what a nice garage area you have there. so are you just rebuilding the engine to stock specicfications?

I thought you HAVE to replace head bolts. Don't they stretch during installation?