Something strange in the Intake Port on the head..

morgie · Post by **morgie** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 2:18 pm

Couldn't resist to start working on the engine yesterday, once it was on the stand...

after a little wrestling with the hoses (they were all jam-thight and some needed some cutting.. :\ ), i pulled the intake runners.

all ports looked fine, except one... that looked strange. Some grinding were done to it !!??. With the hoses jammed, i guess the runners were not removed recently.. but that grinding is strange.

what do you think ?

Normal Port :

Grinded Port :

you can see fullsize pics via this url :
http://public.fotki.com/morgie/morgie/o ... 5_img.html
(click on the "Get original uploaded photo" link under the picture)

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 2:57 pm

Woah!!

Could that have been some metallic debris finding its way into the intake stream?

How do the turbocharger's compressor and turbine wheels look?

morgie · Post by **morgie** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 3:17 pm

Humm, not removed yet, it's the next step... (exaust manifold and turbo)

it looks like somebody did a sanding job with a dremel ... maybe after a "debrit passing trought them" as you suggest... on the right part of the sanding, you can see a hole / depression... :\

humm, will have to check that closely.. i'm eager to see the piston head and inside of the head / cylinder..

scottzg · Post by **scottzg** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 5:39 pm

probably a retarded notion, but could the casting come out with a large booger attached that Subaru ground off with a dremel rather than scrap the whole thing? Nobody would know...

Brat4by4 · Post by **Brat4by4** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 5:40 pm

Invest in some engine degreaser!

Yeah, looks like someone was doing some grinding on it. That doesn't look random enough I guess to be debris marks.

morgie · Post by **morgie** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 5:56 pm

Scottzg : Yeah in fact, that was my first toughts when i looked at the other ports and see that they are not "smooth" .. maybe it's just something like that. furter "investigation will tell if i need to worry more

"

Brat : hehe yeah, the guy who removed the engine conscidered it was not usefull to empty the power steering pump before cutting the metal hoses... result : there is power steering fluid everywhere..

petridish38 · Post by **petridish38** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 6:00 pm

definitely looks like a dremel did that. Maybe someone was trying to polish the intake with their dremel and realized that it wouldn't work. there are so many possibilities.

it seems like that would create some drag.

but it looks like someone has definitely been in there before with a dremel at some time or another.

morgie · Post by **morgie** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 6:09 pm

Second question :

Should i worry about that, and do something on this port , or the 3 others
(port + polish may be necessairy ?)

or

No problem with that... no worries ?

thanx !

DOA · Post by **DOA** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 6:37 pm

Looks like someone thought they could do a porting job before realising they didnt have the right cutters or a long enough extension.
Either that or it realy was just a bad casting from the factory, doesnt look like the split portion is very smooth so it could be that. Shouldnt worry about it, you wouldnt notice the difference, but since the heads off why dont you get some cutters and a fast die grinder and clean up the rough cast bits on all the ports.

morgie · Post by **morgie** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 5:46 pm

Another strange thing... When i was rotating the engine upside down, i was hearing some "cling cling" coming from the oil pan...
when i removed it, a part felt off. That part is an oil "sprinkler" (the thing i old in my hand in the picture) that is normally bolted at the bottom of every cylinders, and shoots oil onto the back of the piston / piston pin (as you can see on the picture, at the tip of the black arrow).
So one piston was missing is oil "stream"...

also, i can see some grinding here and there in that area.. i'll have to completely open the engine in 2 to see if this caused any damages. :\

To see big picture : click "get original uploaded photo" under the picture at this url:
http://public.fotki.com/morgie/morgie/o ... large.html

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 6:32 pm

For your headwork, I'd definitly say since you've got the engine apart, you might as well.

that squirter is needed. If you've got the time (and if you care that much), pull the pistons out and compare the non-squirter piston with the others.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 10:59 pm

Jeez! Where did you get this engine?

It makes me wonder whether this engine was messed with... I'd certainly hope that those piston oil squirters don't come loose all by themselves!

morgie · Post by **morgie** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 1:48 am

Cylinder heads are now off, and everything looks pretty fine from that side.

2 cylinders are in 'mint' condition... like new.

2 others has like "wear" marks on the "top" side (if engine is in normal position, marks are at "12 oclock" on the cylinder), but nothing very worrying, as you can see on the pic.

hirez : Go there and click on "get original uploaded photo" under the picture :
http://public.fotki.com/morgie/morgie/o ... large.html

Head:

all the pictures : http://public.fotki.com/morgie/morgie/o ... ur_detail/

morgie · Post by **morgie** » Sun Oct 26, 2003 1:37 am

The reason why my cylinder was scratched ... pistons are scratched "a bit" (you can feel it with your nail. and it .. humm... "stick" in it ?)

besides that, everything else looks fine.

The missing Oil Squirter (on the right)

The connecting rods has a little "slack" when moving them from left to right.. will have to see if it's ok or not. Nyway, i change all the bearings / metal liners..

All the pics + HiRes : http://public.fotki.com/morgie/morgie/o ... ur_detail/

DOA · Post by **DOA** » Sun Oct 26, 2003 8:58 pm

Is it just me or does that piston look fit for only 1 place (the bin). I know this is excessive but have you thought of getting the cylinders rebored and fitting oversized pistons, if that was my engine Id have it done based on that piston.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 12:32 am

How many miles did this thing have on it? Sounds pretty beat on. Did it pass a compression and leakdown test? Damn, I'm buying a turbo engine soon and hope this doesn't happen to me...

Steve

morgie · Post by **morgie** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 6:27 pm

bah it's not sooooooooo bad

this thing had 140 000km (i've seen the donor car and dash cluster)

No compression nor leakdown test, but i don't care much since i rebuild it all. valve seats, piston rings, pistons, seals, bearings...

it's a job you should do, since the engine will be out of the car ! hehe it's not very complicated (i have absolutely no mecanical experience / background...). couple of hoses to remove, then some bolts to unscrew. that's it.

The only thing is that you will need to have access to the shop manual, and to borrow the piston-pin extractor from your favorite Subaru Dealer (if they accept...) or use a bit of ingeniosity

Good luck !!

Ps : Verify the spec of the TPS... if it's not working OK, it's a 480$CAN replacement !!

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 6:58 am

Morgie: That piston scratching looks EXACTLY like what happens when a headgasket allows coolant to be sucked into the engine on the intake stroke. I know because my supra had similar wear.

The coolant washes away enough oil to cause similar damage. Was the piston only scratched on that one side?

The Headgasket leak could have been small enough that the driver didnt notice anything odd except for an occasional bubbling of the overflow.

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Something strange in the Intake Port on the head..

Something strange in the Intake Port on the head..