So you're saying the previous owner knew exactly what he lied to.... I mean sold you?

Good news is that it looks like a HG & stud job, and not replacing positions with holes in them.

Wow, just 60k miles. Was he running tunes? Oh, right. The previous owner didn't have the mechanical knowledge to know whay tunes are.

 

I would not trust any tools from Harbor Freight, K-mart or Walmart.
There's no reason to suspect a timing issue without complete dis-assembly of the engine. Was it running when it was parked?
If it wasn't, what happened?

 

Haha, yeah. I didn't think an engine can look this terrible at 60k. My educated guess suggests it was early hg failure and negligent driving for the remaining mileage.

I'm curious if the 'rings' of debris on the top of the cylinder could have caused the upper compression ring to wear. I'm seriously considering replacing the rings, but I'm currently trying to source a set of micrometers and bore gauges to borrow. Any one have a set?

 

It was not running. I think it was driven with a blown gasket. Hopefully I can get a specialist to come look at it for me in the next few days. I may need new heads. Any suggestions?

In regards to tools, I think harbor freight is hit or miss, and sometimes they have useful tools that an amateur can use once and forget about. Luckily I haven't had to go to Wal-Mart for tools, don't know if Stanley would cut it lol.

 

wow that's a Mess


EGR Deleate can help with a few things heres one

 

At this point, I think I may have learned a few things that might be worth sharing. I hope these few photos will shine light on how negligence in proper maintenance can wreak havoc on the critical components in this, and any engine. Most of my thoughts are speculation, influenced by knowledge from A & P school with rebuild experience ending at the continental GA aircraft engine I practiced on. The concept is the same, but it also takes proper judgement of an experienced rebuild mechanic to do the job right. I will continue to submit photos if anyone cares to see how the rest of the rebuild goes.

 

 

 

 

Jeeze. Talk about carboned up. BTW, pics are great, post away!

 

 

 

I saw a significant correlation between frozen oil ring and increased coking on the piston, ring lands and second compression ring being frozen. Also, the pistons near the rear of the engine; 6,7,8,9 also had the most coking at the top of the cylinder, making the pistons really tough to remove. I don't have a photo posted of the rod bearings, but they also were much more discolored towards the rear of the engine. Enough for me to consider them unairworthy if on aircraft, although no scratches or 'feelable' discrepancies were noted. Another disconcerting thought led me to believe that the engine was over heated. As I removed pistons 1,2 and 3 they came out much cleaner, and relatively easy with almost no coking, but the upper compression rings came out broken on all three. I definitely have some investigation and measuring to do before I come to any real conclusions, but I knew it wouldn't just be a HG job, so let's see how this turns out. I'm open for opinions and suggestions.

 

I couldn't believe an engine could look like this at 60k. The last photo it's of the pistons before and after a wash in the parts washer with a 20:1 water and super heavy degreaser mix. It took an average of about an hour each to loosen and clean the ring lands. The rings didn't survive, but the pistons are salvageable in my opinion. Now I'm waiting to see what the specialist will say about my deck. If it needs shaved, I may just get a set of shaved pistons and do the full rebuild.

 

After seeing that I'd probably order a loaded set of new pistons. I'd send the block out for a deep clean and check and any machining necessary.

OR.... I'd get a price from Asheville Engines for a complete longblock and call it done with a warranty.
www.ashevilleengine.com

That engine looks like it hardly ever had an oil change and/or was running the wrong oil. By chance did you save the oil to get an analysis done. It would be interesting to see what it reveals.