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Engine rebuild

H

Heywood

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Jan 24, 2006
Messages
1,422
Location
Montreal
So since there seems to be very little happening lately I figured I'd start a thread for my car. I finally got the thing officially imported into Canada and registered in Quebec and then a week later blew the motor.

I'm moving very slowly on this so far - just lacking time and funds to go at it all out. So far I have pulled the oil pan and everything on the bottom end looked OK. Then pulled the front bank plugs to see what the pistons looked like. Seems to be some fresh scoring on the number 5 piston so now I'm planning to pull the motor and take off the heads to see whats going on in there.

Will be replacing the clutch while its out - have a new LUK clutch and fidanza flywheel insert ready to go - The spec I have in there has been making weird noises since 5k miles.

I also bought weapon R headers and a bassani catback from troll96se that I will be putting on at the same time (I still need to go down and pick them up). Already have an optimised stock y pipe. Thinking about throwing in a hi-flow cat while I'm at it.

Not setting any lofty goals at this point - hoping to have everything shaken down for the start of track season next year.
 
Glad you didn't give up on the car. Put some pics of the damage up. Have fun :cool:.
 
Since I basically just went through this, it will cost you about the same to just buy a new 3L motor to put in compared to rebuilding yours. After looking into pricing in my area for shops to "re-build" my blown 05 sable motor, I opted to just change the entire motor itself. Just an idea, but rebuild would definately be more fun
 
Its definitely an option I'm considering, but unless there's damage to the crank or cylinder walls, I'm inclined to rebuild with upgraded components. I put this 3l in and it lasted ~15k miles or so. Really depends what is actually wrong with it.

Do you source your motors from Canada? How much did it cost you and what was the mileage?
 
Heywood said:
Its definitely an option I'm considering, but unless there's damage to the crank or cylinder walls, I'm inclined to rebuild with upgraded components. I put this 3l in and it lasted ~15k miles or so. Really depends what is actually wrong with it.

Do you source your motors from Canada? How much did it cost you and what was the mileage?
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You will probably be looking around the $900-$1500 range for a low'ish mileage 3L...as in 50,000kms-80,000kms from LKQ. Motors here are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more expensive then in the States...I think I remember seeing blu fuz got 2 3L engines shipped to his door with under 40k on both for like $400...not a chance here. lol
 
CKtour98 said:
You will probably be looking around the $900-$1500 range for a low'ish mileage 3L...as in 50,000kms-80,000kms from LKQ. Motors here are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more expensive then in the States...I think I remember seeing blu fuz got 2 3L engines shipped to his door with under 40k on both for like $400...not a chance here. lol
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cktour98 is correct i bought my 3L for $1200 with 69,000kms .. best place to check out everybodys stuff out is this site... www.car-part.com
 
Wow - that puts a few more marks in the rebuild column. I paid 350 for my 2004 sable 3l with <20k miles.
 
CKtour98 said:
I think I remember seeing blu fuz got 2 3L engines shipped to his door with under 40k on both for like $400...not a chance here. lol
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Yeah, my 18k mile 2005 Taurus 3L was $360 delivered and I picked up a 30k mile 2004 Taurus 3L for $400.... those prices are still hard to come by but $600 isn't out of the question around here.
 
blu_fuz said:
Yeah, my 18k mile 2005 Taurus 3L was $360 delivered and I picked up a 30k mile 2004 Taurus 3L for $400.... those prices are still hard to come by but $600 isn't out of the question around here.
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joy of living in the USA:laugh: alot of parts have no shipping prices and everything isnt marked up in price because it doesnt have to pass customs
 
Well I pulled the uim/lim last weekend. There were a few big chunks of aluminium sitting on top of the secondary butterflies in the lim. Not sure what they're from yet or how they got there but it has me concerned. By big I mean upto 1/4" and maybe 1/8" thick. Anyone want to take a guess as to what they could be from?
This weekend I want to finish prep for pulling the motor.

IMAG0234.jpg


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IMAG0230.jpg
 
And just because here's a pick of the porting on the heads - 3l injector valleys were welded up.

IMAG0229.jpg
 
Didn't get around to doing anything this weekend - will try and get a few more things disconnected tonight.

Anyone got any ideas about the little Al flakes? Oil was clean. I just can't see how they could collect in the lim!
 
Does that mean the block is toast?
Given the price of motors quoted above, I would be inclined to rebuild if possible but I can see a piston failure doing all sorts of damage to the cylinder wall, heads and even the crank.
 
Well you may as well pull the heads off and see. If you are going to rebuild, you will need to do that anyways so do it now and check out the internals. That way if they are screwed, you can decide to rebuild it anywaysa or buy a new motor
 
Almost ready to pull the motor. Only have the rear roll restrictor and the half shafts to come off and then its go time.
Only thing I'm not sure about at this point is the coolant line that runs in front of the engine. It looks to be bolted to the block, but I don't remember have to mess with it last time. I will see how it goes when I start lifting it, but if anyone wants to chime in with suggestions I'm listening.
 
Started pricing out the rotating assembly and am leaning towards hypereutectic pistons. I am not going for boost so they seem to be appropriate. The only thing I'm a little wary of is I read that they don't like detonation or lean conditions. This has me thinking that maybe a lean condition caused my current failure. I have a wideband AFR gauge that I was ready to install right before the motor blew because I was concerned about it with the way the car was running and higher coolant temps.

So bearing in mind that forged pistons run about twice the price I am unsure which direction to go.
 
Heywood said:
Almost ready to pull the motor. Only have the rear roll restrictor and the half shafts to come off and then its go time.
Only thing I'm not sure about at this point is the coolant line that runs in front of the engine. It looks to be bolted to the block, but I don't remember have to mess with it last time. I will see how it goes when I start lifting it, but if anyone wants to chime in with suggestions I'm listening.
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the hardline? leave it on...you can wiggle/shimmy the entire engine and tranny out of the bay easily. Just takes some times
 
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