Thread: Long-term effects of an open engine

My buddy's got a SR20 laying around I was thinking of picking up. It's in his NX2K frame with the oil pan removed. He was working on something internal in the fall, then when winter hit gave up and bought a new one. In the meantime, the crankshaft has been open to the air, but seeing as it's still mounted in the car, no rain/snow or leaves or stuff could fall into it.

If I were to pick it up, what risks would I encounter? Obviously I'm looking for an inexpensive engine for a DD, so the least work for it to run is all I'm looking for.

so the block didnt have oil or anything in it?

obviously not since the oil pans are off

possbilities, rings rusted to the cylinder walls,rust on cylinder walls,rust on crank shaft, definitly would need to have the bottom end checked for obvious rasons ive listed

Right, but at what point has it been sitting too long? The only moisture to possibly get in there is humidity. That being said, my tools don't rust if I leave them out for months. Only if they get rained on. I'm looking for advice on getting this engine running.

I have assembled a block and head for a honda d-series that were outside in the rain and dirt for like a year. It ran but spun a bearing after a few thousand miles.

i would say the obvious rust on the moving parts. but coz the of the oil still on the parts u might be lucky. but i would def strip it down and check everything

Your tools are designed not to rust, I think a lot of engine parts are not meant to be exposed to the open air for long periods of time. But my guess is there is probably a very thin layer of oil still on those lower end parts that may have protected them somewhat from oxidation?

like i said i would be worried about the cylinder walls rusting. rings rusting, lower assebly, crank,pistons,rods, rusting.

thats if you had a good layer of oil on them they might not have had any rusting but there is no for sure answer untill you look at it

wind probebly blew dirt and all sorts of crap up in there. I say check it out and if there isnt any rust on the bearings then your alright.

if anything use a whole bottle of PB blaster/monkey piss/weasel piss whatever you call it into each cylinder and crank it a bunch after its been sitting for a day. then throw a oil pan on and crank it a bunch. Drain it, fill it with fresh oil again and start her up.

o yea and maybe after you soak the pistons with whatever rust eater stuff you get maybe crank the engine without plugs with a impact gun or a drill because id hate for you to kill your started just trying to flush this baby out.

the rust on the cylinder walls isnt what im worried about rather than the rings themselves not springing out against the cylinder wall causing terrible oil burn