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Thread: Why we had so many issues with our 'used' sr20 engine

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Posts: 11-20 of 39
2014-05-27 10:51:57
#11
Originally Posted by Chris101


..stuff like the wrong bolts used in various places (even the wrong thread pitch jammed in and cross threaded!)



Stuff like that can get people killed!
2014-05-27 11:49:55
#12
^ it was impressive the car stayed together for the limited track time we did use it. We were on 'borrowed' time from the 1st time we took it out on track and it severely limited us to its usability (and even hp #'s because with S4 cams, we were so down on power, the dyno showed a whopping 122whp instead of the 157whp the previous owner claimed it 'should' be putting out)

Bottom line is we have been working on 'sorting' through issue after issue since purchase.

To give an example, every bolt holding on the trans mount to the trans was 'stripped' and/or cross threaded and had to be helicoil fixed! The top passenger motor mount bolt was incorrect and stripped out (we have the correct 1 in there now of course)


The list is extensive including:


pebbles lodged into the belts from a bad 'off' right before sale -- go to replace belts and notice a badly bent alternator pulley (replaced pulley)
oil pan bent and leaking (replaced oil pan)
really bad chain slap and oil leak by chain tensioner (replaced tensioner and at least chain slap settled down)
couldn't go below half a tank without severe engine cut-out (turned out the sock fell off the oil pump and had to be reattached)
oil leaks from several locations which partially turned out to be the lack of proper seal on the head as shown here on the 1st post

It wouldn't even pass a random spot check for w2w racing because many welds were not the required 360 welds (so we just did time trials instead which was a damn good thing since the car couldn't handle more than 15 minute sessions before having too low of oil pressure despite going to heavy 20w50 oil) ..and then we spent a weekend properly addressing all the welds.

The back brace on the crappy old original seat was a piece of wood btw (wish I would have gotten a photo of that mess)


And the biggest problem of all was engine knock at start-up that occurred during our 1st track day of testing as you waited to get any oil pressure so we just did 2 shortened sessions out of a possible 6 that 1st day (at one time we even experimented with straight 60weight oil) If you were out on track too long, you kept losing oil pressure and 'hot' restart was no oil pressure even longer (it was just plain scary how bad it was and it just got progressively worse)

We had a temp 'fix' until we could address the engine swap of a switch to not let it fully turn over and allow building of oil pressure but even that got to a point where you could just about kill the battery and starter waiting for that oil pressure to pump up (now we partially know why there were so many problems with oil pressure since the engine was never properly sealed AND too much RTV in critical spots where oil needed to flow freely)

So knowing we were on borrowed time since day 1, we finally dove into the engine swap this memorial day weekend and opened the whole other can of worms with the combo of wrong bolts, stripped and cross-threaded bolts and even some overtightened stuff along with some not tight enough (just a mess).
2014-05-27 22:32:41
#13
Meh I've seen worse. but that sux
2014-05-28 23:53:52
#14
..and I understand more fully now why my hubby won't even look at an 'engine swap' car for a used street car.... too many hacks out there
2014-05-29 03:06:14
#15
You're a girl? LOL. News to me!
2014-05-29 03:35:52
#16
Originally Posted by Storm88000
You're a girl? LOL. News to me!


Shares acct with spouse, or maybe kicked him off and took it over.
2014-05-29 04:20:55
#17
yes, I am a girl and my hubby has his own account ID
2014-05-29 04:29:26
#18
Originally Posted by Storm88000
You're a girl? LOL. News to me!


Noobs

@Chris101 Didnt you have something like"yes,I am a girl" in your sig or something for a while?
2014-05-29 04:37:12
#19
^ yes I did ...figured enough people knew and it was time to move on.. just another car enthusiast here
2014-05-29 04:53:04
#20
Originally Posted by Chris101
^ yes I did ...figured enough people knew and it was time to move on.. just another car enthusiast here


yep thats all that matters. I always enjoy your and your hubby's "adventures" haha
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