Time for some Motor Love

[rallybill]

All right.  Heading into the cold months so time to start asking the questions for a recommendation of a source to give my TII some engine love.  Who wants to shout out a recommended shop or trusted craftsman.  Unfortunately, I do not have the time or available shop space, to do here, so looking for a 1-stop shop approach for the refresh.  Maybe even give it a little bit of a up-tick, if it makes sense.

Since GH, I have confirmed the motor and turbo are true at 200K miles and completely unmolested.  Damn that girl must be tired.  Turbo is showing signs of bearing failure under full boost, so guessing new turbo will be needed too.  Face it, 200K and still original, she had an easy life.

So what ya guys think?  Looking for recommendations and options.  Oh yea, depending on who/where I end up going, would be willing to assist when possible.

[fidelity101]

Best bet is to grab a friend and do a compression test. do total compression on each rotor then grab your cell phone and record you taking the compression with your finger holding down the Schrader valve on the compression gauge to monitor for even pulses at about 60 psi. 

Any loss of coolant? That would be a sign of a different issue.

[rallybill]

Oooops, sorry for delay.

Nope, no coolant loss.  Small oil leak somewhere, that I am still searching for.  Need to get it up in the air and pull the lower shielding off next.

Don't have compression tester.  Recommendations to acquire?  Always thought needed special tester.  But I know it can be done with standard testers.

[toplessFC3Sman]

Any compression tester will work as long as it doesn't have a check-valve to hold the maximum compression reading, or if it has a bleed valve to release the built-up pressure so that you can see the individual pulses from each rotor face.

[rallybill]

Allrighty.  Finally had opportunity to check things out. 

Oil leak is power steering fluid.  Small leak somewhere on the rack.  Cleaned everything off so can monitor.  That's positive and should be an easy fix, once tracked down.  Tie rod boots are ripped, so need to source new ones.  Again, not a show stopper.

Motor compression was not unexpected.  Front rotor peak 60-65 and rear rotor peak 65-70.  But did take a number of revolutions to finally settle on those values.  Without the schrader valve, in the gage, reading 30-35 pulsing evenly, for rear.  Pulsing 25-30 evenly for front.  Did not observe any pulse lower than the others, on either rotor.  So at least the compression is down evenly.

So, asking the class.  Rebuild time?  I think so....

Was able to identify what i thought was a turbo squeal.  Looks like it was the turbo heat shield vibrating against the exhaust heat shield.  So maybe turbo is still good...

[ITSWILL]

I would say we could rebuild it at my place, but I'm a bit out of the way from you. Sounds like the engine has good even wear but it is hard to tell what you need until you dig into it.  It could just need some new seals or it could need housings and irons too.

[~Groll69~]

have you rebuilt the motor yet or not?  I havent heard anything about it.  Let us know whats up.

[rallybill]

Oh wow, been a while, since I even checked this board.  Sorry...

Yup, finally finished having it rebuilt.  Might have been easier, to just have it replaced.  After considering options, ended up having Chris, at Banzai, do the job.  Good thing too, after all the things found, I would have never figured out myself.   Of course, there was a wee bit of project creep, ending up with a few more upgrades that were not on the original shopping list.   

You can check out the complete list and a few pictures, at the link below.

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Took about 8-9 weeks, due to new housings being shipped from Japan.  But pleased with the final result.  Still getting the break in miles done and addressing some minor issues.   Now on to the other items, like brakes and suspension.    

[~Groll69~]

Looks great. Glad to see it complete.

[murz]

Wow, that turned out great!! Nice upgrades as well!

[rallybill]

Thanks guys.  Like I said, just a wee bit of project creep..  And $$$...  But came out nice.  Been a tough summer, putting miles on it, as I was physically unable to drive it (or any vehicle) for a few weeks.  Just getting the first 500 miles closed out.

Chris was great to work with and only proposed changes, to project scope, when it made sense.  Would definately recommend, if you want a hands off project.  Planning on phase two upgrades, after I enjoy it for a while.

[~Groll69~]

we are heading to Ludington this weekend.  you should come by and hang out with us.  I think we will have a drive of some sort too sat.

[ITSWILL]

nice, reasonable upgrades. What did they do about tuning the ECU?

[rallybill]

No tuning.  Still using stock ECU and stock boost.  Those upgrades are planned for phase two, down the road.

Yea, noticed the weekend plans shaping up.  Seeing if I can break away and meet up.  What a better reason to put some more break-in miles, in the log.  I'll be looking for basic times and such.

[ITSWILL]

I would think it would be running really rich with 50% more injector, but that is probably nice and safe for break in.