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story:
1. picked up a 1994 xtracab 3VZE (163K miles) last February because I needed wheels and secretly wanted a project.
2. Found Yotatech (yay!) and did some R&R (fuel filter, plugs, oil of course, parking brake cable, holes in vacuum lines, ball joints, cracked lens, etc...) and made it from VA to Baltimore and even passed inspections in both states.
3. Rebuilt brother's QR25DE Nissan sentra engine over thanksgiving/christmas so I'd have backup wheels
4. Engine's been knocking the whole time I've had it (load-dependent) and has been leaking oil (e.g. added 3+ qts in 4000 miles) despite the heavily leaking oil cooler getting new o-rings
5. Tore into the truck this week.
Please don't ask
1. why are the tires so small
2. why I'm not transplanting a 5VZ
Please do let me know if I'm doing things weird/wrong, etc...I'm not seasoned yet
So, of course some pictures
before surgery
just looks dusty here (stitched photo, which is why the relay/junction box looks bent
heart removed successfully
the picture doesn't capture the swampy smell
squirrel's nest under the intake plenum
timing belt (I hope I don't need to return all that borrowed time I was driving this on)
oil pan sludge
crankshaft
bank 2 piston heads don't look too bad. Bank 1 was similar in terms of carbon. All but one of the rod bearings completely fell out when the pistons were removed. Guess that was the source of all the knocking!
special core plug medallion. Guess this engine had been remanned! After the timing cover came off, the spring tensioner gave away the pre-93 model existing in my '94 truck.
piston 2 was worn
piston 4 was worn too
cylinders actually looked ok despite the piston wear.
measuring piston diameters
measuring cylinder bore diameter I can't imagine these measurements are as accurate as they should be. I'm not a big fan of this technique.
Took a bunch of other measurements as well.. just need to look over all of them to determine what block work (boring, oversized pistons, etc...) needs to be done. Unfortunately, spring break is next week and I won't be able to get into the shop until the week after.. stay tuned though!
^^ooh, I'll have to take a closer look when I get in next.
I don't think I measured the large end diameter of the connecting rods correctly either, since the sizes I got were way bigger than what's considered standard.
and yes, I like working in this shop I'm taking full advantage of the school shop while I'm still a student.
oh, and if anyone needs a '94 3VZE timing belt/water pump kit (Aisin # TKT014), PM me know. I bought my kit a few months ago thinking I actually had an engine that matched the truck, and now it's too late to return or exchange >_<
A recommendation while you have the engine out. Rebuild the exhaust crossover or do the crossover elimination mod, its a terrible design and causes most of the reliability problems these engines have.
A recommendation... Rebuild the exhaust crossover or do the crossover elimination mod
don't worry, I've been envisioning grand crossover elimination plans for several months now I've been practicing some welding and just need to figure out a good way to bend a downpipe (might have to resort to an exhaust shop seeing how the school only has tube benders capable of doing 1.5" tube/pipe. (boo)
I also discovered a flowbench in the back room that no one's ever used, so I might throw the intake, heads, exhaust, whatever else on there and pick up some carbide burrs for porting. Mostly just for fun and learning more than anything.
I wish I didn't have to sleep: there's way too much to do!
A flow bench test on the heads and even the stock crossover world be awesome! Id love to be able to prove the crossover is restrictive. For pipe bends look at buying u-bends from summit racing or any exhaust pipe shop. With a u-bend you just measure the angle you need and cut it.
prove the crossover is restrictive... For pipe bends look at buying u-bends from summit racing or any exhaust pipe shop. With a u-bend you just measure the angle you need and cut it.
I wonder what kind of data comes out of the flowbench. I feel like you'd need to run the vehicle and have a flow meter or something at the end, then swap out the pieces and rerun... is the flow bench more just for individual components and 'imaging' restrictions? I don't know what I'm talking about, so feel free to correct and school me
Originally Posted by irab88
i know a guy doing a 5vz swap right now, ya know, if you ever want to see how awesome the swap is...
and why are your tires so small?
har har. so, how IS that swap coming along? tires dry rotted yet from waiting too long?
I just pulled my 3vze last month and I had a critter bed under my intake also. The homeless are everywhere. I'm fixing my head gaskets, I look forward to seeing your progress.
I'm not an expert but my understanding is a flow bench is for individual parts. Example- cylinder head or the intake manifold.
@irab88 - hows the swap coming, I don't know if you remember but Im the guy that bought your old 22re, I never got back to you with pictures but #3 cylinder had some scoring causing low compression. I ended up selling my pickup and your old engine with it. Bought a 94 4runner to replace it. I'm A.D.D when it comes to trucks lol
har har. so, how IS that swap coming along? tires dry rotted yet from waiting too long?
Originally Posted by superex87
@irab88 - hows the swap coming, I don't know if you remember but Im the guy that bought your old 22re, I never got back to you with pictures but #3 cylinder had some scoring causing low compression. I ended up selling my pickup and your old engine with it. Bought a 94 4runner to replace it. I'm A.D.D when it comes to trucks lol
well, glad you were able to sell it off. i knew cyl3 was going to be ugly. the swap itself is going well, i just need a couple of good-weather weekends. if i can get the exhaust and battery in, i can start it up. i might need some fresh gas, though.
anyway, back to our regularly-scheduled programing...
The homeless are everywhere. ...I look forward to seeing your progress.
my blower motor was literally a squirrel cage. well, acorn cage. would have been disgusting if there had been a dead squirrel in there! And yes, I'm looking forward to progress too!
Originally Posted by irab88
i might need some fresh gas, though.
anyway, back to our regularly-scheduled programing...
ughhh! old gas is the worst. My brother's sentra had 6+ year old gas in the tank and lines. We forced the poor fuel pump to purge it all into a bucket and dumped it into a ford that was on its way to the crusher. See, other brands of vehicles can be useful!
....I should probably replace the fuel filter on that though.
and you can steal my thread anytime. hopefully next week I'll do some other stuff on the engine.. like clean it!
I was looking through your engine pictures again and I am noticing a lot of burnt oil on the oil control rings. You didn't happen to do a compression test before tear down did you?
What I am wondering is, if the temperature in the cylinders is hot enough to make the valves stretch, how long and how much heat would it take to cook the oil control rings to the point hey no longer do their job?
I did a compression test on my 3vze when i first got it and the results were all over the place, I had cylinders ranging from 90 pis to over 200! Engine still runs pretty good with a little bit of a rough idle. The engine in your truck was a reman at some point and is still showing a lot of carbon build up on some of the pistons as a result of burning oil. And maybe why you are seeing some worn piston skirts.
Last edited by superex87; 04-12-2015 at 04:55 AM.
Reason: more info
I was looking through your engine pictures again and I am noticing a lot of burnt oil on the oil control rings. You didn't happen to do a compression test before tear down did you?
What I am wondering is, if the temperature in the cylinders is hot enough to make the valves stretch, how long and how much heat would it take to cook the oil control rings to the point hey no longer do their job?
hmm, no I didn't run a compression test prior to tear down. I thought about it after I took the pistons out and long after we shoved the truck back into the yard...one of the spark plugs didn't want to come out either: that would have made trying to run the compression test lots of fun too. O_o Only one ring was actually 'stuck;' the others rotated freely. Would the stretching on the valves be a measurable/noticeable amount (when I take apart the heads to check things out?) cooking rings doesn't sound very tasty.
I'm in the shop today. want any close-up pictures of anything while I'm here?
after looking at the shape of your 3vz, mine is in remarkable shape, dispite the engine knock i have had for over 5k miles now....hahaha. If it were my truck, I'd try to find a block that didn't have the pistons slapping into the cylinders...or I guess you bore it a bit to ensure there is no ovalizing of the cylinder shape.
My engine was oil starved like yours looks, maybe not as bad, but my issue was from the PO(or idiot) that changed the oil pan gasket with 10 tubes of RTV and decided most of it would be fine clogging the oil pickup screen. Your engine looks like someone didn't like checking the oil level...ever.
I did the crossover mod on my 4Runner using a crappy exhaust elbow from a local parts store. I should have gone to http://www.mandrel-bends.com/catalog/ and gotten a proper mandrel bend. Look on there site for the B-Stock newsletter and sign up. They sell a bucnh of different stuff that may be blemished for very cheap.
the only 'history' I have on this vehicle is that the guy I bought it from found it at an auction. He drove it for maybe 3 months on the farm. Before that.. it's anyone's guess! I checked the oil a lot.. and had to dump in about a quart every time. haha. thanks for the link. I'll definitely check it out.
Here's a few pictures from today. Didn't do a whole lot except clean and some wire wheel. Ordered a 'mark 2' connecting rod bearing to test fit all the rods before I put in my order with ENGNBLDR.
rod bearings- hadn't spun yet, but they didn't have any crush.
main bearings
close up of piston rings for superex87
before hot tanking
and after!
Last edited by LolaL; 04-13-2015 at 02:47 PM.
Reason: having issues with images
The valves in these engine do stretch a noticeable amount, when you go to adjust the valves the clearances will be on the tighter side. Once the valve stretches to the point that it wont close all the ways it over heats and you get a broken/ burned valve. It is very inporant on the engine to do a once a year /once every two year valve adjustment.
just been cleaning more. Got in today and noticed someone's been messing with all my stuff on the shop bench. They had put my greasy heads back on the hot tanked block and rearranged a whole bunch of other stuff and stuck random bolts in holes. grrrrr. Sometimes I really hate people
I think this is my favorite part from my truck.
...because cleaned, primed, and painted brackets and mounts are essential for engine performance.
took apart my starter. The wire had come loose and wouldn't even bench test. I wonder how it was able to start up every time eee. Resoldered and cleaned off the pitted contacts. works again yay!
04-03-2015, 12:11 PM
stay tuned though!
