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Contemplating ultra-budget 22re rebuild. How bad of an idea?
Flame suit on.
So, I've got a 2wd 22re with bad rings in cylinder 4 causing low compression and a misfire. I've also got a bad head gasket at 205,000 miles. I don't have the time or desire to do a full rebuild the right way at this point in time. Maybe this winter I'll tear it down and do it right. So I'm thinking of a cheap and dirty "rebuild". The truck is currently running and driving fairly well. I drive it to work 3 days a week as is.
Assumptions:
The cylinder wall is in decent shape.
The piston is reusable.
The ridiculous plan:
Pull the head and send it to the machine shop to be freshened up.
Pull the oil pan.
Pull the piston out of the top of the block.
Examine cylinder wall for scoring.
Hone, if necessary?
New rings on piston.
Reinstall piston with new bearing.
Install oil pan.
New head gasket and install head.
Drive into the sunset.
I guess my questions are:
How bad of an idea is this?
If it goes according to plan, how many miles could I reasonably get out of it?
My dad had a v6 that blew a head gasket and flooded one of the cylinders so bad it bent the connecting rod piston went down to far and the skirt got spread on the crank shaft. Took the head off beat the piston out the top and installed a new one same bearing no head work and it ran fine. Drove it for the next 6 years that same way.
My dad had a v6 that blew a head gasket and flooded one of the cylinders so bad it bent the connecting rod piston went down to far and the skirt got spread on the crank shaft. Took the head off beat the piston out the top and installed a new one same bearing no head work and it ran fine. Drove it for the next 6 years that same way.
Well, if you are planning to rebuild the engine right, why not just do it now? (other than not having enough time which is definitely a problem.) You won't have to rip apart the engine twice.
I guess it all depends on what you find when you rip apart the engine.
I swear the best motor I ever had was when I left the block in the car and did a cheap and dirty rebuild. Pull the crankshaft, honed, new rings and reinstalled everything and it ran great. I was in my late teenage years and didn't know squat about motors then and did not have the budget then.
It is a chance you take and might could bite you afterwards, but if it is the only way of getting it back on the road until a better time it would be worth the chance I suppose.
If it runs and drives just fine as it currently stands...then just leave it until winter and do a propper rebuild. It saves doing the work twice over!
Cylinders dont just loose compression overnight...its probably been like that for the last 6 months+; so another 6 months wont "hurt" it.
I always stand by the principal of 'do it once, do it right'...ONCE is the word that should stand out, because we all know time is money....and if the budget is the main focus then i wouldnt be risking a half-asses rebuild, because IF something goes wrong with the first flick of the key...it could potentially end up costing a whole lot more.
Rebuilds dont have to be expensive...shop around for parts, shop around for machining quotes. A perfect example of this is what happened to me last weekend, i need to replace my rear main seal, so im going to throw a new clutch in...that means the flywheel needs to be machined. I called a few local clutch/gearbox specialists, $110-$120 each just for machining. Called the local brake & clutch shop, $90. Called a local engine rebuilder/general machinist, $60. Same happened with my front wheel alignment, quoted in this order...$110, $130, $130, $115, $75. The last quote was also the cheapest supplier of the rims and tyres i got aswel, and that really surprised me because they are a massive chain company, but i guess they have the buying power??
If it runs and drives just fine as it currently stands...then just leave it until winter and do a propper rebuild. It saves doing the work twice over!
Cylinders dont just loose compression overnight...its probably been like that for the last 6 months+; so another 6 months wont "hurt" it.
I always stand by the principal of 'do it once, do it right'...ONCE is the word that should stand out, because we all know time is money....and if the budget is the main focus then i wouldnt be risking a half-asses rebuild, because IF something goes wrong with the first flick of the key...it could potentially end up costing a whole lot more.
Rebuilds dont have to be expensive...shop around for parts, shop around for machining quotes. A perfect example of this is what happened to me last weekend, i need to replace my rear main seal, so im going to throw a new clutch in...that means the flywheel needs to be machined. I called a few local clutch/gearbox specialists, $110-$120 each just for machining. Called the local brake & clutch shop, $90. Called a local engine rebuilder/general machinist, $60. Same happened with my front wheel alignment, quoted in this order...$110, $130, $130, $115, $75. The last quote was also the cheapest supplier of the rims and tyres i got aswel, and that really surprised me because they are a massive chain company, but i guess they have the buying power??
It doesn't run and drive just fine, now. It runs and drives fairly well. As in, I can make it to work before it overheats and it only occasionally dies at an idle due to the dead cylinder.
I don't have the time to do a full rebuild right now and I'm worried about destroying the remaining integrity of the engine if I keep driving it like this. It's also 100 degrees in OK and I don't want to spend every evening for two weeks in my garage this time of year. That's why I'm trying to do this and knock it out in a day, maybe. If it goes south, I'll have time and good weather to rebuild it this winter, anyway.
Well, there is really only one way to find out if its a good idea or not, and thats to go ahead and have a red hot crack at what ur proposing to do.
Hopefully u wont open a can of worms and start finding things that will require it to become a full rebuild anyway...just keep in mind that its a possibility
It's also 100 degrees in OK and I don't want to spend every evening for two weeks in my garage this time of year. That's why I'm trying to do this and knock it out in a day, maybe.
i don't think that pulling the head is something that can be done in a day.
find a good running used engine, and swap it over.
Are you sure the rings are bad and it's not just the valve seats leaking?
I don't see any issue with what you are trying to do as long as you take your time and make sure you minimize possible contamination once it's closed up.
However I would not touch the bottom end if you are not doing a full rebuild. Odds are with those miles it probably needs to be bored to get every thing strait. Honing it and adding new rings could introduce new problems especially if you plan on doing a rebuild down the road I would focuse on the top end and leave the bottom alone.
It's also 100 degrees in OK and I don't want to spend every evening for two weeks in my garage this time of year. That's why I'm trying to do this and knock it out in a day, maybe. If it goes south, I'll have time and good weather to rebuild it this winter, anyway.
I am just across the line from Oklahoma and it is hot. I was in the shop at 6 this morning and at 9 o'clock I called it quits for the day.
I am just across the line from Oklahoma and it is hot. I was in the shop at 6 this morning and at 9 o'clock I called it quits for the day.
100F isn't to bad. Just make sure you drink water.
On that note a your best bet is to just do the head and leave the rest to when you can do it right. Since the motor seems to still be running strong odds are you will be happy with it and not risk more oil consumption or low compression if your "dirty repair" doesn't work out. Plus it would be a good time for a cam and valve spring upgrade while the head is apart
Bumping an oldish thread. I've finally gotten around to tearing into this. A couple of things I've noticed: two of my head bolts looked like this and were a pain to get loose. From overheating, maybe? And there wasn't much to note about the head gasket itself, except around the middle bolt on the drivers side there was a buildup of sludge around the bolt hole. Anybody with more experience have any comments about either picture?
You need a thread chaser for the block and new bolts for the head. You need the block threads squeaky clean after looking at that. When you put the new ones in use thread sealant. Or ARP thread lubricant.
Here is the head before cleaning it. Any diagnostic information to be learned here? Valve color? Buildup? Or maybe that's what a 200k head should look like.
07-19-2016, 07:13 AM
if your doing it cheap don`t have any head work done!!
