Engine looks awesome man. Almost ready to throw it in?

 

The lower two rings look like cam seals, but they are quite a bit too small.

The oil pan gasket (which is optional) SHOULD be aluminum. 12mm; dorman makes them. (For what it's worth, my "top" gasket set doesn't have anything like that.)

What you've identified as an idle air gasket sure looks like the gasket for the PCV-to-plenum connector. (I don't think the idle air component is considered servicable by Toyota, so I couldn't find the part either.)

 

*I know the newer oil pan drain plug gaskets are aluminum sandwiched by blue paper. I'm probably just going to use the actual Toyota ones, since I have a handful of them from work.
*I'll just put the "idle air gasket" back where I pulled it from, since I can't find even find a diagram for it. Probably not as crucial as a new head gasket :p
thanks for the input!

** update: apparently those mystery gaskets are for the oil cooler.

unfortunately, no. I can only work on it one day a week, so progress is a little slow. I'm hoping to put the heads back together, clean the injectors, and maybe try my hand at porting/polishing on Monday

 

ported today! Guess whose camera decided to run out of battery though I'll try to take some pictures next week, though there won't be any before/after, booo.

I took the most material off of the intake plenum/manifold. The exhaust gaskets all fit pretty well, and there wasn't much to take off the heads either. Not sure where the flow bench went; they're moving things around in that back room. Sorry, there won't be any data Maybe one day...

In other news, the sentra's diff oil seal started leaking. I guess if it's not one thing, it's another.

 

Awesome build page. I'm going to follow this for my rebuild

 

This is my favorite thread right now, dont be messing with me by not putting progress pictures up!!

 

aw, thanks! but you know if you follow this rebuild thread, you're going to have to do all these side projects like tint windows and fix other problems on your alternate vehicle... ^_^

oh no, *blush* and now I have pressure!!

Replaced the sentra's diff oil seal tonight after work. Found out why it was leaking (and probably why the wheel bearing on that side was bad too): the bracket supporting that half axle was missing 2 of the 3 bolts where it mounts to the engine! Again, no pictures; gear oil and camera don't go together too well...but who wants pictures of a turd-y sentra anyway, right?

here's how I got the yota's injector filters out. I read where someone else used a sheet metal screw attached to a t-wrench; I didn't have either, so wood screw and vice grip seemed to work just fine.



I was going to rig up a pulsing switch and throw the things into a sonicator my instructor had; but this was way simpler and used less solvent
link:
materials:
powerpack (or battery source)
injector wiring hacked off another harness
carb/throttle body/injector cleaner with straw
used tire valve stem with schrader valve removed
an extra hand

method:
pulsed the injectors by tapping the wire against the ground side of the power pack while spraying cleaner through the injector. Tire valve is just for a better fit around the injector opening. worked pretty well, though I don't have any way of measuring injection volumes or spray. The resistance between the terminals was all ~ 14.2ohms after cleaning. spec is 13.4-14.2ohms, according to the repair manual.

 

Man I think I really need to pull my motor and rebuild it....wish I had a shop that nice to do it in though....

 

is there anything wrong with your motor? yeah, I'm really spoiled by being a student

It's Monday, which means, I did some stuff (not as much as I wanted to though. I was hoping to have the heads completely together, but I forgot I still have to helicoil 3 bolt holes and the spark plug hole for cyl. 4).


the varnish on the cams came off with light emery cloth



pressing in the valve stem oil seals with a 12mm 1/4" drive 12-point socket, extension, and small hammer. tap tap tap



I hate that tool so much. I didn't notice the nut was missing until the white plastic piece flew off while the tool was compressed. It clocked me in the jaw/mouth. What a mean left hook! I'm glad I still have all my teeth. Somehow I was able to press in all the keepers on one head before that happened though. ??



playing the shim game. The valve lash was all tighter after having cut the valves and seats, and I actually don't have thin enough shims to get them all back down to spec. Shop foreman at work says I can have all the shims he has. Hope they'll fit!

in turd-news, recharged the AC in the Sentra. I might have defrost now. Recovered 0.23lbs. Capacity: 1.2 (!) no wonder it wasn't cold.

 

Yes, It started idling really crappy, but only after you start it after the first time of the day. It also has 268K on it and they guy I bought it from had no mechanical prowess at all, so I figure, it definitely can't hurt. I have a lot of other stuff to do to it as well, but getting it running well is my first priority, it also has an oil leak that I think is coming from the pan but I am not sure, and he dipstick doesn't seem to show it really losing any oil...

 

I don't feel that I am going to be able to do this rebuild as well as you in my garage either...lol

 

Does'nt your shop have a precision surface grinder??

You could make some measurements and then grind the bottoms of your existing shims to spec. Alternatively, you could make the measurements and grind the ends of the valve stems to make spec.

 

mmm nice shiny heads you have there. Rebuild continues to look awesome.

Regarding your oil leak Ott, it might be coming from your real main seal of your transmission. You can tell this by looking around your transmission cover plate which will have oil on or around it. For high mileage cars, this is normal as seals are old.

 

hm, precision grinder... not sure. There's a machine shop up the sidewalk from us though. I wonder if they'd have anything suitable. They have lathes, but I'm not sure how to mount the shims on those. I have a handful of shims from the foreman to try out. There are a few smaller ones that might work/help. And yeah... I can always grind the valve stems down, but that'd mean getting that horrible valve spring compressor back out.

I think my engine was leaking out of every seal possible. valve cover gaskets, rear, front mains, pan, oil cooler gaskets. You name it, it was leaking!

 

Janos01, most of the wetness from the oil is definitely all around the front of my transmission where it bolts to the motor, so maybe it is transmission rather than oil pan?

 

What color is the leaking oil??

What is its smell?

Always look up, many times the origin of the oil is higher up than is casually apparent.

It is likely that your senses can show what the leak is.

 

It looks feels and smells like oil but my dipstick doesn't really show any oil loss

 

Most likely its the rear main seal if the leakage is in front of the transmission. It is a high mile car + engine, its normal for it to leak as seals are old.

 

Thanks for the info, is that a pain in the butt to change? and do you have to pull the motor or transmission to do it?

 

You will need to pull the transmission to replace that seal. Its not worth doing unless your going to to work on the engine or the transmission.