Engnbldr, which is well liked by several on this site, has your heads listed for $348 each (new).

I agree that blocks are much less likely to crack than heads, so a careful visual inspection is all you should need (that's all they did to find the cracks in your heads.) But I would worry a little about the pistons. If you cracked a head, you might have cracked a piston. Again, visual inspection should be enough, but you'll have to get them out of the head. (which will make inspecting the block so much easier.)

Carefully add up what this is going to cost. A carefully rebuilt engine will always be better than one that came out of a wrecked truck, but how much better?

 

I found a full remanufactured engine on craigslist for $1200 http://sacramento.craigslist.org/ptd/4898488767.html

Maybe I should get this?

Machine shop said 1,000 for new heads and my guts.
Or get used heads ~200 + 600 for job. 800 total.
Or get remanufactured heads 700-800 w/ shipping

I've heard the aluminum used on the reman heads isn't as strong as the oem aluminum that's why I was thinking the used heads (that aren't cracked like mine) and a job on those. Which seems like it'd be better than a reman engine. At this point I'm looking at the options that will be the easiest. Seems like the reman engine would be the easiest. I dread taking apart the bottom block because it's already been apart like this for so long. Just want it back together. I've never done this before so I don't know how hard it is for the bottom block to be taken apart. I don't have a engine hoist either.

 

Going to buy some PB blaster and put on the tops of my pistons let sit overnight check to see if any fluid leaks out and if it does can indicate a bad piston ring. A suggestion a friend who is a mechanic gave me. I found an vertical indent in one of the cylinder bores. hmm? And as far as the heads I was going to get the oem stock rebuilt ones supplied by engnbldr

 

When I have seen a vertical indent in the cylinder in the past, what happened is a piece of the ring snapped off and gouged the wall. I rebuilt a motor with the same indent and it had to be taken .30 to get the bore straight again. I would not be surprised to see that cylinder not hold the fluid.

I use Marvel Mystery Oil for test like you are doing but you should get the same results.

 

If your heads are off, just do a close inspection of the top inch of each cylinder bore. You'll see "cross-hatching" in the bores from the original machining process, it will be worn away where the first ring stops, as well as along the top and bottom walls of the cylinders. If you see TWO steps, you most likely have a broken ring. This area is where neglecting oil changes will show itself.

 

Here is a pic of one of the pistons. I circled the indent I was talking about. It is like an actual scratch you can barely feel with your fingernail but it is really small. Currently am doing the marvel mystery oil overnight to see if they drain. Thanks for the tip Terrys87 its cheaper than pb blaster. I also can't find the cracks the machine shop said were on my heads. I just can't see them I looked up cracked heads online but its hard to tell. I was thinking about getting like a UV dye to illuminate the cracks with a black light. Anyone do that before? I can try it on my bottom end too. Don't know if I'd just use the kind for engine oil? Thanks guys

 

Heads usually crack in between the hardened valve seats. Look for a very faint line at the closest point.

 

Here's a pic of one of the head cylinders.
I scraped this area off with a screwdriver, why its so clean right there but I did wonder if this is a crack. Is this the area you talking about?

 

That's the crack they're talking about.

And for the sake of clarity, the cylinders are in the block. The indentations in the head are combustion chambers.

 

That is not the gouge I was talking about in the cylinder earlier, ones I have seen are DEEP. I cant see anything in your pic and think you will be ok with what I can see but a picture does not show dimensions so have it checked by a shop or someone who can on that.

Heads can have a hairline crack. Literally the size of a hair. One I thought was cracked was carbon, one I thought was carbon was a hairline crack. Not sure why it would be so clean where you circled the head.

 

Okay combustion chambers got it. Still trying to learn all the terms haha. By dimensions do you mean checking the top surface for flatness with a ruler and feeler gauge? Which i still need to do. I think as long as its pretty flat and the mystery oil doesnt leak out i probably will go ahead with rebuilding it. Towing it to a mechanic and getting it tested just would not be worth it for me. Would rather get a used bottom end, which i know someone selling one dont know how much he said was running but so was mine with cracked heads

 

So cylinder #3 leaked that much compared to the others over a 24hr period. Testing the remaining cylinders tonight. Cylinder #2 was the one that showed up with low compression (20psi). I don't know what the others tested at but assume they were within 30psi of each other. We also checked the block surface for flatness with a straightedge and a feeler gauge with the spec in my Haynes manual (0.0059in) and that showed up good. Can't find any cracks from looking at it either.

 

So I tested the others over a 24hr period and cylinder #2 drained a little but not as much as cylinder #3. Guess my bottom end is fried. I've been side tracked working on my Camry doing the camshaft, crankshaft and oil pump pulley seals. I pulled off the spark plug tube that has been leaking pretty bad into the spark plug (this is after a new valve cover gasket set which could have been felpro though). I don't think these have spark plug tube seals where it screws into the head unless it was completely disintegrated. Anywho you guys think I should just get a used 3 slow since this test came up bad?

 

I've been watching your thread, because I'm not sure I believe that test works. When cold, the piston rings have a spec gap of about 1.2mm; about the thickness of a nickle. The rings are (supposedly) installed with the gaps spread around the circumference to slow the passage of cylinder gasses.

But it's not water-tight. The oil you used is relatively viscous, so it might not flow too quickly through a small space, but the slightest variation between cylinders could change that. You could have a ring with slight mis-gap, or a few rings where the gap rotated toward the lower side in your test.

The difference between cylinders gives me pause, but I'm not sure yet whether you need to rebore the block (expensive) or just re-ring (not so much).

In any event, thank you for so carefully sharing your work.

 

I dont know that test well enough to say which way I would go. Buying a used motor is always taking a chance. I have got some great ones and gotten junk. I can find a parts truck for about the same price as a used motor. If I get a bad motor, I can always use the other parts so have always come out ahead on that. A parts truck you have a better chance of hearing the motor run and maybe get to drive it. Not sure if you have the ability to have a parts truck in your area. Try to find a roll over, bad transmission, or something that stopped it from driving other then the motor.

I have bought rebuilt 4 cylinder motors and rebuilt them myself. I prefer to buy a rebuilt motor as you get some kind of warranty. Usually cost a little more then rebuilding them but searching around usually not much more. Machine work can add up quick and if it needs bored you run need new pistons and usually something else will need work.

With parts and machine work I think for a few dollars more you could buy a rebuilt motor myself as I have not done the 3.0. Also rebuilding a motor takes more time then you might think regarding to waiting for the machine shop and parts and then the actual time to rebuild it. A month is not an excessive amount of time.

Not an answer to your question but hope it helps on used, rebuilt or rebuilding your self.

 

As scope stated, ring gaps should be clocked around the piston to minimize compression loss. The rings have a gap cold because they grow as operating temp is reached. You might be able to see where the gap in the primary ring is, but you still have the secondary and the oil ring gaps, and without pulling the piston have no idea where these are. The closer they are to the bottom, the faster your oil will leak. The closer they are to each other, the faster your oil will leak. The less carbon on your rings, the faster your oil will leak. Sludge buildup in the oiling ring. Whether the piston is in the up or down stroke. These things could all affect your test, not to mention you're doing it deep in the bore, where wear and stress is minimal and might actually work against you.

I wouldn't condemn anything based on that.

 

Okay this is good information. I've been talking to my mechanic friend and at this point he thinks I should cut my loses and get a new engine. Or he said that it might last about a year until it gets low compression or burns oil or ruins my cat and/or air and fuel sensors. I know the reman engines are not rebuilt and just a few things replaced but that might be the way to go for me. I found one for 1200 on craigslist. I'm sure its not as good as other reman engines too I don't have the room for a parts truck since I already have two vehicles lol. And I never said but this is going to be my weekend truck and crawler so its only insured for 3000 miles a year so may last a little longer than a year if my friend thinks in a year I'd be putting on 10000..

 

I see NO reason to believe your engine will die soon. Besides, if it's going to be a weekend toy, what have you got to lose? Get EVERY mile out of it you can.

 

A big reason why i wanted to fix it was to get it smogged because it wouldnt as it was. But when i was taking it apart the vaccuum sensor on top of the intake manifold toward the firewall that routes to the charcoal canister was broken so one hose was just dangling. I didnt specify that before either.. and it had the lean code so i bet that was causing it. But the low compression was going on so it is more than that obviously. Still curious about the igniter signal to ecu code.

 

If you have an oscilloscope, check the igniters blue and green wires for a square wave pattern. The blue wire has a 0v to 5v square wave, the green wire has a 12v to 0v square wave (inverted). Edit: That's for a 22RE.