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Getting a little concerned about my beloved Sportrak's motor.
I've noticed over the last few weeks it seems to be using oil like billy-o, every tankfull of gas 200 to 250 miles - ish sees the oil disappear from full to below min on the dip stick.
There is a very minor leak on the rocker cover, not enough to account for the loss, so I must be burning it. Got the missus to rev it on the drive and it's kicking out black smoke on hard revs. I always though oil burning gave blue smoke, what's that all about?
Am I right in thinking either piston rings or valve stems are shot? If so what are my options. Might not have the funds for a rebuid.
Could it be a simple explaination or am I looking at a big ass bill?
Engine's covered 77000 miles btw.
Cheers,
Jon (UK)
PS - update, a while ago I was sourcing extractors and got MRT's shipped and fitted - happy with them so far.
Do a wet and dry compression check. Do all cylinders straight off and note the compression. Then add a little oil to each of the cylinders and do the test again. If the compression was bad and improves when the oil was added it shows the rings are leaking. If it stays the same its the valves.
All the cylinders should show similar compression ( +/- 10% ) but can't actually give you a figure.
If its stuffed and is an HD series motor consider an Applause motor as a swap. In Australia they are a cheap option.
Cheers guys, I'll pick up a compression tester and see what that says.
Hoping it's worn valve stems only cos that would just be a head rebuild and not splitting the lump apart to get the pistons out (big $$$ here in uk).
I have some quotes for 2nd hand engines from £440 to £470 delivered, that's about $1000 to $1100 AUD - would need too add on cambelt and mecho labour to that though.
Would it be worth getting the head ported, polished and gas flowed with the standard cam, or is it a waste of money?
Murcod - Detom engine in the UK?! no chance of finding that.
Even 'normal' Sportrak stuff is like rocking horse shit over here.
Heya mate...
Yeah i had exactly the same symptoms...
Excessive oil use.
Under load in the high revs quote my mate "pisses out some black shit"
Excessive flatspotting with the power.
Basically i had a blown head gasket, on removing the head the mechanic realised that my head needed replacing..and engine mounts were gone..
all up cost me $2000 incl labour...
i would say sourcing and installing a new motor is still more expensive?
As the circle of light increases so to does the circumference of darkness around it...
Got a bare Applause engine for $120AU from a wrecker and it had just been rebuitl! Was almost perfect and almost too good to strip down for parts - so keep looking, there are great buys out there.
Dont forget that the F300 Feroza ( and perhaps others ) use the same core engine as an A101 Applause. There are smaller capacity variants in Appluases but the HD is what you want. The Applause cam is a little different from the Feroza, a bit more up top a bit less down low so you have a choice depending on your driving style.
Local 4WD wreckers want around $1200AU for a going engine ( limited guarantee ) and $400 for a "who knows" one.
No shortage of engine parts here once you ask for A101 Appluase
Pommie B*stard wrote:Murcod - Detom engine in the UK?! no chance of finding that.
Even 'normal' Sportrak stuff is like rocking horse shit over here.
Thanks again.
Jon.
I thought you guys got them? I know you got the CB70 / CB80 engined GTti Charades- we never got them over here (only as "gray" imports) We never officially got the Detomaso here either, but some places bring them in.
Doh!! Silly me forgot it was the charade motor, was a bit pissed last time I was on the board.
Anyway, I dont want the hassle or expense of having that motor + loom to go in, also the extra horsepower would tempt me to razz the b*llocks out of it and end up breaking something else.
Need to check compression and take it from there, I'll cost up the options of rebuild vs replace and I'm happy enough with stock set up.
I'll let you know how I get on, cheers for the help, it's great how us Daiheads look out for one another.
Just make sure your mechanic doesn't talk you into a top end rebuild, only to find that the crank is #*&%ed. A lot of people spend the dollars on their top end only to find that that's only half the problem.
If it's been driven for long with sub standard fuel, you'll most likely find that the CRANK is stuffed, not just the head/valve gear and rings. So make sure your mechanic is aware of this problem.
Did a dry compression check today and got 15.0, 14.5, 14.5, 14.5 bar on cylinders 1 to 4 respectively. Added a small amount of oil to each to do the wet comparison and stuffed the compression gauge completely, not to mention spat oil all over the underside of the bonnet!
So not much progress there then.
I did find alarmingly that no.1 ht lead snapped despite removing it by the rubber boot. (again)
So that's £23 wasted on the gauge and another £30 for a new set of leads
and no wiser to the state of the engine.
Off to the mechanic this week, pretty pissed of with my car now.
No doubt it'll be a bottom up rebuild that will cost a fortune.
Drive down a steep hill with the engine overrunning (ie no throttle). Then at the bottom hit the throttle to go up the next hill. If you get a blue cloud behind you, it will be the valve seals. This won't show up on compression tests as the valve is seating ok but when you are going downhill, the high vacuum is sucking oil past the rubber valve stem seal when the valve opens.
Easy enough job to do on most engines. Just take off the head and put in new guides and seals. If a mechanic does this, they ususally send the head off for full reconditioning and shaving.
Thanks Chev, I'll try the overrun then flog technique. I've never noticed any blue smoke so far, just black smoke when I got the missus to scream the b*llocks out of it on the drive while I checked at the rear.
Maybe that's just down to overfuelling at high revs?
Btw when I took the sparkies out today they looked a bit sooty - what does that suggest? (very noobish question I know)
Did the hill run thing today with a mate tailing to check smoke, and he reported a very light puff of 'greyish' smoke on the gear change and throttle. No blue cloud apparently.
Been and had a word at the garage, he said it's more than likely valve stem oil seals past their best, he's worked on a few Sportraks and said he's seen it before, black smoke on cold starts also pointed to this.
It's booked in next week for a further look, apparently they can be renewed without taking the engine apart.
Will give an update for people's reference when it's had some work done.
It should be possible to do the valve stem seals without removing the head. By pumping compressed air into the cylinger via the plug hold, the valves will stay shut when the valve spring colets are removed and the spring removed. Saves money and time.
Layto....
[quote="v840"]Just between me and you, I actually really dig the Megatwon, but if anyone asks, I'm going to shitcan it as much as possible! :D[/quote]
Sprotrak engine is stuffed good and proper now.
Long story short, I was driving home on the highway when suddenly the engine lost nearly all power and I had to limp it home with seroius vibration through the whole car.
It's in the garage now, on initial tests there is no compression and a nasty metallic rattling, hissing and bad engine wobble.
The mechanic said "it's serious" so it's being pulled apart this week to assess the damage. Almost certain to be a rebuild, which is bad as I currently have no job or income. (savings about to get a good f**king)
Will keep you posted with developments.
if you can help it, dont do a rebuild. just buy an import jap engine (applause) and install it yourself. certianly it'll be cheaper than a rebuild....
[quote="simplypv"]its a Strine thing and i just dont understand![/quote]
Regards, PV
Team [size=134][color=red][i]Anti-[/i][/color][/size]Asshat [b][color=orange]#5[/color][/b]- Yank!
Yes it was looked at, a new valve compression tool had to be ordered by the garage and their supplier has pissed them about a lot so the valve stem work was on hold.
In the meantime things have just got a lot worse, thankfully I was only 2 miles from home and not halfway up a big hill at the time.
Thanks for the tips and advice - although my mechanical knowledge, toolkit and facilities do not lend themselves to doing a DIY motor swap.
Professional prices are slightly cheaper to rebuild than have a recon (with unknown history) engine transplant, so that's the route I'm probably going damage dependent.
no chance of finding that.
