bigandy
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 11:51 AM |
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Carbon build up inside the engine.
Afternoon all.
I continued stripping my 4a-ge engine down a bit more last night, in order to clean it up a bit, and get a nice coat of orange paint on it. I ended
up taking the cam covers off so I can get the flaking paint off them a bit easier, and I was met with rather a lot of black carbon deposits
everywhere.
I've attached a couple of pictures (hopefully!) to show what I mean, but I was hoping to get some advice on what to do with it.
Is it okay to just leave it there? Or should I be looking at removing where possible? Is there anything that can get rid of it, or dissolve it
fairly easily without risking blocking up the oilways? Does this sort of deposit give any clues as to the engine condition at all?
The engine seemed to run okay in the Donor MR2, but I wouldn't have thought there would be this much cack inside!
Cheers
Andy
EDIT: okay, attaching the image didn't work, here are some links:
http://www.andy-sayle.co.uk/temp/camcrap1.JPG
http://www.andy-sayle.co.uk/temp/camcrap2.JPG
http://www.andy-sayle.co.uk/temp/camcrap3.JPG
[Edited on 31/7/07 by bigandy to add the pictures!]
[Edited on 31/7/07 by bigandy]
Dammit! Too many decisions....
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BenB
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 12:02 PM |
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I guess whoever owned it before wasn't particularly keen on oil changes!!! Jeeeez...... Or if they did, it appears they prefered to use roofing
bitumen than Castrol 
Some of the gunk looks quite chunky gunk.... Not sure how easy it would be to clean.... It might just dislodge the crud....
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bigandy
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 12:07 PM |
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Well that is what I am worried about more than anything, dislodging the crap and blocking oilways.
As a rule it is fairly easy to cleanoff, but I don't really feel comfortable doing so. I don't really want to get into a full engine
rebuild at this point in time, so I need to make a decision as to what I do.
Do I:
a) put the Cam covers back on, and pretend I haven't seen it, but run some engine flush stuff through when I start the engine up again?
b) Clean what I can see, and hope no oilways get blocked up.
c) strip the engine down, and do a full clean up and rebuild?
d) put it to once side to rebuild over the winter, and buy a low(ish) mileage jap import 4a-ge to fit in the meantime?
chaps, it is over to you!
Cheers
Andy
Dammit! Too many decisions....
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BenB
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 12:24 PM |
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Personally, I reckon having a spare engine is not a bad idea anyway (if you pop the first one you can put in the spare whilst rebuilding (if
appropriate) the first.... Otherwise you can guarantee you'll be doing an engine rebuild all over summer just in time for winter....
I'd just put the lid back on, put on a new filter and new oil and run it like that (whilst looking for a spare engine as a back-up plan)....
I'd also change the oil and filter fairly frequently during the first few months of life....
I reckon by using engine flush or cleaning you're more likely to dislodge the crud and makes things worse...
Is it worth (finanically) rebuilding those engines? Not sure about the cost of a different one 2nd hand but if the top end's that cruddy I
wouldn't hope for the lower end being any better....
I'd run it till it dies
(edited to say popping the sump off to have a look at the bottom end might not be a bad idea... if its as cruddy as the top end I'd get
worried)....
[Edited on 31/7/07 by BenB]
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bigandy
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 12:29 PM |
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I'm leaning towards option A I think.
Pretend it wasn't there, and run it and see what happens
I don't know if it is worth doing a complete rebuild on a 4a-ge engine from a 1988 Mr2. I know if I was to get another engine, I would want to
go for one of the later 20valve versions (probably a jap import)....
Cheers
Andy
Dammit! Too many decisions....
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02GF74
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 01:13 PM |
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wow - that is quite nasty 
as has been said, you run more risk of blocking an oil way by trying to shift it.
as it is runing fine now, then oil change and new filter and pretend you never removed the cover (ignorance is bliss).
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bimbleuk
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 01:38 PM |
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Never nice seeing that sort of sight under your cam covers! Actually a lot of Japanese import engines are like this if they come from a commute only
car. As above as soon as you try to clean it you'll start to dislodge big chunks of it.
My silvertop 20V was actually worse and also rusted solid in two cylinders. I took a gamble on it as it was cheap and it cleaned up very well with
only a hone required to remove the rust in the bores. Obviously that needed to stripped completely.
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bigandy
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 02:08 PM |
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It just goes to show that despite the engine eeming fine when I drove the donor around, doesn't mean it is in good condition!
Cheers
Andy
I wonder how much a newer 4a-ge engine would set me back... hmmmm..
Dammit! Too many decisions....
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BenB
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 02:20 PM |
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Linky
£500 by the looks of it
[Edited on 31/7/07 by BenB]
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zxrlocost
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| posted on 31/7/07 at 02:52 PM |
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its a well known fact that people with V6 Twin turbo cars have even smaller oil ways than yours
I dont know about the dislodge stuff part
but they run there car round on diesel oil for about 25 miles no thrashing this contains petroleum chemicals that brake down dirt
after this a proper flush and a fill up with the proper oil
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bigandy
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| posted on 1/8/07 at 12:19 PM |
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Right, decision reached.
I'm going to put the engine back together as it is, and put in some engine flush gunk with the oil for the first few hours of running.
I'm planning to change the oil frequently in the first few months just to make sure nothing nasty shows up in it
I'm also not going to bother cleaning the engine up much more either. Instead I'll concnetrate on getting hold of a slightly better spec
engine (EG a 20valve one) to replace the cacked up one I have now, once the car is on the road.
I've never heard of putting diesel in the engine oil to break down the muck, but it sounds reasonable! I had a quick look in Halfrauds at
lunch, and they sell some stuff called Wynne's engine flush, and a couple of other similar products. Are they worth the money?
Cheers
Andy
Dammit! Too many decisions....
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C10CoryM
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| posted on 1/8/07 at 02:10 PM |
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I would advise against any engine oil flush. It will just do what you don't want it to...... free up chunks and block filters/holes. Best bet
is to just put the cover back on, and run a diesel oil in the correct weight. Diesel oils have a mild detergent in them and will SLOWLY help dissolve
stuff.
Thats pretty typical for a car that gets city driven its whole life with not enough throttle. Causes the oil to coke. Ive seen far worse.
Cheers.
"Our watchword evermore shall be: The Maple Leaf Forever!"
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thomas4age
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| posted on 2/8/07 at 02:53 PM |
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Just put the engine back together, don't think of the dirt underneath the covers.
fill the engine up with normal semi synthetic 10W40 Oil (comma or such) nothing to fancy,
stick a new filter on it
drive from home to whatever place150miles away and 150miles back on one day, take of the filter and drain the now very dirty oil. put new filter on
and new oil in, if you don't trust it you could drain and refil half way offcourse.
If the presure meter stays above 4PSI @ 800rpm idle and above 30PSI @3000rpm cruise, you are very much OK just as long as presure doesn't exeed
50PSI when warm that would indicate a blocked oil passage.
I'm sure this engine has some life in it.
I Have a 16v standing on a trolley that use to be in my striker, that one had 0psi presure at Idle and regulairly stalled because of it, but when on
RPM it still has power presure and millage, so it takes a very long time before it really goes.
grtz Thomas
If Lucas made guns, Wars wouldn't start either.
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