2nd hand engine supplier
Discussion
Yes it's stripped down with the faulty piston removed - one edge of the piston crown has melted, and the rings are welded into the grooves just below that melt, and the top ring was broken. There's quite a decent score mark down the rear of the cylinder, currently trying to find out whether it can be honed out or if it would need a rebore and oversized rings or pistons, in which case it's probably going to be cheaper to buy a used engine.
Not really sure what caused it, possibly a failed coil pack although the garage that found the low compression checked and it was sparking OK, but I will replace that coil pack if it gets rebuilt anyway, just in case. I've also bought an OBD2 code reader so I can check for other issues.
Not really sure what caused it, possibly a failed coil pack although the garage that found the low compression checked and it was sparking OK, but I will replace that coil pack if it gets rebuilt anyway, just in case. I've also bought an OBD2 code reader so I can check for other issues.
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 21st July 23:19
George111 said:
JimSuperSix said:
used engine suppliers that are actually trustworthy?
I've got some magic beans if you're interested young man . . . 
There's the "Volvo graveyard" on the A1: http://www.lakes4volvo.co.uk - never used them but they will probably have any part you want. Not as cheap as you might expect and looks a bit Wolf Creek . . . !
True, but seeing as the fault was only on piston #5 , it seems likely that it's related to the specific parts on that cylinder, so replacing the injector , coil and engine should eliminate most of those.
Open to any suggestions of what else could cause an issue just on one cylinder that I can investigate.
Open to any suggestions of what else could cause an issue just on one cylinder that I can investigate.
Only piston #5 is out at the moment, currently waiting to see whether it can be re-honed in place or whether the entire engine has to come out. I can easily remove the other pistons to check those too once I know what course of action I will be taking, although from what I can see in the other bores there are no visible signs of damage and the cross-hatching is still there - bore #5 is also very shiny-silver compared to the other 4 which have a golden colour, presumably from fuel wash or similar? So I suspect it will be more cost-effective to replace the entire engine, but again until I have costs from the breakers of a replacement unit I'm not even 100% set on keeping the car - it's low value means that I might decide to scrap it instead and move on, not sure yet. 2nd hand units are about £250 on Ebay and there are loads, but I'd rather buy a known good running engine from a decent breakers than take a random Ebay punt, but if it comes down to it then for £250 I will take that punt and see what develops afterwards.
I've also just bought a code reader so I'll be able to check for codes once the engine is either fixed or replaced, so will have to take it from there and see what appears upon restarting it - it was showing a coil pack error before, so hoping that once its rebuilt and restarted I can tackle any further errors from there.
The fuel system is very simple, just a single inlet hose with a pipe, so I can't see that affecting only cylinder #5 bar an injector issue, and they will be replaced. ECU faults I hope will cause errors to be flagged again upon restarting, ECUs are easy to remove so I could send those for testing, as far as I know the engine is in a normal state of tune with no mods or remaps, inlet system all appears fine upon removal, need to inspect all hoses for splits though and will do that when rebuilding.
Basically, I will start with the most likely causes related to cylinder #5, then go from there.
I've also just bought a code reader so I'll be able to check for codes once the engine is either fixed or replaced, so will have to take it from there and see what appears upon restarting it - it was showing a coil pack error before, so hoping that once its rebuilt and restarted I can tackle any further errors from there.
The fuel system is very simple, just a single inlet hose with a pipe, so I can't see that affecting only cylinder #5 bar an injector issue, and they will be replaced. ECU faults I hope will cause errors to be flagged again upon restarting, ECUs are easy to remove so I could send those for testing, as far as I know the engine is in a normal state of tune with no mods or remaps, inlet system all appears fine upon removal, need to inspect all hoses for splits though and will do that when rebuilding.
Basically, I will start with the most likely causes related to cylinder #5, then go from there.
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 24th July 11:20
I will remove and examine the other pistons tomorrow, but you are being very condescending without offering any actual advice on what I could be checking if I decide to install a new (used) engine, although I've seen your posts before so I know you always reply this way. I've dismantled and assembled a few engines over the years, such as a Toyota Surf diesel, a few MX5 engines and a couple of Zetecs in my kit cars, but as you point out I am not an expert and I freely admit that, hence asking here for help.
The rest of the engine that I have taken apart so far seems fine as far as I can tell, the head and valves all appear normal, there were no signs of metal in the sump, there was a small amount of oil in the turbo inlet pipe but not that much, head gasket was not blown, no oil in the coolant, oil pickup seems clean although I have yet to inspect the pickup filter closely. It had a new oil filter and oil, cambelt, tensioners and waterpump about 4 months ago just after we bought it. Air filter is clean. I've not found any splits in any of the inlet or vacuum hoses so far.
The rest of the engine that I have taken apart so far seems fine as far as I can tell, the head and valves all appear normal, there were no signs of metal in the sump, there was a small amount of oil in the turbo inlet pipe but not that much, head gasket was not blown, no oil in the coolant, oil pickup seems clean although I have yet to inspect the pickup filter closely. It had a new oil filter and oil, cambelt, tensioners and waterpump about 4 months ago just after we bought it. Air filter is clean. I've not found any splits in any of the inlet or vacuum hoses so far.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 25th July 20:14
stevieturbo said:
He hasnt inspected the rest of the engine, so no way of telling and he never responded to any suggestions about whether engine was standard or tampered with etc
I responded about the engine tune previously, and as said on Thursday I have stripped the rest of the engine apart from removing pistons 1 to 4, which I will do tomorrow - if there are specifics I need to check then by all means point them out, as posted above so far I've found nothing out of the ordinary with the rest of it.OK I have just removed the other 4 pistons - they all appear to be in good condition - all 3 rings on each one are intact and move freely, the pistons themselves dont have any marks on them anywhere, the tops have some black carbon crustiness and flakes on but no actual physical damage, and all the big end bearings, shells and crank journals are unmarked. The bores #1 to #4 are all slightly golden in colour and still have diagonal cross-hatching clearly visible , bore #5 is shiny silver with no cross-hatching but plenty of vertical wear marks, including the large scrape mentioned before at the rear of the bore.
I've also removed and checked the sump oil pickup, and as far as I can see into it with a torch the filter mesh looks clear and clean and not blocked.
I've also removed and checked the sump oil pickup, and as far as I can see into it with a torch the filter mesh looks clear and clean and not blocked.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 25th July 22:07
Thinking it through - the black crusty carbon flakes on top of the pistons would suggest to me that oil is being burned, which ties in with it using about 1L of oil per 1000miles or so. There was a small amount of oil in the turbo outlet to the inlet manifold, so that would likely be the source of the oil. So I'm thinking that no matter what engine goes back in, it would be sensible to send the turbo to a specialist to have it checked and/or seals replaced / swapped for another one, to hopefully eliminate that oil burning issue. If I rebuild this engine the head will be going to an engineering company to be pressure tested / valves checked etc.. so that should remove any possible valve stem leaks etc...
I am also wondering whether a lump of the carbon crud could have become lodged in the rings on #5 and caused the large scrape marks leading to low compression, bad ignition and thus fuel wash and excessive bore wear.
All just guesswork on my part - does this theory make sense?
I am also wondering whether a lump of the carbon crud could have become lodged in the rings on #5 and caused the large scrape marks leading to low compression, bad ignition and thus fuel wash and excessive bore wear.
All just guesswork on my part - does this theory make sense?
OK that shoots down my theory 
The local garage checked the PCV system and it was working OK.
So assuming I scrap this engine and get a replacement with coils , injectors and fuel rail , is there anything else I can check myself to do with the fueling? And what would cause detonation that is likely to still be in place if I installed that complete new engine?
The local garage checked the PCV system and it was working OK.
So assuming I scrap this engine and get a replacement with coils , injectors and fuel rail , is there anything else I can check myself to do with the fueling? And what would cause detonation that is likely to still be in place if I installed that complete new engine?
There is a rolling road / tuning place just down the road, I'll probably book the car in there (assuming I can get it working) to see if they can find anything amiss with the ECU / mapping etc...
I've ordered a replacement engine complete with injectors , coils and turbo, so I'll have plenty of spare parts at least.
I've ordered a replacement engine complete with injectors , coils and turbo, so I'll have plenty of spare parts at least.
Looks like I've found the cause of the problem, or rather my engineer next door neighbour did when examining the cylinder head - under all the carbon crud there's an impact mark on the head that lines up perfectly with the misshapen area on piston 5, which looks quite a bit like the end of the outer electrode from a spark plug, and so what I thought was a melted part on the piston was actually where it had hit something in the cylinder and slightly compressed the piston edge and broken the top ring, which then led to blow-by and the scoring etc.. Just bad luck really that the contact occured right on the weaker edge of the piston above the ring groove, a couple of mm further in and it probably would have just left a small dent.
So that's good news, seems to have been a physical breakage rather than a fueling or spark issue etc..
New engine is in and running nicely (so far) , but I broke the auto-box shifter cable end so I have to fix that before I can drive it on the road.
So that's good news, seems to have been a physical breakage rather than a fueling or spark issue etc..
New engine is in and running nicely (so far) , but I broke the auto-box shifter cable end so I have to fix that before I can drive it on the road.
Yes we've had it for just a few months , spark plugs were all intact when I dismantled the engine so must have been damage that occurred before we bought it 
I don't know for sure that its a spark plug tip, but the impact mark on the head is about the right shape - rectangular , neat sharp edges , a few mm long and perhaps 1mm wide. I'll take a photo of it if i get time.
I don't know for sure that its a spark plug tip, but the impact mark on the head is about the right shape - rectangular , neat sharp edges , a few mm long and perhaps 1mm wide. I'll take a photo of it if i get time.
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