rebuild

[MoonRaker]

Hello, Im doing a rebuild on my VX and would like to contribute my pics of the step by step process. I havent made any contributions and would like this thread to be one BIG contribution. Id appreciate if I can atleast post pics of the proscess and data I find. I work at this reputable company and would like for you to read the history.

pettitracing.com

I build motors for a living and would have to say this is my first VXer so im taking pictures for my own referance.Why not share my knowlege of how to build a better VXer. If I blow my tranny ill post how to build a better tranny also. Piece buy piece, showing were each wire goes with the different color codes so you dont have to lable anything but vaccume hoses. Like I say I need to post alot of pics.

[pbkid]

moonraker. im very interested. i just blew up the motor in my vx so....

[ZEUS]

moonraker. im very interested. i just blew up the motor in my vx so....

Wait wait wait... pbkid, first you slid into a Tahoe or something and now you blew up your motor? What's going on in Larkspur? :confused:

MoonRaker, I would like to see some detailed pics of all that stuff you plan to do. It should be interesting!

[MoonRaker]

I havent heard back from any moderators. Im not a sight supporter and im not going to pay to post pics that are for my use. Like I said to them in an Email, im willing to share pics and give explinations of what im doing and why. Thats going to take me a long time to just write. Its probly going to be about 100 to 150 pics. Every detail. You might want to send them somthing in referance to this if your interested. All they have to do is push a button. I bet its going to draw more members also, only benifits.

[Anita]

Moonraker,

I would wait a little longer than an afternoon for Scott (the site owner) to get back to you. I assume you sent the email to him, since it didnt come to my moderator's box.

Scott works a varied schedule so give him some time. I will alert him as well about your offer. :)

[CrnCnn]

I wrote Scott a PM and he took a few days to get back at me, not complaining, just letting you know. Some people dont have a whole lot of time. Me on the other hand have no life. So I am on here alot.

[MoonRaker]

Cool CRNCNN, after I finish and break in my engine im headed that way. Tryed for a glamis newyear but had to call it off because of this problem. :mad: this is a big thanks to Isuzu for not replacing my motor when I told them that it was on its way out. That was after I purchased it and tryed my best to take good care of it and make it last. Almost 5,000 miles after warrenty experation. Isuzu you built an impressive machine but you need to take better care of your customers. Enough of that. Lets get down to buissnes.

[MoonRaker]

First and for most, get everthing thats in the way out of the way, keep the area clean around and under the vehical. The hood, remove it, if its out of the way it keeps your head from bleeding, trust me. Next is the battery and complete air box. There is a 12mm nut/bolt combination to the left of it wich also holds an A/C line. Theres 2 12mm bolts inside the airbox also holding the airbox down. Unplug the MAF sensor theres 2 hoses also, remove them from the engine side to cut the clutter, one leads to the PCV just pop the PCV out and leave it conected to the hose and the other goes to the left side of the motor. Theres a phillips screw hose clamp holding the pipe to the throttle body. Remove the entire assembly as one piece so it speeds reassemly. Ok, ive gotten a little bit more then that done but the rest requires pics so it easyer to understand. Keep everthing organized like tools and just about everthing because theres alot more parts on the way. Bag all of the small parts with lables. Some of the bolts can be replaced without being in the way, use your own judjment on wich ones to do this with. This also helps you during assembly because it keeps you from having to figure out were it goes.

[Moncha]

Thanks Anita, I got your PM.

Yes, I am very sorry that I'm not a fixture on the site right now. I'm right in the middle of combining 2 detective positions and a 3 million $$ upgrade to our communications center.

No one needs to, or is obliged to donate to the site. It is mearly out on the kindness of hearts to help offset the high cost of running a place like this.
All contributions, dollars, photos, articles, etc.. are always accepted with great appreciation. You do not need to be a site supporter to have an article published.

An article the size of what you are proposing is quite an undertaking and will take some planning to get it to display correctly. Send me, by email, what you have if possible and I'll get it to where it needs to go.

Thank you again in advance for your contribution.

Scott

[pbkid]

zeus, yea i slid into a tahoe in front of my place of work like 2 days before christmas. i then got like 4 days off work around christmas so i could drive home to my parents house to visit for the holidays. i went snowboarding the other 3 days other than christmas because thats what i love to do. my motor actually blew up coming through the eisenhower tunnel.
basically it started clicking and i figured it was probably a piece of ice or something stuck in the fan, but the clicking persisted to get louder as i drove on so i pulled over and the motor was 3 quarts low. (and i check my oil every time i go snowboarding or drive long distances and it was completely full that morning) which of course then in turn started to worry me so i pulled over, called AAA and waited 5 hours for them to send a tow truck to come get me. the motor was diagnosed as a broken rod 3 days later. apparently the rod broke and slightly cracked/dented my oil pan. so now im looking at a new motor and some new body parts.
figuring about 5-6 grand, planning on me and a friend of mine who is a mechanic doing the motor swap.
please wish me the best of luck everyone as am i going to need it with paying for college and now needing a bunch of stuff for my baby.
so currently im driving my integra and will be probably until next winter at least. so, you will all see the integra in moab for a ride along with someone else =)

[ZEUS]

Ouch! What a punch to the gut! Certain people keep saying the 3.5 motor doing that is a myth or whatever but it seems to still be occurring! My '99 is right at 55,000 miles and the possibility of this happening makes me nervous... All the more reason to see what MoonRaker has in store for us.

[pbkid]

yea i only had 79,000 on mine =(

[MoonRaker]

Gotten alot done since monday, this is alot of work!!!!

[MoonRaker]

Ive moved this to another sight. I havent gotten any response to the pics ive sent to the moderator here and the other sight is stoked about what im doing. It seems like they only have $$$$$ on the brain.

http://vx.lobbynetworks.net/

[Tone]

So write it up with all your pics, and make it a pdf (which you can post here) and be done with it. What's with the drama and expectations you have of this site? (not sight by the way). And realize most of what you are doing is covered in existing manuals and tech CDs.

You might also want to use a spell checker on your own site....

[thedutchguy]

Geee Tone,

yor hurtin his feelins. :p

[MoonRaker]

Didnt meen to make your hairs raise, I have nothing againt this sight other then being able to post pics. Just trying to help, not cut through red tape in the process. Yeh, my spelling sucks, I admit it. I now theres manuals around and I reccomend getting one, but non that are going to have as many refferance pics. Also, im building a better then stock VX engine that requires less stringent maintnence and extra steps wich most manuals dont have. It would cost you about $6000 give or take to have a stock engine replacement. If you do this yourself like I am its only going to cost about $2500 to $3000 and your time for a better all around motor. Im planning on keeping my VX for a long time without a repeat of the same problems and just want to give records of what ive done, take it or leave it.

[MoonRaker]

Ok, ive gotten my final quotes for parts and machining.
Keep note that im building a 200,000 mile engine so not all figures apply.
Rebuild kit from promar engines, includes pistons and gaskets and oil pump $850.00

All in house machining from Promar, 0.010 over stock and including crank $500.00

nickel plating and diamond honning $800.00

Total cost = $2100.00

This is great, better then a $3200 shortblock. Im betting it can handle an extra 60 HP load and not have an affect on milage out come. The nickel plating isnt a must but I do it to all of my motors to decrees were and tear, and it also decreases friction and heat. Here are the sights to the vendors.

http://www.promarengine.com/home.asp

http://www.mt-llc.com/technology/index.shtml

Any more seggestions would be cool.

[MoonRaker]

Well, im on my last few steps of my rebuild. Its taken longer then I planned because it was set on the back burner for some time but ive been left no choice. I totaled my other vehical and getting a new one isnt a good option at this time. Ive gotten all of the machining finished and built the long block in the last 3 days. My findings were 1, cracked ring and 2, oil rings had no spring and were kinda stuck. It looks like a manufactureing defect with the oil rings to me to be the cause. The oil ring groove in the pistons were to tightly clearenced causing many engine issues ive seen with other owners. Id recomend everyone getting a compresion test and leakdown test if you have any bad engine symtoms such as oil burning before your warrenty runs out.

[psychos2]

A leak down test would be expensive, since you would have to remove the cams. shawn

[MoonRaker]

A leak down test would be expensive, since you would have to remove the cams. shawn

Just bar the motor over and do 1 hole at a time. A motor job costs 7,000 or more for the VX by a dealer. Im sure a leakdown test dosnt cost that much.

[MoonRaker]

As it sits ive spent $1250 sofar on parts and machining. Ive done everything except the nicol coating and since the motor has steel sleeves and dosnt require it but that would have been optimal. I need to get some bearings for a pully or 2, probly another 20 bucks.

[psychos2]

Just bar the motor over and do 1 hole at a time. A motor job costs 7,000 or more for the VX by a dealer. Im sure a leakdown test dosnt cost that much.

To properly do a leakdown test you need to remove the cams.If you were to cheat and not remove the cams you would have to try to hold the crank in one spot so it does not turn.. And this test would not tell you if you had a stuck oil ring anyway. It would tell you if you had a valve issue, or a compression ring issue. So this test would not even tell you if you had a stuck oil ring.You work in a motor shop?? shawn

[MoonRaker]

Yeh, were the best in the US on rotarys. Yes, 1 of the compression rings were cracked. This is the 2nd motor that ive herd of that had the oil rings sticking with bad springs and I called it as the problem before I stripped the motor down. No I didnt do any leakdown test because it already showed signs of potential total failer so what was the point.

[ZEUS]

Were you able to take as many pictures as you'd hoped, since you were in a hurry?

[MoonRaker]

Only of the disassembly.

[Knigh7s]

Hey MoonRaker, I was wondering what happened to yuh. :) hope all is well. If you still want to finish that write up with your pictures let me know. I still have all the stuff from earlier this year that we worked on. I did get a chance to upgrade the website aswell.

[ZEUS]

Only of the disassembly.
That sucks... taking things apart is easy, putting them back together is what needs visual explanation. Would still be interested in the write-up though.

[MoonRaker]

I was thinking that but I was so in depth with the assembly I didnt have much of a chance to take pictures. I can say a couple of things though. I noticed that the crank and rod bearings were brand new, they even still had the machine cut marks with no visable wear. 5 of the 6 cylenders were perfect also showing no wear, you could still see the hone marks in even the bad hole, there was 2 much uneven wear in the hole that housed the cracked ring. Everything was brown from the blowby but cleaned up better then expected. Things are going together pretty quickly, I lost the head dowls so I need to track them down today. Ive also bought new head bolts since I had to drill 4 out. The holes were bored out 10 over and the heads to block surfaces were decked for a perfect seal.

[MoonRaker]

Well, motor is finished ready to install. Recommendation, dont loss any parts, it takes alot longer in the end.

[Chopper]

Was this a '99 block, you started with? Did you run it in on the bench, or are you just plunking it back in? Did you change (or clean up) any oil ports? With the reported oil starvation issues in the '99s, opening them up some would have been prudent. One more thing, how dirty was the intake and all? (I don't care for this EGR/Cat setup-suspect it takes too long for the cats to light up, dumping more carbs back up top) Cool, you're almost rollin'__Wayne

[MoonRaker]

Its a 2001 model.

[MoonRaker]

Shes running like a top. All is well and the VX is back on the road. I have to say that reinstaling the motor was the hardest part. The removal was cake, the build was also cake but the instal was the most tedios pain in the *** thing I think ive done in a long time.

[MoonRaker]

Well, the rebuild is a complete success. Now that ive done it im offering my services for a complete rebuild of blocks, short or long, removal and install. Turn around on removal, rebuild and install will be around 3 weeks.
Only the long block- $1200 labor plus parts and machine
Complete engine removal, rebuild and installl- $3200 plus parts

Total cost for rebuild parts
$850 for rebuild kit
$500 for machining
Porting and other mods can be negotiated
A down payment on parts and machine work wich will be determined after all of your original parts are inspected.

[Chopper]

Shes running like a top. All is well and the VX is back on the road. I have to say that reinstaling the motor was the hardest part. The removal was cake, the build was also cake but the instal was the most tedios pain in the *** thing I think ive done in a long time.
Try changing the starter on an old #!@*# Z3....yanking the engine seemed a viable alternative.

[Chopper]

This is more what I have in mind.........1.jpg (http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/beb2_1.jpg)

[MoonRaker]

Yeh im thinking of a swap down the road, maybe going diesel like a V6 powerstroke.