Blown Engines

Jap GT300 · May 2, 2005, 12:16

I have recently had the oil sump and big end stripped from a 1ZZ-FE and the knocking caused is due to excessive wear on the crankshaft bearings. This is the same symptom that was given on my original engine that went. The oil is being burnt up by the friction caused with the faulty bearings.

I believe this is due to either a cheap and poorly made product that Toyota have used or that there is excessive vibration caused at certain RPM's which would disturb the crankshaft and cause it to wear out the bearings.

The bearings can be bought as a set for around £250, so if your engine hasn't been knocking for too long it may be possible to have it fixed on the cheap.

With the pre cat failure chunks of ceramics are sucked into the cylinders and cause damage higher up.

I think that the pre cat failure is a bit of a farce and the real kulprit for the engine detonations is the bearings.

markiii · May 2, 2005, 12:19

well I'm not yet convinced that the pre-cat theory is incorrect however a certain German engineer mentioned at last years JAE that the crankshaft had excessive vivration at circa 4000rpm and that this was a likely contributer to engine failure.

So it's certainly another issue to be aware of.

SteveJ · May 2, 2005, 13:34

Despite being told the last time that I posted ref this that I was way off and Toyota would never release an engine with such a design flaw, I have continued my investigations, and now have more evidence to support the crank resonance theory - when the engine starts to consume large amounts of oil, the bores are found to be oval.

The most interesting part however is the orientation of the wear - typically when the bore starts to wear, the oval lies across the block, but in the 1ZZ, the oval is aligned along the block, indicating the problem is due to the crank not running true rather than just normal wear & tear. This can be due to a number of different failures around the crank, but does give substantial weight to the resonance theory.

With ref to the 'burning' of oil due to increased bearing friction, this is highly unlikely to actually use much oil - it will just result in it becoming discoloured more quickly than normal - the only real method for oil to be 'used' is for it to either leak into the combustion chamber (via worn rings or valve stem seals) where it is burned and shot out of the exhaust (after making a nasty mess of the cat) or it leaks out due to pressurisation of the crank case (again poss due to worn rings or blocked / faulty PCV system) causing it to blow past seals.

Tem · May 2, 2005, 18:16

So how do we prevent this then? Stronger bearings? Balanced crankshaft?

aaronjb · May 2, 2005, 19:22

Quote from: "Tem"So how do we prevent this then? Stronger bearings? Balanced crankshaft?

I'd guess with some expensive, specialist, blueprinting work.. Get the whole rotating assembly (crank, rods, pistons, flywheel, clutch & crank pulley) lightened and balanced..

Which will cost a pretty penny s:? :? s:?

And if you're going to do all that, you might as well just replace the lot - forged pistons, drop forged rods, cryo treated crank, race bearings.. dry sump system..

Probably cheaper to drop £1000 into a whole new engine every few years if/when it happens s:? :? s:?

Really, really must get the Nissan fixed, just in case the '2 kicks up it's heels.. although having said that, it's by no means certain that any of us will suffer a failure - just the unlucky ones (then again, you've already had one Tem.. maybe you've had your allotment already s;)

s;) )

Tem · May 2, 2005, 20:52

Quote from: "aaronjb"I'd guess with some expensive, specialist, blueprinting work.. Get the whole rotating assembly (crank, rods, pistons, flywheel, clutch & crank pulley) lightened and balanced..

Which will cost a pretty penny s:? :? s:?

Balancing stuff isn't really that expensive s8)

s8) I've been asking around anyway (not related to this), cause it would make things happier at higher revs s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:

...even if it was cheaper to replace the engine few times, I'd do it for peace of mind...

aaronjb · May 2, 2005, 22:30

Quote from: "Tem"Balancing stuff isn't really that expensive s8) s8)

Bet it would be over here s:? :? s:? Everything else seems to be.. s:)

s:)

Well.. admittedly our tax isn't a patch on yours on luxury goods (you're the same as Norway over there, aren't you? - when it comes to luxury tax, I mean s:)

s:) )

Tem · May 3, 2005, 06:05

Quote from: "aaronjb"
Quote from: "Tem"Balancing stuff isn't really that expensive s8) s8)

Bet it would be over here s:? :? s:? Everything else seems to be.. s:) s:)

Well.. admittedly our tax isn't a patch on yours on luxury goods (you're the same as Norway over there, aren't you? - when it comes to luxury tax, I mean s:) s:) )

I don't think we have any special taxes on luxury stuff, unless you consider cars, gas and alcohol/cigarettes luxury s8)

s8)

So I suppose you can't get a crankshaft balanced for 50 euros in UK? s:? :? s:?

aaronjb · May 4, 2005, 00:06

Quote from: "Tem"I don't think we have any special taxes on luxury stuff, unless you consider cars, gas and alcohol/cigarettes luxury s8) s8)

Well that's sorta what I meant s:)

s:) When I was over in Norway, the tax on cars (in particular) was described to me as a 'luxury goods tax', and it makes the cars over twice the UK price.. And we moan about our petrol prices s;)

s;)

QuoteSo I suppose you can't get a crankshaft balanced for 50 euros in UK? s:? :? s:?

I'll stick my neck out and say probably not - unless you have contacts and know where the right 'little engineering shop' is.. The big tuners wouldn't get out of bed for £30, I'll bet, let alone balance you a crank s:)

s:)

If I end up pulling the engine from the Nissan again, I'll probably ring around the engineering shops for prices - if I do, I'll let you know s;)

s;)

Tem · May 4, 2005, 06:44

Quote from: "aaronjb"
Quote from: "Tem"I don't think we have any special taxes on luxury stuff, unless you consider cars, gas and alcohol/cigarettes luxury s8) s8)

Well that's sorta what I meant s:) s:) When I was over in Norway, the tax on cars (in particular) was described to me as a 'luxury goods tax', and it makes the cars over twice the UK price.. And we moan about our petrol prices s;) s;)

Well, a new '2 is some 36.000 euros (~£24.000) over here, but our base model is usually more base than elsewhere, so it's not directly comparable. Like the '2, there's no stereo or alarm at all, like I think you have in UK? We don't even get the rubber floor mats at that price s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Actually our car prices have come down a lot in recent years, so that can be considered cheap over here. For example the new '2 on 2000 was over 40.000 euros.

QuoteI'll stick my neck out and say probably not - unless you have contacts and know where the right 'little engineering shop' is.. The big tuners wouldn't get out of bed for £30, I'll bet, let alone balance you a crank s:) s:)

Ah, it's the same over here. If you go to a well known shop, they pretty much charge 100e just to reply to your hello s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted: Some older guys who do this kind of stuff as a hobby (and actually do it better than the big shops) only charge their expenses...most of them race or used to race something and got their knowledge and equipment there.

Another example is headwork, some charge 100e just to measure it on a flow bench, while some do a full headjob (including flow bench measurements before and after) for 200e and again end up with something better than the shops...

Anonymous · May 4, 2005, 10:58

Quote from: "Tem"a new '2 is some 36.000 euros (~£24.000) over here,

Woaw! Base price in Belgium is 27335€.

Anonymous · May 6, 2005, 13:37

Quote from: "kaidiss"
Quote from: "Tem"a new '2 is some 36.000 euros (~£24.000) over here,

Woaw! Base price in Belgium is 27335€.

Wow! I bought mine in Switzerland, 37700 CHF = appr. 24000 EUR. And actually speaking of which, I just visited the Finnish customs people regarding the import tax while moving back. Apparently mine was the first MR2 imported to Finland (by a person) since they didn't have any indication of value for it yet. So, I was in a position to negotiate with them, and managed just to push the price below a 0-tax line. s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Tem · May 6, 2005, 17:39

Quote from: "Carlos"Apparently mine was the first MR2 imported to Finland (by a person) since they didn't have any indication of value for it yet.

No wonder really s8)

s8) I made some queries last year about the taxes for importing a used one and the total would've been more than buying a used one over here...

Anonymous · May 13, 2005, 05:55

Quote from: "Tem"
Quote from: "Carlos"Apparently mine was the first MR2 imported to Finland (by a person) since they didn't have any indication of value for it yet.

No wonder really s8) s8) I made some queries last year about the taxes for importing a used one and the total would've been more than buying a used one over here...

In case you (or someone else) is interested, the Customs finally estimated the value of my car to 33 500 EUR. 2004 model, A/C, 11 000km, radio/CD.