long post, blew my engine
 

Well guys, at last it happens. After 4 year owning my car I blew my engine. I have been having problems with the idle on my 88 turbo for some time now. Traced it down to the lower intake manifold. Yesterday the lim gasket was changed and all the vacume lines got replaced. Today the car had a 900 rpm idle. It had a little miss on it, it seemed to be running rich at idle. After getting the idle as smooth as I could get it.Well took the car out for a little drive and it was pulling better than ever.

I did 3 pulls on it. 1st to 3dr pulls on it with no problems. Everytime tho when I got home from a pull the car would die, it would idle at 1k and then drop down and if I did not hold it with the throtle it would die and flood. I started doing adjustment to the idle with the afm, and other things. On my last pull, I did a 1 gear pull and when I shifted to 2nd the car lost all power, it sounded funny and I almost started to cry.

After this I got the car home limping. I checked it out and found out that I had no spark on the rear rotor. So I took the l1 spark plug out and did a compression test, guess what 0 compression on the rear rotor. Now I have to decide if I am going to rebuild it or part it out. This is stressing me out. Just needed to vent a little, sorry for the long post.

Ls1

If it comes down to a question of money I can probably build it for you for less than anyone in the country. That's what I'm here for, to keep these cars on the road without dropping 3 and 4 grand at a time like all the rest want. Let me know if I can help.

You were running all of that without an upgrade fuel pump / larger fuel injectors?
Stock ECU?
Fuel controller?
FCD?


-Ted

^ Exactly what I was thinking.

I was running walboro 255 and 750 secondary injectors. The car never ran above 10 psi guage wich is even less when you look at absolute presure at 6 thousand feet, I live in colorado springs. The car was running all stock injectors last year and when I dyno'd 241 and it's afr's when in the low to mid 11. So there is no reason for it to lean out now that the car has bigger secondaries. I put the bigger secondaries shortly after that dyno run.

Thanks for the offer, it's a matter of money and the fact that I have to see if it's worth rebuilding. The chasis is on the mid 80k miles but the car has a rebuild title from the previus owner. The car drives straight but the fact that it has a rebuild title makes it worth less. I don't want to spend 2k rebuilding the engine if the car is only going to be worth roughfly that or maybe a bit more than that. It looks to me that all 3 seals went bye bye 0 compression, and that leads me to think that my rear housing and rotor might need to be replaced. I just don't know what to do.

dam sorry to hear man. i live in denver theres a shop down here called persision import wich rebuilds and ports and they are pretty reasonable. dont part out these cars are awesome. and if u do part out ill buy your injectors and fuel pump.

well i would guess your car would be worth more than 2500, if it ran. i think you would be money ahead if you did rebuild the motor. thats Just my Opinion.

sell it to me :D

Well i'll tell you right now you wont get much for a car with a blown engine.

salvage titles really dont affect FC value IMO. The car is old enough that it doesnt' matter...mechanical and cosmetic condition are all that really does. I would not hesitate to fix it if the car is in good condition otherwise. Just about any running t2 is worth 2500-4000 depending on how it looks.

And yes, when you lose all compression on one rotor, that rotor and housing will need replacement. With me, this usually bumps total rebuild costs up around $13-1500.

like mort2002 said, tt will obviously be worth a lot more running than not. I keep putting more money into my car even though I know I won't get it back, but then again I'm not building my car with the idea of selling it.

Well, blown t2's sell for 500-1000 bucks most of the time. You have to look at the car's condition and ask yourself what it'd sell for if you put 1500 more dollars into it and rebuilt it. Most series 4 turbos would go for $3000-3500 in average body/interior condition. So...$3500 - 1500 rebuild costs = 2000. $2000 (profit made when sold as a running car) > $1000 (profit made when sold as a blown car).

So, in general it's best to sell a car as a running one rather than blown or for parts. But...if you're the "check writer" type who has more money than time to fool around, you might just want to unload it and move on, investing your time elsewhere.

Just rebuild the motor. Mid 80k miles sounds like you got a nice little setup.

How long does it take you to rebuild? And what do most people do? Like is the 13-1500 just rebuilding the engine, or does that include installation? I'm in need of a rebuild soon *wanting to hit it before it blows on me* so I'm trying to get my finances in straight. I have the Rotary Doctor about 30 minutes away I could probably have him do my car, and possibly street port it too if I can afford it. But the main thing I'm going at is $$ atm.

This is what the car looked like 4 year ago, now is the same with a little bit faded paint. The interior is all there so it's not horribly bad. My friend from PR has offered to give me for free some fd rotors, and he has some fd plates that he will port for me, don't know if he is charging me anything for the plates. So this means that I will probably need to get a rear housing and a rebuild kit for it.

Things are looking a bit better I guess. It lookes like I am going to have to sell my megasquirt after all plus my hybrid turbo to finance this. I will keep you guys updated.

DEF. worth fixing!!!!

I agree, fix that car.

What kinda gas are you using?


-Ted

a good rule of thumb when debating fixing or selling is ask yourself the question: would you buy the car for the price of fixing it

if yes, then get it fixed. I would pick up a 80k-mile TII with a new rebuild for Kevin's price of $1500 anyday

Can;t use FD plates in an FC unless you want to modify motor mounts and intake manifold heavily. You can use rotors and rotorhousings, though, but there is no advantage to the rotor swap, plus you have to change the counterweight and flywheel too.

Here is the correct list of parts the my budy is giving me for free for the engine rebuild. s5 street ported plates pinned, 1995 rotors with counter weights, billet flywheel. I need to buy a rear rotor and we should be good to go. Now I have to decide on what seals to get. Any suggestions, my mods are in my sig.

Should invest in an rtek 2.0 since you have an s4.

I suggest oem mazda 2 or 3mm depending on your personal preference...or if you have none, oem 3mm.