thE33Z33

iTrader: (1)

Hey all,

So I might catch some crap for this but I wanted to ask some people that undoubtedly know better than I. I am replacing the rev-up with another rev-up I found on craigs. Mine is making a very loud ticking noise coming from the valves and there's metal flakes you can notice in the motor oil when you pull and wipe the dipstick. I got a decent deal on a new one and the rev-ups are hard to come by. It also came with a new trans still attached so this should make the swap even easier. Comes out of a G35 with 28K miles while mine has 125K. The thing is, he sold the oil pan from the motor and left it sitting outside for 2 weeks. The top of the motor was covered in plastic wrap and everything looks good there but the crank was obviously exposed to the elements during that time. I can look and feel that the crank has that built up this grease on it but cant detect any notable rust or anything. Is this salvageable with a good cleaning and new oil pan? Maybe get some oil up there in the cylinder from the bottom to lube the rings for those first few cranks once its in? I don't know guys, help me out. I can do something as easy as dropping in a new one but internals scares my ***** off. Thanks!

92K1500

iTrader: (1)

Pics would help.

thE33Z33

iTrader: (1)

Yea I figured I'd do well to post a few but only thought about it after starting the thread. I'll take some this afternoon and post them up tonight. Thanks for any response.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

What's needed is some basic information. Anytime you expose the bottom end of an engine you are compromising it's longevity. By leaving it (outside? inside?) with swirling dust and debris, you are exposing the crankshaft and big end of the connecting rods to contamination. That also applies to any other reciprocating parts in the short block, like the timing chain assembly.

Bottom line: walk away from this deal. A "good cleaning and new oil pan" will not guarantee this engine will EVER run well or reliably. If rebuilding the short block scares the ***** off you, why not look for a rebuilt engine from a reputable shop?

thE33Z33

iTrader: (1)

Honestly, it's just the huge difference in price. I usually try to turn wrenches myself instead of taking it places. 3K for a built short block is much steeper than the 1K this one is going for as an entire long block plus trans and wire harness. I realize the whole "get what you pay for" or "buy nice or buy twice" adage applies here but sometimes it's not that easy. I'm hoping it's a salvageable motor as it was pulled from a running car that got rear ended.

92K1500

iTrader: (1)

Depending on how bad it is you might be able to get away with pulling the bearing caps, cleaning everything up, clean the cylinder walls, pull the timing cover and clean up in there if it's exposed on the back side, then reassemble and run it.

Is it the proper way to go about it? No. But it would work.

The person that sold the motor should have covered the bottom of the motor to keep stuff out. If it wasn't laying in the mud and it didn't rain in it, it will probably be fine. But we don't know if any bugs crawled up in it and might be hiding in an oil passage.

Lots of ifs.

thE33Z33

iTrader: (1)

The bolts for those bearing caps, are they stretch bolts or could it be so easy to just pull them, clean them and lightly oil them, bolt them back in with the same bolts?

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Simply pulling the bearing cap bolts, cleaning and re-oiling them won't really do anything to assure the main bearings are clean enough for normal operation. What 92K1500 is proposing is to pull the mains, clean and re-oil each of the respective bearings and re-torque everything. That is really a half-assed way to do it, but it MIGHT work.

As he says, there's lots of "ifs". Unfortunately, if any one of those ifs come true, the replacement engine will either not run, or will not run for long at all. It sounds like you've made up your mind and want to save money (or pay for it twice), but your skill set and desperation to save money are not a good combination for replacing a precision built set of components. More a recipe for failure...

turboed350z

I agree with everyone else. If it was me, id just take that money, buy a decent beater and save up for a proper build. But then again, idk your situations or anything, but at this point, it seems like a bandage as appose to an actual fix.

thE33Z33

iTrader: (1)

I worded that badly. I meant pulling the bolts and cleaning and re-oiling the bearings. Probably would even consider popping for a new set of bearings since they're not very expensive if the current ones are damaged.

92K1500

iTrader: (1)

My biggest concern would be why someone is parting out a 28k mile motor when you could get much more for it whole. If the engine is in good running condition I would sell it whole and tell whoever needed the oil pan to go buy one off a blown/junkyard motor or buy a new one.

Pulling the oil pan and tossing the engine outside is a giant waste of money.

thE33Z33

iTrader: (1)

Yea I can agree it sounds fishy. Story is, this motor is at a shop and he does his own personal projects on the side there. He was planning to put the motor in a 240 but didn't ever get around to getting a shell he wanted so he wanted to sell the motor. Apparently, they had a 350Z come into the shop with a dented oil pan so they just took it off this motor and put it on that one. Obviously, you can't believe everything anybody just tells you but that's what I was told.

Either way, I really do appreciate all this feedback.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Let us know what happens- even if you just buy this motor, throw an oilpan on and run it, post up so we learn something about how it turns out!

thE33Z33

iTrader: (1)

In the upper oil pan, i noticed there is a hole on the driver's side. It has threads so I assume its there on purpose. can anybody hazard a guess what this might be for? Thanks guys.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

It's probably for an aftermarket oil temp sensor. Is this the replacement revup engine you bought?

thE33Z33

iTrader: (1)

yes sir it is. I wonder If I can just go ahead and get an aftermarket oil temp sensor just to effectively plug the hole... I never thought they were needed. are our factory oil temp sensors known to be inaccurate or?

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

There is no oil temp gauge in the Z. The temp gauge is for coolant/water only. You have bigger things to consider on your oil pan. If the pan was simply drilled and tapped, you will have metallic swath inside your used engine that will really cause some problems. How much do you really
know about the history of this motor?

thE33Z33

iTrader: (1)

No the motor was missing the oil pan. I had to source another one but when I got it, apparently it had been tapped. The ebay seller didn't divulge that little detail. I had it welded closed by a local welder.

So its been about a month now after putting the motor in and I've been about 1000 miles on it so far and no problems at all. I did a double oil change right when I got it back on the road just to maybe help clean out anything that was in there. Car pulls better than my old motor and purrs like any healthy VQ.

Swap took me about 2 days by myself in my garage with jack stands and an engine hoist. Gotta say, the biggest hurdle was avoiding those damn break lines as I was pulling the old one out. had to get it at a pretty extreme angle and this bled the old trans of all its fluid. Seriously, you tilt that trans a few degrees and the fluid seeps out the back like bad food decisions at taco bell.

Also, I got real good at burping the coolant lines. I couldn't drive it far without the temp needle creeping up past the center mark for a couple days. its pretty easy to do though, just make sure you do a thorough job doing it. people have ruined new motors letting them overheat from not burping the coolant system after draining and filling it.

I'm sure someone will chime in here with something negative to say about how long I can expect it to last now, and they'd probably have a good point but for now, everything feels great. My next oil change, I'll send it off for analysis to see how things are going in there. All in all, I'm pleased spending $1300 for another motor and transmission.

I'll keep you guys posted on anything that happens from here but things look good so far. Thanks to those that chimed in with advice.

eZg

iTrader: (5)

Glad it's working well for you!

Any tricks to bleeding coolant system you think are key? I think I finally got mine but was worried about air right in front of thermostat as seemed like it might keep coolant from getting close enough to open the thermostat.

I kept squeezing the lower radiator hose.....leaving the heater on highest setting and used the leslie funnel. Sucked

thE33Z33

iTrader: (1)

It helps to jack up the passenger side of the car so it puts the bleeder for the heater corer at the highest point. Then, unscrew the bleeder screw a bit and pour coolant into the radiator until it starts pouring out of the bleeder in the back. Squeeze the radiator hoses and get out a little more air that way if you can and then close the bleeder in the back behind the motor. Put your funnel in and keep it at least half way full. Also, make sure your coolant stays at the full mark or higher in the overflow tank. Turn on your motor and watch the bubbles come up from your funnel. I'd occasionally keep squeezing those 2 hoses to the rad and keep filling the funnel up to halfway as it gets low. Of course, keep an eye on your temp gauge. I did this and it worked perfectly. It's also important to note, anytime you're pouring coolant into the rad, pour it slowly. That allows the air to escape.