Suprash Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Right, my car seems to be using quite a bit of oil, now before the Hybrid rebuild I put this down to the knackard seals of the Hybrids using a lot of oil, but now they have been rebuilt she is stilll using on average about a litre every 1000 miles. I have been talking with Mark at Phoenix and he noticed the car smells very rich, this I would agree as I tend to get a lot of flaming and popping through the exhaust, plus you can generally smell her running rich at idle. Now we have been discussing whats possibly using the oil and he reckons it could be the oil rings are worn possibly due to running too rich and suffering bore wash ? Now I asked him what to do about this and the best avenue to take and to say Im a little disappointed in the fact that just due to oil rings my engine is partly trash, is this really the case ? He firstly said he wouldnt rebuild an engine as it is, as when fitting new oil rings you should bore the engine as well, I presume this is to ensure a nice tight fit, so my first question is do you have to bore an engine to fit new oil rings ? And my next question is whats the best route to take in getting this problem resolved. He said a leak down test wouldnt show if its the oil rings, he did explain why but I cant remember exactly now but something along the line that because the oil rings sit behind something else, possibly the the piston rings (?????) it wouldnt show up in a leak down test. But presuming it is the oil rings that have gone I have the following options: 1) Buy in a short block lump from the states (2k roughly) and then build the bottom end with, cant remember the name of the rods now, but basically he said after I would never have to worry about the bottom end again if going for more power. But with labour and dispite not being able to get a definite price out of him I know he nodded with parts and labour to the tune of 4k.......not what I was thinking..... 2) Get a VVT-i lump from somewhere else......... The car is driving its best it has for a long time now, turbos pull hard, apart from she is eating a bit of oil and can sometimes see this when first opening her up. He is adamant it wont be the hyrbids due to them being rebuilt by Envy only 1000 miles ago....... But I need a way to figure out how I can determin whats using the oil exactly, his words were to start stripping it down and having a look. I asked what would happen if I keep on driving her as she is and he said that over time she will just get worse until one day Im putting in more oil then petrol......... Is there any way I can definitly rule out the turbos, and is there anyway I can confirm its my oil rings, and if it is what would you guys recommend to resolve this issue........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 The only luck you get is bad luck!! I know where there are VVTI engines in the UK but they are not cheap. PM me if you want details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Hi Ash I'm in the same boat mate. Mine is using lots of oil (worse than yours actually) and I need to determine whether it's the turbo, the oil scraper rings or something else. As I understand it you can replace the oil rings but until the engine is stripped and everything measured there's no way of knowing for sure. Obviously the labour charge for a job like that is is not gonna be cheap. Mark would have been talking about the compression rings when he was saying that a problem with the oil rings may not show up on a leakdown test. Good luck trying to find a good 2nd hand VVTi lump. Turbo Dynamics can check your hybrids out and tell you if the turbo oil seals (or something else) have gone but seeing as the stock sequential system is such a PITA to remove it's not gonna be easy/cheap either. Nightmare innit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JODY T Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Ive got your old VVTI lump jake... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 The bottom end and oil pump have gone though, haven't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JODY T Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Yep! Gonna be rebuilding for a conversion for mine... The engine looks nice though lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Terry S Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Ash, I would have thought Mark meant he would prefer not to rebuild your bottom end as it may require a rebore. If the bores are OK they can be honed, but I have seen 2JZ-GTE engine built by another "specialist" so badly honed to the point where oil got past the control rings. IF it is a bottom end problem, it often works out the most economical/prefferable route to buy a new shortblock. I assume Mark was just giving you the wisdom of his previous experience with these engines, I am also sure others wise tell you differently. Nature of the beast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suprash Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share Posted February 21, 2007 Terry your right Mark was just giving his wisdom, like you say he seems to think it more economical to get a short block. He said he dont like just doing the oil rings and putting back together the bottom end. But unfortunately Im looking for that magic wand that tells me which route is best to take, or which would be cheaper unfortunately, I havent got 4k to start throwing around getting the bottom end re-built.........but if thats the only way then thats what it will be, I have put far too much time and money into this car to let it fall apart now......... Jake, what are you going to do.......? Your thoughts would be appreciated as I feel your in the same boat as me........ Does anyone know how much I could pick up a VVT-i lump for, import or from someone in the country. Im worried that getting another lump I could end up in the same position after so many thousands of miles. Im really unsure what route to take right now, so I think for the time being I will just keep an eye on her as she is really driving her best she has done in a long time......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soonto_HAS_soop Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Aren't the bottom ends the same on a non VVTi engine? Could you find a non VVTi engine mate and transfer the heads? Whatever it is, I hope you get it sorted Ash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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