Todays Business Blogger

In the early 70’s and 80’s engine rebuilding was something you seen many people doing. Engines from this time would usually last around 5 or 6 years and then problems would start to occur. Some of these problems would be oil consumption; loss of power and many times leaky seals would mean oil on your garage floor. Today though it is a lot different, engines are built to last longer, have more power, and less maintenance than the ones that came before them. In turn, engine rebuilding is not in as high demand as it once was, but that does not mean its dead. Let us look at how we go about rebuilding an engine and what you need to know to get it done properly.

There are many repair options that you will be faced with when rebuilding an engine. Many companies now make what we called remanufactured engines. These are used as replacements for the worn out engine in your vehicle. These can get expensive depending on the model and what is involved in changing one. The other option is of course to save some money and rebuild it yourself. Either way you will need to decide before you proceed.

Since you have decided to rebuild your current engine let, we get started on what we need to do. First, we will need some standard tools and those will be normal hand tools, feeler gauges, torque wrench, ring expander, and ring compressor. It is also possible some machine work may need done, but it’s best to leave that for a local machine shop as they have the expertise in that area. Many people will try to do their own machining of parts and many times, it is a disaster. Let the professionals take care of that part.

One of the reasons that many people choose engine rebuilding over a prebuilt engine is they get to choose what goes into the engine. Most people have a preference of what they want in their engine so this helps make it much easier to have a custom built one. New crankshaft bearings are necessary when rebuilding. When removing the bearing always inspect for damage such as scoring by wiping the dirt and debris embedded in the surface. The number one cause of bearing failure is usually dirt contamination so make sure it is very clean before installing new ones. Make sure you have the correct size when you reinstalled them. It never hurts to double check as sometimes-even parts stores can make mistakes. If you are replacing the bearings, it is also a good idea to replace the oil pump. As your engine gets some age on it, the pump can eventually fail so getting a new one installed is a very good idea.

If your engine started to burn oil before the rebuild more than likely, it is a sign of worn piston rings. Replacing piston rings can restore compression as long as no damage was done to the cylinders. Inspect the cylinders closely and make sure no damage was done. Many people forget about this critical part.  Even with new piston rings, it will not seal properly if the cylinder walls are damaged. Getting the right rings is just like anything check before you leave the store. Most employees will order the right set, but I have had mistakes made before so check them carefully. Use your ring expander to install rings on the pistons. Remember to lube the cylinder walls so you protect the rings from scuffing when you fire the engine up for the first time.

Camshaft problems will usually occur in vehicles with high mileage so inspection is necessary. Most people will replace these when rebuilding an engine and put a higher performing part in its place. Factory camshafts are good, but a high performance replacement is a very good idea. If you replace the camshaft, new lifters and valve springs should also be replaced as they could damage the cam lobes if you do not. Another good idea is to also replace the timing belt or chain and gear set if the vehicle has over 60,000 miles. Most of the time when you do not it usually will fail on you.

Value work on a high mileage engine is another area that you will hear a variety of opinions on. Exhaust values and intake values should be replace with any new engine rebuilt. The main reason for this is trying to reuse them usually causes problems down the road so just replace them and save you the trouble later on. If the guides are worn, which most of the time they are this will save you as the engine can suck up a lot of oil if you do not replace bad guides.

One thing that many people tend to overlook is the head gasket. Most of the time you will hear about a blown head gasket, but the real problem is something internal happen to get to this point. Make sure the cylinder head has no cracks because of it or you will have to replace it again. Also, remember to tighten the head down to the recommended torque, as there is a lot of pressure on these cylinder heads.

As you can see rebuilding and engine is just a systematic process that will take you some time, in the long run though you will have a great running engine and usually at a fraction of the cost.

 

Tags: engine building repair | engine building repair | engine shop rebuilding | engine shop rebuilding | engine machine shop | engine machine shop | engine maintenance | engine maintenance | engine performance | engine performance | engine repair | engine repair

del.icio.us Digg Furl Reddit

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 5:11 pm and is filed under Professional services. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.