so my roomate calls me up sunday night, broke down 60miles from home. gets his car towed home and says a redneck gave his car a look(roomate knows nothin about cars) and said he thought it was the fuel pump.
i proceed to remove the fuel pump and test it out. works just fine.
i remove the cap to see if the rotor spins when the engine is turned over. nope.
pulled back the upper timing belt cover to see if the cam sprocket spun when the engine was turned over, didnt need to try, belt was cracked all to hell and loose as in it snapped in half.
today before work i pulled the valve cover and rocker arms off to see if there were any obvious signs of bent/broken valves and to also close them all so i can to a compression test when i get home from work.
so i got home from work and did compression test on all 4 cylinders 3 times and heres the results:
1 58psi
2 75psi
3 78psi
4 30psi
1 rocker was loose and 1 valve wiggled a lil bit when i grabbed it.
heres some pics:
the car
whole engine minus air cleaner(removed to get at fuel pump.)
i dont know if the red coloring from heat is due to a one time overheat or a prolonged condition, but its another straw on the camels back.
now the whole point of this lengthy thread is 2 things.
1. is this engine an interference(valve eater) or free spinning(NON valve eater) engine?
2. we are both college students and my roomate is VERY tight on money specially after spring break. do ya'll think the car is salvageable? im tryin to save him as much money as possibly, but like i told him; after this, whats next? he isnt the sweetest to the poor car and the tranny has been shiftin a lil rough.
Its the 4AF motor, its non interferance meaning the valves should be ok. The valves do need adjustment from time to time so thats probably why it was loose. I'm not sure what spec is for compression but needless to say, that motor doesn't seem healthy. Its really your call if you wanna do the work, old cars in general are money pits.
also, how common was this engine and for how many years was it used? if i just need to get him a new head, id preferr to get one off of a newer motor if possible.
hmm, well I dont think the 4A-c is interference either.. I think the only engine that is interference is the 4A-GE series, particularly the 20valvers... dunno about the 16v 4a-ge... So that means it would be ok, besides you said you did a compression test, did you start it? because if the engine was messed up I dont think it would even start, let alone the noise it would make.
But hey if you're gonna swap the engine, you might think of several choices. 4a-gze, 4a-ge, 4e-fte, 4a-fe, 4a-f.. etc...
Originally posted by Flashmn hmm, well I dont think the 4A-c is interference either.. I think the only engine that is interference is the 4A-GE series, particularly the 20valvers... dunno about the 16v 4a-ge... So that means it would be ok, besides you said you did a compression test, did you start it? because if the engine was messed up I dont think it would even start, let alone the noise it would make.
But hey if you're gonna swap the engine, you might think of several choices. 4a-gze, 4a-ge, 4e-fte, 4a-fe, 4a-f.. etc...
the timing belt is snapped so the car will not start at all. to do the compression test i removed all the rockers so the valves were closed and then disconnected the coil for the hell of it. i then connected the comnpression tester and had my roomate run the starter until the needle stopped moving.
A compression test needs the valves opening and closing. You could do a leakdown test which requires the valves to be closed anyway. A leakdown test is done by appling compressed air to a cylinder and measuring the amount that escapes. This is considered to be a better indication of the condition of the engine than a compression test. It takes special equipment but I don't think it woud cost too much at a corner garage. It, at least, would let you know if the engine is worth fixing.
According to the site, the 1.6 Liter 87 corolla is **non-interference** engine. There is an asterick by vehicle make and model to note if it is interference or non-interference. btw, Gates make timing belts.
on another note, I have the same exact car. 4ac carbureted 87 toyota corolla 183k miles. unfortunately, the car has been sitting for three years because the head gasket blew, I had a massive rod knock, and one of the spark plugs melted to the block. I see that you have the valve cover off. how did you get it off? did you take a crow bar to it? I've tried to get mine off and it won't bulge.
I plan to have the engine rebuilt sometime this summer.
Originally posted by Flashmn you did the compression test without the timingbelt? Thats...uhm, well I've never heard someone do it without a timingbelt before.
why does that make a difference?
Quote:
Originally posted by Don Hansen A compression test needs the valves opening and closing. You could do a leakdown test which requires the valves to be closed anyway. A leakdown test is done by appling compressed air to a cylinder and measuring the amount that escapes. This is considered to be a better indication of the condition of the engine than a compression test. It takes special equipment but I don't think it woud cost too much at a corner garage. It, at least, would let you know if the engine is worth fixing.
i what a leakdown test is, i dont have an air compressor here or any of my specilaty tools.
what difference does it make if the valves are opening or not on compression test? since i removed the rockers, the valves stay closed all the time thus providing a 'compression' stroke every time. the only thing that changes on a normal test is the pressure bein released when valves open and i dont see how that would make much if a difference. but if im wrong, please explain and i will kindly remove me foot from my mouth.
Originally posted by cutehumor there is a way you can find out if it is interference. there's a website. You have to have adobe acrobat reader to see it.
According to the site, the 1.6 Liter 87 corolla is **non-interference** engine. There is an asterick by vehicle make and model to note if it is interference or non-interference. btw, Gates make timing belts.
on another note, I have the same exact car. 4ac carbureted 87 toyota corolla 183k miles. unfortunately, the car has been sitting for three years because the head gasket blew, I had a massive rod knock, and one of the spark plugs melted to the block. I see that you have the valve cover off. how did you get it off? did you take a crow bar to it? I've tried to get mine off and it won't bulge.
I plan to have the engine rebuilt sometime this summer.
i went to gates and saw that but wanted a second opinion from somewhere because a coupel of the mechanics my roomates called here in town said that it WAS an interference engine, so i dunno what to think. to remove the vavle cover there are 3 nuts on the top and then 2 bolts on the upper timimg cover and then i gave it a good tap with the handle of a screw driver and it took 1 tiny pry on each end with a baby screwdriver and then it came free.
I went outside and tapped the valve cover and I had to dig really hard with the screw driver and I got the valve cover off. It's a mess too. Your camshaft look really clean compared to mine. It's all black and looks scorched. I'm gonna to keep on workin to see if I can find any other scorched parts.
Originally posted by cutehumor I went outside and tapped the valve cover and I had to dig really hard with the screw driver and I got the valve cover off. It's a mess too. Your camshaft look really clean compared to mine. It's all black and looks scorched. I'm gonna to keep on workin to see if I can find any other scorched parts.
you gotta be careful, not so much on valve cover but on other things, when you pry 'em apart with somethin like a screw driver, to not mar up the mating surface too bad, as if you mess it up too much you could have a leak. but silicone would fix that just fine on a valve cover.
ok well i just called a dealership and talked to a tech and he agreed with ya'll, that it is a NON interference engine. so now the question at hand is WHY is the compression sooooooooo wacky.
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