'95 7afe rebuild questions

[pilothawk]

I just picked upa 95 Corolla DX for $250. Car isn't it too bad a shape, but the previous owner knew nothing about changing oil. She ran it dry! Hence the nice price.

7afe motors around here aren't as cheap as I'd like to find, and from what I've read on here I have about a 50/50 chance of getting one that burns oil anyway.

The car runs really well except for a very noticeable knock on acceleration. I pulled the plug wire on the cylinder closest to the distributor (I assume this is #1), and the knock goes away. This leads me to believe that the rod bearing on that cylinder is bad. If the bearing is bad what are the chances that it took the crank with it? I know that without taking it apart I won't know how bad everything really is, but why take it apart if I can get a 80k mile junkyard engine for ~$350.

I am waffling between rebuilding this motor and knowing its right, or putting in a junk yard motor and risking problems. If I do go with the rebuild I will also replace the valve seals and possibly pistons as well. Should I just try and get the parts from Autozone or someplace similar or is there a place online that has higher quality parts at a better price?

I'm not looking for a race motor, but something that is as near original as possible.

Thanks for your help

[94_Rolla_Guy]

its hard to say if the crank is gone, best bet is to pull the oil pans and take a look,

If your car is OBD2 with the EGR (newer design) they seem to have less instance of oil burning issues its mostly 93's and 94's once they revised the engine mid 95 and switched to OBD2 there were less problems.

My advise is to price out rebuilding the bottom end and price a used engine. if your working with the early OBD1 engine i would definately look into the rebuild rather than a used one!

[REN69]

by not being "cheap" what price range do you mean? Rebuilding a motor will cost you anywhere from $1000 and up depending how much damage there is, if you can get a replacement motor put on for under $1000 I would say go for it, just make sure you're getting a decently shaped motor.

[pilothawk]

By cheap I mean less than $500. I plan on doing the work. Right now I am just hoping that the crank isn't toast. If the crank is toast $500 probably wont get it. Thanks for the tips on the OBD1 vs OBDII. I'll have to check it out and see, especially when it comes to looking for a new motor if it comes to that.

Right now since I only plan on driving this thing to work and back...about 2 miles each way. I may just run it until it slaps a rod through the block then change the motor. Hey, I might get lucky and get 10 or 20000 more miles out of it before it really goes......

Thanks for the help.

[pilothawk]

Would anyone be willing to post a list of parts, in your opinion, I would need in order to do the rebuild.....assuming that the crank is junk.
Thanks

[Pineapple]

Drop the oil. If oil came out clean without metal, the crank is still usable. If metal in oil, whole engine is toasted. If you keep driving it, it'll be gone soon. Engine shop can chrome and grind the crank. Get them to clean the engine and prep the block (hone cylinder and match bearings).

[psychocoder]

Originally Posted by pilothawk

Would anyone be willing to post a list of parts, in your opinion, I would need in order to do the rebuild.....assuming that the crank is junk.
Thanks

pilothawk:

I just rebuilt a 7AFE engine in a '93 Corolla, what I replaced was:

• Pistons
• Rings
• Rods
• Rod Bearings
• Main Bearings
• Thrust Washers
• Oil Pump
• All Gaskets/Seals
• Valves
• Valve Springs
• Valve Seals
• Valve Guides
• Valve Shims
• Timing Belt
• Timing Belt Tensioner
• Head Bolts (because this engine uses TTY bolts (Torque to Yield))

Had a machine shop (RAM Engine in Spokane, Washington) work the head and to the valve job ($275) and put the new pins in the pistons ($55), deglazed the cylinder walls. The engine rebuild kit cost me $650, make sure you have an OHV Spring Compressor, a ring compressor (for putting the pistons back in with the new rings), a Harmonic Balancer Puller and a Timing Light before you start.

Be careful putting the cams back in, with this engine the cam timing is extremely touchy (took me about 5 tries to get it right). Granted you more than likely wont have to replace the rods (I did it just to have everything new inside the engine) or the valves (I had a couple broken and bent ones so decided to replace them all).

The only hard part was getting the cam timing right. Of course rebuilding the engine I went ahead and replaced the spark plugs, all fluids, oil filter (thats a given), points, plug wires and all the belts & hoses.

[silkydraws]

I've done quicky rebuilds in the car by taking off the head and pan for a couple hundred bucks. BUT if crank is bad and odds are tha it IS. Engine really will have to come out. In that case you are (and I am too) probaly better off going to junkyard and getting a complete (that way no seals, gaskets, time is spent) after buying many of these cars in the exact circumsatnce as yours that is my first two courses of action. Quicky rebuild if crank is good (sometimes just sliping in a new piston/rod in the offending hole) or engine from junk car/junk yard) Bad thing is most people who did'nt change the oil also did no other maintenance either and car will continue to break down till you have caught it up to speed. Good Luck. Maybe they just did'nt like oil on their hands. How was radiator/antifreeze?

[pilothawk]

Raidiator was about a quart low, Tranny (auto) is/was ok. Brake fluid was low, no washer fluid, P/S was ok. Guess I'll drop the pan and take a look. There is a sticker on the valve cover that shows that the timing belt was changed about 50k ago. Is it possible to just get a single rod bearing set? Quickie rebuild is all I am after. Looks like I'll find out if thats possible for $20 bucks in gaskets. I'll post more as I find out more. I'll post pics too if possible.
Thanks for the help.