After taking my car to 3 different mechanics, my local one, firestone and pep boys and seeking some information from friends...none could exactly pinpoint my engine problems. Originally I took the car in to be looked at for a hot start issue due to probably a bad sensor. However while examining the car the mechanics could not find anything wrong with the sensor but advised replacing it. I had a compression test(which all passed), block test(passed), and has a full system diagnostic test which it passed, and a full system tune up.
While doing the work the last mechanic at firestone put my car up and heard that there may be some internal knocking going on within the engine but they themselves could not figure out what. I then took it to an engine specialist, they said without taking the engine apart their best guess is that a rod may be loose(I am not that mechanically inclined so thats the gist of what I understood)
They then recommended if I were to take the engine to be serviced that it would be cost effective to get the entire engine rebuilt.
I have the 1.6L 4AGE engine and was wonder what the pro's and con's of getting the rebuilt vs an swap along with general costs. I dont have a swap in mind nor have any idea of what would be the best swap.
Any help would be appreciated...I do have a mechanic(he has not given me a quote on anything yet) that I would like to take the car to but I would like some information before making any final huge financial decisions.
a rod knock in a 4age is very noticeable..... when you don't notice it... it will build in about 5 miles..... about 10-15 miles of driving after that you will have a completely destroyed bottom end (trust me.... )
in any event.... 4age's are known for having worn lifters and the valvetrain being a bit noisy..... you can check the tolerances on something like that easily by pulling the valves and checking them.
having the engine rebuilt vs. cost effictiveness will depend on how much they charge you to rebuild it and what kind of warranty it comes with. these motors are difficult to get back to factory specs... a lot of the time going with a low mileage JDM motor will mean that you'll have a tighter motor than even a rebuild (because factory tolerances are much better than aftermarket.... even using toyota oversized parts there's only 1 size..... original factory sizing there are 4 sizes when all other companies use 1 standard size).
starters tend to have hot start issues because they're under the exhaust manifold and after ~20 years they get tired.....
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1) 2004 IS300 Manual/LSD/Sportdesign 2) 2010 Corolla S 5 speed 3) 1986 MR2 "MK1.22" 5sfe/s54 swap 3) 1995 Ford Explorer 4x4, TT/AAL/custom shackle lift, 31"s
Well from what the mechanics said, its an odd knocking noise at the bottom of the engine and gave me a list of what the problems could, many of which I do not really understand exactly. With the engine I can get it to start great when cold but once it starts to heat up, it is impossible to get it going again, it will just crank over and over.
What I am worried about is that if they continuously guess what the problem could be I could spend more trying to fix the problem when a rebuild would probably solve the issue completely, and give me a depending engine to go with for the next two or three years.
Yeah I am just waiting for my mechanic to inform me of his prices for the rebuild.
Would it be better to go with Toyota OEM parts or aftermarket parts for the rebuild, ignoring the prices, which would be more beneficial?
the starting problem is not related to your knock problem. it just isn't.
the starting problem is probably a bad coolant sensor attached to the cold start injector.... there are 4 coolant sensors in an AW11 so most mechanics probably wouldn't know which to replace.
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1) 2004 IS300 Manual/LSD/Sportdesign 2) 2010 Corolla S 5 speed 3) 1986 MR2 "MK1.22" 5sfe/s54 swap 3) 1995 Ford Explorer 4x4, TT/AAL/custom shackle lift, 31"s
without hearing the sound for ourselves all we can really do for you is is guess. All and all, if you can find a 4AGE motor that is local to you...a swap may be a better option. If not, a partial rebuild will be easier. You can rebuild just the lower end without even taking the engine out (just not rings).
I would go on MR2oc.com and see if you can find a local MR2 guy who is familiar with AW11 model MR2's and see if they can meet up with you and take a look.
if in doubt, i would also hit up the following sites:
mr2.com
club4ag.com
if a rebuild is in your near future, i would advise purchasing a long block (head + block + all internal parts) and having THAT one rebuilt, while you are driving on the current engine. once the replacement engine is fully rebuilt, then drop out the old one, move your accessories, wiring, etc over to the rebuilt engine and put that into the car.
of course, at that point, you'll have a spare engine. take it home and tear it apart! learn from it and makes your mistakes on something that you can learn from and NOT worry about.
the starting problem is not related to your knock problem. it just isn't.
the starting problem is probably a bad coolant sensor attached to the cold start injector.... there are 4 coolant sensors in an AW11 so most mechanics probably wouldn't know which to replace.
Oh yeah I know, the hot starting problem was what I went into the shop at first to get looked at. While they could not figure out the reason exactly guessing that its probably the sensor or starting needing to be replaced they noticed that there was a weird knocking noise.
Now it has not affected anything up to this point but with the mechanics not knowing exactly what is going on I do not want to take the chance and drive the car and potentially ruin the engine entirely.
if in doubt, i would also hit up the following sites:
mr2.com
club4ag.com
if a rebuild is in your near future, i would advise purchasing a long block (head + block + all internal parts) and having THAT one rebuilt, while you are driving on the current engine. once the replacement engine is fully rebuilt, then drop out the old one, move your accessories, wiring, etc over to the rebuilt engine and put that into the car.
of course, at that point, you'll have a spare engine. take it home and tear it apart! learn from it and makes your mistakes on something that you can learn from and NOT worry about.
Yeah, that is what someone had suggested to me as a potential idea, I just do not have the funds to do something like that at this moment. I would have to either buy another motor, maybe transmission and do a swap or do a rebuild. However, my luck with cars and engines has been poor so the swap really is not the best idea.
The reason I was asking advice about a swap was because my mechanic may have one that I could swap into the car as long as I let him keep my old engine as credit toward my bill.
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