Engine rebuild or engine change? big dilemma....

[Elwe2k]

Originally Posted by miiser

If, as you said you don't know what the previous owners did with that engine, really go for a new used one. Don't think about it

Definitely my best bet then. You mentioned that i'll have to change the transmission as well, right?

Originally Posted by SirDigby

you don't want 2zz or 1zz injectors unless you are running forced induction or you are converting to E85. they will flood the engine with fuel. to check pistons for wetness you'd pull out a spark plug and shine a light into the hole. maybe need to rotate crank to bring piston closer to the hole. you could also pull the intake manifold and inspect the valves through the ports for bleed-by. if leaking the valves will be all brown and oily. a 1zzfe out of a scionXD/corolla will prob go for the same price as a 1nzfe. maybe $100 more....

I'll check for floods in the cylinders. Can you tell me what tools do I need to rotate the crank? inspection through intake manifold seems pretty straightforward though...

As for the 1zzfe swap, I think it will be a tight fit in the Echo's engine bay, not to mention that I have to source the ECU & tranny for that motor, plus fitment labor, needed parts for this swap and so on... Same story goes with the 2zzge. 1nz with a supercharger might do the job perfect.

Originally Posted by tmontague

a direct 1nz swap will be the cheapest option as it a simple plug and play

Indeed. Some bolt-ons like header, exhaust, CAI.... Maybe supercharge it later. Sounds cool right?

What about a tranny swap? My car is A/T (don't blame me for that) since the engine has so many miles maybe will be a good idea to replace it, and with a manual. I've read that tranny swaps are a pain in the a** but I'd like to hear what you think...

Originally Posted by jra

If the car runs well and it's just the check engine light you are concerned with, I would just keep driving it until it bit the dust. You might try to replacing 1qt. of oil with 1 qt. of lucas oil stabilizer, could help a lot with the oil problem, make sure your pvc valve isn't plugged.

That might work as well... I'd just keep an eye on the fluids and giving standard maintenance to it until it really needs an engine change, that way I can save for the swap. Car indeed runs good, no sputtering or strangeness whatsoever, the only thing that bothers me is that juddering on idle. I have to put it in neutral everytime i'm at stoplights, everything else is fine.

As for the Lucas Oil Stabilizer, this replaces conventional oil then? or is it an additive? Disconnect the PCV tube before adding this as well?

Speaking of that PCV valve, i've replaced it with a new one. Pretty nasty stuff... Here's some pics of that:

[ncp13]

If you still have a misfire with P0301 try to follow the diagnostic proccedure

You said that your mechanic swaped injectors and that did not change anything correct? So that tells us that the injector was ok.

Swap the coils from the misfiring cylinder with another one 2 or 3 or 4.
Cylinder 1 is closest to your timing chain or oil fill cap.

If your DTC changes to P030( the cyl# from where you swapped the coil) you have your bad coil.

Another common failure is Coil failure from oil leak to the injector coils. You will see when you remove them if they are filled with oil.

And the if you still have no luck do a leak down test , or a compression test on the cylinder that gives you the DTC. If you get low reading you then have a misfire from low compression on that cylinder.

If you poor a little oil on that cylinder and the compression goes up its usually piston rings.. or cylider damage. If nothing changes with the oil the source of the low compression is further up from the valves. ( burned or bend valve, etc.. )


Good luck.

[dogsridewith]

At the beginning of a coolant ingestion head gasket failure, the car can still run great. Spark plug will look cleaner/whiter than the others. Miss at startup may set code...I know nothing of code-setting.

[ncp13]

That is very true. You should notice coolant loss.

[Elwe2k]

Originally Posted by ncp13

If you still have a misfire with P0301 try to follow the diagnostic proccedure

You said that your mechanic swaped injectors and that did not change anything correct? So that tells us that the injector was ok.

Swap the coils from the misfiring cylinder with another one 2 or 3 or 4.
Cylinder 1 is closest to your timing chain or oil fill cap.

If your DTC changes to P030( the cyl# from where you swapped the coil) you have your bad coil.

Another common failure is Coil failure from oil leak to the injector coils. You will see when you remove them if they are filled with oil.

And the if you still have no luck do a leak down test , or a compression test on the cylinder that gives you the DTC. If you get low reading you then have a misfire from low compression on that cylinder.

If you poor a little oil on that cylinder and the compression goes up its usually piston rings.. or cylider damage. If nothing changes with the oil the source of the low compression is further up from the valves. ( burned or bend valve, etc.. )

That is very true. You should notice coolant loss.

Originally Posted by dogsridewith

At the beginning of a coolant ingestion head gasket failure, the car can still run great. Spark plug will look cleaner/whiter than the others. Miss at startup may set code...I know nothing of code-setting.

Going to check those coils again. Now that you mention it, i'm loosing a bit of coolant. I have to refill sometimes with water. I'll check on coolant leaks as well.

Checked underneath the car and the oil pan has a little leak near the oil screw, maybe that's causing that oil leak too... A bad gasket perhaps.

I'll keep you guys posted.

[dogsridewith]

What shows at seams and surfaces further down the engine can be oil coming down from the head gasket...they fail at varying rates various places. The pressurized passage for head oil on my Corolla was off the right side of #1...the cylinder that had the worst coolant leak in the HG failure. And oil wept oil down that side of the engine.

[tmontague]

Very true, and 1nz's in North America are easy to come by and no in high demand due to their reliabikity, this keeps the costs low.

I picked up my 2zr with 89k km on it from a 2011 corolla at my local Recyclers for $600.

It's true you don't know the exact mileage on it and they could be lying but a large well know recycler that has a good reputation and wants to keep it will likely not be messing around with the mileage. Even more unlikely if they have a handful of those engines for sale with varying mileage and price. Take a look at other engines they sell, if they're all very low km's and none have high km's with a lower price then there is a higher chance they're bs the mileage.

When I stripped my engine down to the block everything looked great and exactly as it should've for its mileage. They give oil pressure ratings, oil consumption and compression. (although I'm not too sure how they would measure that in a totalled car)

[dogsridewith]

Lots of totaled cars run well. Some even drive OK or fine. Push a front corner enough to dent the front of the door and crack the windshield. Often, that's totaled.
It's just cost to fix is more than value fixed.
(Or could be really hammered in the rear, but still able to drag itself around the lot in low gear(s).)

[SirDigby]

Originally Posted by dogsridewith

Lots of totaled cars run well. Some even drive OK or fine. Push a front corner enough to dent the front of the door and crack the windshield. Often, that's totaled.
It's just cost to fix is more than value fixed.
(Or could be really hammered in the rear, but still able to drag itself around the lot in low gear(s).)

I just got mine back from the body shop, rear hammering. I can't believe they didn't total it out! they did $4600 in repairs! on an 07! i'm so happy I get to keep it.

most big recyclers have an engine dyno that they do their testing on. they do not need the car for testing. I would trust their millage because they have like 50 of them for sale. they are a good company and have good representation.

[tmontague]

Originally Posted by SirDigby

most big recyclers have an engine dyno that they do their testing on.

Ahh I see, I've always wondered how people bench test their engines, what would a set up like that consist of?

[IllusionX]

The 1nzfe was going for about 500$ CAD 12 years ago. Complete with transmission for an Echo.

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