Saturday Night Racer - Freshening an Engine

Ensign3

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Freshening an Engine
04/30/12 at 7:54am

What is the proper way to freshen an engine? I was humbled this weekend at SMS playday.

I helped my brother with his engine this off season. He had spun a rod bearing on #4 last season. This is a Toyota 22R mini stock. There was no damage to the crankshaft. We measured everything and were able to use standard size rod and main bearings.

Used a flex hone and standard sized rings. Ring gaps and bearing clearances were all within spec. Everything torqued with snap on torque wrenches.

The motor locked up after 6 laps. We ran it in the garage several times before bringing it out.

Is this the wrong way to freshen an engine? Does it need to go to the machine shop every time??? Help.

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doggie1956 LMR Rookie Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 38 somewhere in California	Re: Freshening an Engine Reply #1 - 04/30/12 at 8:53am Did you check the end play on the crank, the 22r's have a problem wearing the center thrust flange off the crank.
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Ensign3 LMR Senior Offline My heart says Latemodel, my wallet says Ministock. Posts: 297 Nipomo	Re: Freshening an Engine Reply #2 - 04/30/12 at 8:57am Yes. Crankshaft end play was within spec also. I think there was a change in the thrust bearings around 1982 or 83, but the specs are the same. This experience kind of scared me away from not sending the motor to the machine shop every time.
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formercrewguy LMR God Offline The shrub brothers are punks Posts: 4293 Arizona	Re: Freshening an Engine Reply #3 - 04/30/12 at 3:48pm Did you tear it down to see what caused it to sieze?
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Ensign3

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Re: Freshening an Engine
Reply #4 - 04/30/12 at 7:50pm

Not yet. Did talk to a reputable engine builder in Bakersfield today. Don't know if he wants me to name him, but he has lots of experience with these 22R Toyota motors.

He said it is usually an out of round connecting rod end. The engine spun over by hand fine on the engine stand. He said on these motors it gets worse as soon as they warm up and wipes out the bearing.

This was my brothers car. I am scrambling on my car this week for the SMS race, but will tear down his engine when I can. I'll let you know what I find.

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Andrew

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Re: Freshening an Engine
Reply #5 - 05/12/12 at 2:37am

I've blown a few of my own up figureing things out he hard way too. One problem I had was too much compression for the gas i was running... pinged the rod bearings right out of it. I went through 3 engines before I figured out what I was doing wong. You could've had a bad rod, or maybe it it was detonating. What kind of gas do you run? Did you have the head cut or is it the same as it was before? Did you check either ends of the rods? Did you thouroughly clean the oil passages prior the assembly?There's lots to remember to do.

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mudslinger47 LMR God Offline Well crap stuck with the dickweed for four more Posts: 8389	Re: Freshening an Engine Reply #6 - 05/19/12 at 8:19am If you didn't replace or at least re-size the rod that had the spun bearing, that will most likely be your culprit. Duane PS Learned the hard way too
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