I scored a complete ea82t motor with pretty much all the accessories for $75 CDN a few days ago. The dash said 215k KM so pretty low mileage. Piston 1 has NO CRACK between the valves, and this is on a gen1 head. All others have a crack between the valves but not extending past the valve seats. So thats good news. Also, the factory hone marks are still visible on all the cylinder walls.

 

So what I'm asking is since the cylinder walls are completely without wear, should I bother taking the pistons out and inspecting/changing the rings, or are they more than likely just fine. This is on an apparently babied motor (in a 2wd auto sedan) with 215k KM (129k miles).

 

Edit: I shoudl also add that this will be for a performance build. Ms&edis most definitely, self-made up and downpipes, intercooler, stock turbo. I've already started porting the heads after dissassembling and cleaning.

I'd think about giving the rings a look if you've got the time. What sort of shape are the insides of the cam/valve covers in, how much oily residue/sludge is there.

 

Nice score by the way.

the oil pan had some grunge in it, but the heads/cam covers were overall pretty clean as far as deposits go. A bit of an orange coating that wipes off pretty easy. Can I take the pistons/rods out without splitting the block? How big of a deal is splitting the block?

the oil pan had some grunge in it, but the heads/cam covers were overall pretty clean as far as deposits go. A bit of an orange coating that wipes off pretty easy. Can I take the pistons/rods out without splitting the block? How big of a deal is splitting the block?

Yes, but it's a hassle, splitting the block's not too bad... I'd split the block it might take longer in the end but it'll be less of a headache. There's a thread out there about doing it without splitting somewhere...

what about crank bearing clearances and stuff, do I have to do anything special on reassembly, or just slap it back together with some sealer?

you can take the the pistons out without splitting the block easily, you just need a 14mm hex head aka, allen wrench, there like $10 at harbor freight, or you can get the giant sized hex head set for like $20, buy the set, i did. but you wont be able to get to the con rods without splitting the block, but if you split the block, its a good idea to get new valves and bearings and seals and rings and all that good stuff, if you have a rebuild kit handy, id go for it, it will be basically a brand new motor when your done. especially if your going to boost the snot out of it and lay waste to your tires in it, cant go wrong with a little added insurance, hell while your at it, you could grab yourself some aftermarket forged pistons and con rods, balance and blueprint the whole thing and spin it to like 8.5k......but those are just pipe dreams...........

 

 

 

 

 

~Josh~

aside from being a performance build, i would leave it the way thT IT IS FOR A DAILY DRIVER. OOPS I SNEEZED AND HIT THE caps lock

 

anyway it shouldnt be much hassle taking the pistons out to check the rings. but its one of those things where you could just leave it alone, and if you are going to get into it a little bit you may as well get into all of it and do a complete rebuild taking advantage o the opportunity