Thanks man - I have another head here I could build if I needed to. If this goes south, I'm going 6 bolt lol.

Engine is back together completely and in the car. It would've started tonight, but I was foiled by having no coolant to put in the car haha.

Put a dab of loctite on the helicoils prior to installation.

Don't even bother trying to get rings from your local parts stores ; you won't find them. I just went through that. Either order Total Seal # 3394 or order PR110 from RockAuto. The only other option I found was paying nearly $300 for a set of OEM rings from the stealership.I wouldn't worry...

I read another thread last night late where you had mentioned the compressed air trick - I'll try that. I can't imagine that the kerosene/mineral spirits combo in my parts washer wouldn't dislodge any carbon or caked oil siezing the lifters in their bores, though. Thank you for the tip. Yeah...

Update: Shortblock is finished. I've found more issues than I had anticipated during this. Oil pump was nearly siezed due to bearing material in the oil ; I replaced the front case and the oil pan with extras I already had. I'm afraid the head may be junk. It's been soaking in the parts...

Very nice work in here! I'm almost embarassed to post mine haha - this was a tie rod adapter sleeve for a 1965 Mustang.

For future reference, I've located two sources other than paying a kidney for the OEM rings.Total Seal CR3394, summit racing sells this kit for $115.95. Rock Auto sells a kit by "DNJ", PR110 - this kit sells for $61.79.Unfortunately, I can't find any information regarding a kit that...

Ok, I'm about at my wit's end here. I'm in the process of doing a rebuild, and noticed today I was given the wrong rings when I ordered parts. The problem I run into now, is I can't find rings for a 2G Turbo DSM ANYWHERE. Noone carries them, I can't find any reference anywhere online to a part...

So, the plan was to have it back together and installing the engine today - that didn't happen. The wife had other plans for the weekend haha.What did happen is, the block is honed, cleaned, and prepped - cleaned out all of the bearing material from the oil passages in the block as well...

I also vote starter. You don't have to replace the whole unit, just the contacts inside the starter motor. When they wear a lot, you'll get dragging starts like a drained battery would give. Last time I had to do this was on a 1990 talon about 7 years ago, but if memory serves, the contact kit...

So it did, haha.I've got another full rotating assembly, so I'll have her back together soon.

Bringing this back from the dead - I finally got the DSM in the garage and got the engine tore down - when I did, I not only found the cause of the knocking, but the cause of the lower compression on cylinder #2 - #2 rod is bent, and it kicked the rod bearing out. I'm having a hard time decoding...

3.381 is a .040" over piston ; a .040 bore is 3.386, so that gives you .005" ptw.

The bung is there, it just has to be tapped. The only other difference in the block itself is the lack of oil squirters. If you talk about complete rotating assemblies, the pistons are different too.

I just checked out a set of 95 cams and a set of 97 cams I have in the shop ; you're correct ; the 95 doesn't have the small tapped hole down the center. I just assumed it was there since the divet is that would accept any other style CAS, and that there aren't year specific options when you...

All cam cores are the same across all years; there's no difference in the intake cam of any year 4G63 as far as being able to accept a CAS trigger goes. FWIW, the 95 CAS signal is different from other years ; if you're putting it in the '98, I'd use the 98 CAS.

I'm going to, but it's going to have to wait until the garage is freed up ; it's too cold for me to screw with it outside haha ; as soon as I get this 240 mobile under its own power, I'll get the DSM in the garage and get her on jack stands.

Depending on where the crack is, no ; for example, a crack in a cylinder wall will cause combustion pressure to enter the cooling system, but no oil. Cracks in the cast block are way more common than cracks in the aluminum cylinder head, but I would cover all of my bases and have both pressure...

Valve stem seals most likely ; but if you were getting combustion gasses in the cooling system, and you haven't found the cause yet, you'd better have that head and block pressure tested to rule out a crack.

Well typically when you lose a rod bearing, killing ignition on the affected cylinder will stop the knock - that doesn't happen in this case, and the oil pressure is too good for it to be a main. I don't know what it is, but it's loud and definitely something bad. I guess I'll know when I...

Plugs are out, but unfortunately I don't have a bore scope. I can't really see inside the cylinders without one. Oil has been drained, but I didn't see anything in it. However, it's possible that it just didn't come out with the oil. Checking the stroke is a good idea, I'll try that tomorrow.

Pulled the valve cover this morning and rolled the engine over by hand a few times ; I don't see anything out of the ordinary. I've got a gnawing in my gut telling me it's a cracked piston, but I'm really hoping that's not the case. I would've expected something locking the engine up to the...

Very loud knocking. Emanating from valve cover. Like I said earlier, it sounds almost like a pushrod motor with a solid lifter cam whose lash is VERY loose, or has a bent pushrod.That would be my thought on the lockups, but not the knock; it's definitely coming from the valve cover, and it...

I didn't notice an engine stall, but things like that happen so quick it really would've been hard to tell. What I can tell you is that after it happened, the engine would die if I pushed the clutch in ; the only way I could keep it running in neutral was by feathering the accelerator.

Notice I never said you were wrong :thumb:

Even if that's the case, it's unlikely that it would cause the knocking sound, and beyond unlikley that it would cause the wheels to lock up momentarily. If it had floated a valve that bad, it would've bent the #@*(!)# out of it, in which case I'd have found followers laying in the head when I...

While that's possible, I dunno. It's made less than 5 trips to 7k since installing the cams, and from the research that I did before buying them, I found a lot of people were having success with the EVO8 spring/Kelford 272 combo. I guess if nothing else, I'll check valve seal.

Ok, here's the story: '95 TSi AWD, Kelford cams, EVO 8 springs/retainers, otherwise the shortblock is stock. Was driving back from my office, and all of the sudden, all 4 wheels lock up for a brief second, then resume driving. It does this twice. First thought is "well crap, transfer case is...

Have you done any diagnostics to determine that the engine needs rebuilt?

Gotcha. Little low on the patience scale today, sorry about that.

Ok. Even though I was off a hole, I told you EXACTLY where the f**king bolts go. It's not hard to figure out by looking at the car. Even with the TIMING COVER on (which I'm sure is what you meant, because the sprockets attach on the OUTSIDE of the front case), it's not hard to figure out where...

They need to be under the two sprockets - regardless of which pic (and with the pic from the FSM, I'm rescinding my advice of pic 1 - I wasn't seeing it in my head right). Just make sure the two short bolts are under the oil pump and crank sprockets.I'll not get into what happens when it...

Ok, so the first picture was just an optical illusion. There was no reason to cut the caps apart like that. Grinding the center of the handle to give the rod bolts .100" clearance would've been plenty. I don't think it'l hurt to run it like it is, especially with the girdle, but I wouldn't take...

D'oh - that's correct. However my description of their locations is still correct, I was just off by one hole visually.

I've never seen or built a stroker that required the handles be completely removed, but I agree with Bogus, looking at those pictures, it looks like there wasn't any way around it - what kind of crank is that? Can you take a picture of it from the side with the counterweight completely vertical...

This is absolutely incorrect. The bolts that thread into the rear main are the same length as the ones that thread into the block. The only two short ones thread into the front case in the locations that I described in post #2.

Double check that CAS and make sure it's sound mechanically. Make sure it spins smoothly and remove the black top to verify visually that there isn't a loose vane.

Pic 1. One is directly under the crank sprocket, the other under the oil pump sprocket.

If the head was shaved, they may have used the cam bores to level the head in the machine.

If you have a bad O2 sensor, then you're going to run very very rich all of the time ; and you should have a CEL as well. If this were a standalone, I'd say it's a WUE issue. Just out of curiosity, do you know what the ECU thinks the temperature is?

What are your mods? Sounds like a fueling issue.

I don't have a QM, but when I had that noise, the culprit was a destroyed TOB. If you shimmed it and had too much preload on it, you could've destroyed it. Does the clutch fork have any up & down play?

As stated, use the stock rod. Adjust per the Jack's transmission video on clutch adjustment.Proper Clutch Adjustment - YouTubeStep height has nothing to do with the PP ; it's cut into the flywheel itself. If it's not within spec, you'll never get engagement right.

Compression numbers are expected to be low when the rings are new and haven't seated yet. As far as the no-start, I can't think of any logical reason why unplugging the fuel pump would cause the car to start, especially if you've tried two sets of injectors. Pull the fuse for the fuel pump...

The cylinder misfire box should be unchecked. You have to do this for a 1G CAS in a 2G.

If you bore it .020", you'll have to use .020" pistons and rings. You can't use std bore pistons/rings in an bored block. If it's a non turbo block, keep the block, the rods, and the pistons; the only things different from a turbo block are the pistons and the lack of oil squirters. I've built...

Additionally, did you tell it to ignore the cylinder misfire DTC in the DTCs tab?

Are you using DSMLink to do this?

I typically just lift mine into place, but the next time I'll try this method.