Where to go now on bad build? 92 eclipse nt rebuild

[joshua morgan]

My car is a 1992 eclipse NT 2.0 dohc.
The head was rebuilt by a trusted shop and has about 30k on it.
I decided to rely on a friends knowledge on rebuilding the block (as i am no mechanic and needed a more experienced mentor).
We went through everything, got it back together... oil pressure light started coming on and off intermittently. Well, 1000 miles into build, knock knock knock.
Havent even turned the motor over since, Piston rod? Ive been told to give it up, just buy a new car or all new motor. Im not giving up the car. It has all new struts, brakes, ps pump, drive axles, control arms, rebuilt clutch, brake master cylinder, few new sensors, cant even remember the rest! ... so, do i take it back apart and take the block to get it rebuilt? Or buy a new block? Or do a jdm motor swap? Ill have about $2k to spend and dont want to go through the same problem again. Im in the Dallas area if that helps in referring me to a good shop. Thnx. Go easy on the newbie! .

 

[bewstin]

Sorry to hear I can only imagine how frustrating that could be. If your gunna have $2k to spend then park the car for parts, and buy yourself a 1g gsx or tsi. You can find good deals on em, id rather be dumping money into one of those then a nt 2.0 but that's just me. Sounds like you guys didn't measure bearing clearances and probably spun a bearing from being too tight. But to be honest there's tons of little things that could have gone wrong to make a motor knock after 1k on a rebuild. Building a motor is tedious, just make sure next time you have someone that knows 500% what they are doing. Hope this helps

 

[WES_393]

Sounds to me like you had a failing oil pump which eventually ate up the bearings. Where to go from here depends on your overall goals. If you want a reliable/cheap daily driver, it might be worth it to swap out the engine block. But if you were looking to turbo the engine in the future anyways, your best bet might be to find a GSX or TSi like mentioned.

The best scenario would be to find a dirt cheap turbo model that needs head work. Skipped timing, blown head gasket, etc. Then swap on your NT head (with turbo cams) onto the engine block.

 

[e85_4g63]

I agree with WES. Sounds like the oil pump either failed or for whatever reason the bearings are shot. Best bet is to pull the oil pan and check the bearings. Did your friend check the bearing clearances and such when it was rebuilt.

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

Where to go? Under your car is where you should go. Why is it knocking is what you need to know. Drop the pan and check the bearings, and then we can tell you which path to follow. :thumbup:

 

[erkitner]

I hate these^ short answers.

I know how much you want to keep your engine. Here's the thing... you CAN. But it's going to take a lot of work. Knowing that you had an intermittent oil light should have been your first clue that something was awry with the build.

I'm not here to scold you, but for future reference, if you do not have good oil pressure indication within 10 seconds of firing it up, shut down the engine.

Alright, down to the nitty gritty.

Knocking is never good and a sure sign that you need to pull the engine. Find a knowledgeable buddy to help you with this, as you said you don't have the experience to do so. All you're going to do by dropping the oil pan is waste your time confirming an issue you already know is there.

Oil starvation will kill your engine. Usually the first to go is the rod bearings and main bearings for the crank. Don't waste your time. PULL THE ENGINE.

The most pertinent things you need to replace are the oil pump/front case assembly. Yes, it is the big silver colored plate on the front of the engine, underneath the timing cover. Your biggest pain the the ass may be removing the crank gear after the crank pulley is removed. A lot of people don't use anti-seize on the shaft, like they should. A gear puller will make this easier, or 2 pry-bars carefully.

REMOVE EVERYTHING FROM THE FRONT CASE. Gears, belts, bolts, everything. Use a flathead screwdriver to remove the front case/oil pump assembly.

Reverse order for everything else. Don't forget to remove the pickup tube after removing the oil pan BEFORE prying the front case off.

I HIGHLY recommend a Chilton's manual for assembly and dis-assembly reference.

This will also give you all your proper torque values and torque orders.

Research research research, brother.

And above all... TAKE YOUR TIME. If you ever start to feel burned out on a job. Take a break. Take them often. The worst thing about rebuilding is knowing that a potential problem could have been avoided by TAKING YOUR TIME!!!

PM me if you have any SPECIFIC questions.

Cheers.

- E