EA81 Engine Help Needed

[ettev]

OK, so I fancy myself pretty handy with typical motor work and general vehicle maintenance, etc. This current project I'm doing has fought me every step of the way and I'm about to throw the towel in. Here's my latest.

 

After having to literally chisel apart the old oil pump to get it out of the block I figured I'd better pull the oil pan to clean out any and all bits of the pump that got in there. So, drop the y-pipe, loosen the motor mounts from the cross member and jack the engine. All good. Take the oil pan down and figure I better check out the pickup tube. Yanked the pickup tube out and found it loaded with aluminum chunks and bits from the oil pump destruction. So the way these pick up tubes were assembled there's no way to really clean out all this stuff properly. No biggie.....I post on USMB for a pickup tube and GeneralDisorder comes to the rescue (thanks Rick, really appreciate it man). So I think I'm set. So I figure I'm in this far I may as well yank the valve covers and replace those gaskets as well. Off with the drivers side....no issues. Off with the passenger side and what do I see. The very rear push rod not engaged on the rocker arm. Hmmm.

 

Loosen the rocker arm adjuster and get the push rod back in. Throw the crank pulley bolt in and (try to) give the engine a few turns to see what may be going on with this push rod and yikes. When its time for that last valve to open/close there is literally no action and turning over of the engine by the crank bolt gets pretty hard (more so than normal compression resistance). Push rod comes out of the rocker arm again. Hmmm.

 

So after getting the push rod back in the rocker arm I take a closer look at the valve and notice that it appears to be stuck in the "open" position. So I think broken valve spring. Visually inspection only but no signs of a break. Put a flat blade in the spring and use the lip of the head to pull the valve outward, or to the "closed" position. WOW. VERY TIGHT, and still can't get it to come out as far as the other three valve/valve springs.

 

Question 1: WTF? Bent valve or maybe just tons of carbon on the valve stem binding it? This car had been sitting and not run for about 3 years prior to me adopting it.

 

Questions 2,3,4, and 5: If I have a bent spring whats an easy check? Do I need to yank the head to verify? If not, can the valve spring cap be removed with the head on and in the vehicle? If so what kind of compressor tool do I use? See pictures at bottom of post.

 

Next item....naturally since I have the engine jacked up I can't get the two long head bolts holding the rocker arm assembly out thru the frame holes. After about a half hour of trying to get the motor mount studs back down thru the crossmember mounting holes I threw in the towel.

 

Question 6: Whats the secret to getting the engine back into the proper seated position and the motor mount studs back thru the crossmember holes? I DID NOT do anything with the rear engine pitch limiting stay when I jacked the motor up.

 

Next item....I remember when I rebuilt my EA82T many years ago and bought replacement heads they had these funky looking plugs on them. I'm suspecting they may be some kind of overheat sensor for warranty reasons but that's just my guess. What is throwing me off is that I have one of these same plugs on the rear of the motor just forward of the timing inspection window. See picture below.

 

Question 7: What exactly are these plugs and can I assume that this car not only has a replacement head but possibly a replacement block too?

 

I'm disgusted. The engine in this project was the one thing I thought I had going for me. I'm just not in the mood for open heart surgery on this thing. It's a project I'm doing with my 17 year old son and it was to e his car. Anybody in the eastern Pennsylvania area that can do an EJ22 swap for me on this I'd really consider it at this point.

 

Any answers you guys can provide will, as always, be much appreciated.

 

 

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Yeah - look like a rebuilt engine at some point - those little tabs are what my head shop uses on all the heads I have redone to indicate an overheat failure. They don't appear to be melted out so that's a good sign.

 

I would be willing to bet that it's just a stuck valve - probably not bent because these are non interferance engines.

 

Pull the head and go from there - could have been a poor rebuild and perhaps it's burning oil - thus lots of carbon and a stuck valve.

 

Getting the engine mounts back into the cross-member sometimes requires a bit of prodding - try lowering the engine down till it's just putting a little pressure on the stud them take a big screwdriver and a hammer and smack the stud in the direction of the slot. Once you do that you should be able to pull the rocker bolts and slip the head off.

 

If you need a head I'm sure I can come up with something. But it might be easier to take it down and have just that single valve repaired - any heads I have will be used and likely will need at least a resurface. Repairing that valve shouldn't cost more than $25 or $30 I wouldn't think - new valves are only like $10.

 

GD

[hatchsub]

Most likely your looking at a bent valve or a severely gummed up valve from carbon getting by the seat. Either way...that head is coming off to fix it. How many miles are on the motor? I just did headgaskets on one of these motors myself and honestly they are ridiculously easy to do. I had the heads rebuilt by a local machine shop to get a few more hp out of the motor too and its noticeable. While an EJ is a solution to the problem i think you might be invoking more headaches with the wiring to make it all work. I would just fix the EA81. Its really a bulletproof motor if well taken care of and even if something does go wrong its usually cheap and easy to replace.