terzo204

David - Thanks for looking after the car. Sorry I could not pick it up today.

I know what you are saying but I am also interested to know what the market says.

BTW - what may have caused this?

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

Best guess would be it having been given a hard time from cold a few times or just one real bad episode.

David

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

[QUOTE=APIDavid;8483046]Mike, We have 3 damaged pistons for you to collect on Saturday. No 2 cylinder was by far the worst for side skirt damage.

I would hope that the car would be worth a bit more with one of our engines fitted. It ought to give the buyer more confidence that the engine is nice and fresh.

But with car sales as tough as they are at the moment, I can only suggest that any interested buyer should be more interested in the one with the better engine.

Kind regards David

As an 03 STi owner with a fair bit more power than standard but with standard internals, it would be interesting to know the diagnosis on the piston damage and also the condition of the main/big end shells when inspected.

JohnD

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

The piston damage on Mike's engine was causing a loudish piston slap noise, that firstly; he didn't like and secondly; he was worried about.

In fact the damage is all skirt related and could have been much worse, as they tend to start to break up the ring lands. That is a strange noise if you've ever heard it [ and have a trained ear ] The problem there of course, is that if the ring land cracks through, the piston can break up quite quickly and there goes a whole engine.

This repair is very much a stitch in time job.

The big end shells have been replaced for no better reason than they are a known weak spot and a new set is about the least safeguard you can make on a budget repair. They show even signs of wear and no damage as such. The replacement is purely for peace of mind.

The tappet shimming was also way off for some reason on the passenger side of the engine and included with the piston slap, was the lighter tappet noise. All of which pointed to a potentially bigger problem arriving without some attention now.

All back together and sounding sweet again - even if I do say so myself.....

David APi
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terzo204

David, sorry to ask but waht's tappet shimming?

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

Sorry, technical stuff.

There are shims located between the camshaft that operates the valves and the the valves themselves. In your case it is the whole operating 'bucket' that is the shim. The 'bucket' is the bit that presses down on the valve and valve spring to make the valve go up and down according to the position of the camshaft.

There is always a clearance between the two, to allow for things like heat expansion and float when the engine is revving highly. Typically it is few thousandths of an inch [ or millimetre, if you must ]

Yours were a bit loose and where they should have been somewhere in the 6 - 8 thou of an inch, they were about double that. NO, I don't know why, we just fix em A bit more than usual wear and tear.

David