Removing torque converter bolts w/ seized 1FZ? (1 Viewer)

[player]

Hey all, have a friend's 97 FZJ80 that he wants fixed. Originally, truck died on the freeway, restarted and ran poorly, then shortly died again and would not restart. When I first looked at it, I cranked it and it sounded like a lack of compression on all cylinders, so I suspected valve timing was off, ie timing chain skipped. Had it flatbedded to my house, where I charged up the battery and tried to crank it again. Now the starter grinds. It will sometimes catch, but engine does not spin. Starter cable gets very hot. Will also not spin with a breaker bar on the harmonic balancer bolt, so something is jammed or seized inside. Miraculously, it's stopped at about 2deg BTDC.

Pulled the valve cover, cam timing is spot on as far as I can tell by the dots on the gears. Little dirty under the VC, but cams don't look scored or have other unexpected wear. Did a leakdown test on a cylinder that has valves closed. Result was around 30 out of 100 PSI, spark plugs are pretty caked with burnt oil, and my friend confirmed that he has to add oil every couple weeks. Odometer is showing 350k+, so I think it's fair to say this motor has seen better days. Rather than wasting more time trying to get this engine to run on borrowed time, I suggested it may be better to just yank the whole thing and start fresh. Friend agrees it's probably time for a new motor, local machine shop says they've done a few of these and shouldn't have a problem. That's all fine and dandy, but now I'm wondering, how will I get the torque converter bolts out if the motor doesn't turn? Can I pull the torque converter out with the whole engine/flexplate?

Thanks!

 

[azngarage]

yes u can pull the engine out with the torque converter stuck to the flexplate. Just need a little more clearance to get the engine out now that the torque converter stuck to it.

 

[ppc]

More than likely it hydrolocked. Have you tried pulling all the spark plugs and then rotating the engine?

 

[player]

Yes, all plugs out, won't bar over or move on the starter

 

[BILT4ME]

Most likely a timing chain slipper or tensioner came apart and wedged in the crank gear. COuld be the chain folded over and wedged if the slipper came off.

There's a guy down under with almost the same predicament right now.

Yes, you can pull the engine with the TC attached, but it will be easier to pull the engine, trans, tcase all together on these, especially in this situation.

 

[player]

Most likely a timing chain slipper or tensioner came apart and wedged in the crank gear. COuld be the chain folded over and wedged if the slipper came off.

There's a guy down under with almost the same predicament right now.

Yes, you can pull the engine with the TC attached, but it will be easier to pull the engine, trans, tcase all together on these, especially in this situation.

Hrmm, I suppose it'll be a lot easier to get to the bellhousing bolts like that haha

 

[Pippylongsausage]

Pull the entire thing. I’m intrigued about the timing chain slipper theory. Makes sense, definitely could be it. If you had a scope you could look down in there.

 

[BILT4ME]

Hrmm, I suppose it'll be a lot easier to get to the bellhousing bolts like that haha

I've pulled a transmission separate from the engine. That's not something I want to repeat.

 

[player]

Alright, it's settled. Pull the whole package. I have to tear the motor down to the long block before it goes to the machine shop, I'll pull the timing cover and see what's going on in there.

I did a 22R for another friend, they did a timing chain job with a cheap eBay timing set. Said it ran well for a couple months until it made some noises, then was way down on power. Turns out the cheap tensioner broke in half, the metal shaft part of it got jammed up in the timing cover and crankshaft gear and made it skip a couple teeth. He gave me another eBay timing kit to put in... Blows my mind

 

[BILT4ME]

Alright, it's settled. Pull the whole package. I have to tear the motor down to the long block before it goes to the machine shop, I'll pull the timing cover and see what's going on in there.

I did a 22R for another friend, they did a timing chain job with a cheap eBay timing set. Said it ran well for a couple months until it made some noises, then was way down on power. Turns out the cheap tensioner broke in half, the metal shaft part of it got jammed up in the timing cover and crankshaft gear and made it skip a couple teeth. He gave me another eBay timing kit to put in... Blows my mind

Best to use Toyota parts only if you can.

The other guy just discover he has a cracked piston skirt, but no evidence of coolant in the cylinders. Still locked up tight. Timing chain still tight on the bottom.

He's going to pull the timing cover first to confirm.

 

[player]

Best to use Toyota parts only if you can.

The other guy just discover he has a cracked piston skirt, but no evidence of coolant in the cylinders. Still locked up tight. Timing chain still tight on the bottom.

He's going to pull the timing cover first to confirm.

Yeah, I'm a OEM kind of guy, where available and economically feasible, but this was for a friend who just wanted the truck running again. I failed to mentioned that this job came to me after someone else started the job a couple years prior. I got the truck with most of the accessory and timing cover bolts in a bucket, the rest in the bottom of the airbox. Haha that was a fun puzzle.

But yeah, for the 1FZ, I'll pull it and drop the oil pan to see if I can see anything funky going on in there. Should be an interesting autopsy. I'll post up here with the findings.

 

[retrofive]

Most likely a timing chain slipper or tensioner came apart and wedged in the crank gear. COuld be the chain folded over and wedged if the slipper came off.

There's a guy down under with almost the same predicament right now.

Yes, you can pull the engine with the TC attached, but it will be easier to pull the engine, trans, tcase all together on these, especially in this situation.

We call Florida down under now?

 

[BILT4ME]

We call Florida down under now?

Apparently

I was thinking @mudgudgeon when I wrote that.


They both start with "M".......

 

[Dave 2000]

The only thing I would add is if pulling the motor without the transmission but leaving the converter in place there will quite a bit of oil coming out from the converter at it leaves the pump.

regards

Dave

 

[player]

The only thing I would add is if pulling the motor without the transmission but leaving the converter in place there will quite a bit of oil coming out from the converter at it leaves the pump.

regards

Dave

Definitely factored into my decision to pull the whole thing. It'll be easier to figure out what's holding it up so I can spin the assembly to get to the converter bolts.

Drained the oil last night, definitely has not had oil changes as frequently as it should've.......