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Little Red (1996 Geo Tracker)

Going to do rod and main bearings and new rings in the bottom end while this engine is out.

You guys have preference between ITM ENGINE COMPONENTS, ENGINETECH, or Sealed Power parts?
 
I used to work in a machine shop building engines. The only name of those mentioned I’m familiar with is sealed power. I’ve never built a non US engine. I’m a clevite and sealed power fan for bearings and rings. Felpro for gaskets if given the choice.
 
JR4X said:
I used to work in a machine shop building engines. The only name of those mentioned I’m familiar with is sealed power. I’ve never built a non US engine. I’m a clevite and sealed power fan for bearings and rings. Felpro for gaskets if given the choice.
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Should I buy tools to measure everything and insure my tolerances are within spec?

A buddy of mine said just buy standard replacements and run them. I’ve never done the bottom end of an engine so this is all a learning experience.
 
Buddy of mine has been looking for a Tracker. So I, regrettably went with him and took my oldest son…

Buddy passed on it and the kid gave me all his cash to drag this pile home. It runs, stops, steers, very well. Just rusted up and leaking gas. So, it’s his. I told him he’s working on it and fixing it when he breaks shit. He can wheel it on the 20 acres…
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Well, my son killed his black Geo today.

He’s been full-sending the thing everywhere and I warned him.

Well, the top link in the rear ripped the cross member off the frame. It’s so rusted there’s nothing to weld to.

But, at least I got a 115k mile, awesome running 16V, and a 3 speed auto trans. :smokin:
 
Wuz-A-Zuk reached out looking for a 16V engine.

So I pulled the pan on the one I blew up in Little Red.

Can this be saved? It also smashed a dent in that tube inside the block.
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The journal looks find. No idea dafuq is going on in that second pic though. :laughing:
 
So, engine guys…

#2 cylinder has a crack in the block. Tony from HWY83 mentioned this is a common problem with these.

Add a cradle and run it? This isn’t for hard wheeling, so there should be no rev limiting.

Also, I found some grooves worn into my bearings, but the crank looks okay. Think it’s all right to just go with standard bearings and skip machining?

I’ll grab pics tomorrow. I didn’t have my phone in the shop tonight.
 
FleshEater said:
Also, I found some grooves worn into my bearings, but the crank looks okay. Think it’s all right to just go with standard bearings and skip machining?
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Polish the crank with whatever buffing compound or super fine abrasive you happen to have and run it.
 
Can't really tell from pics. Does it feel anything other than perfectly smooth to the touch?
 
arse_sidewards said:
Can't really tell from pics. Does it feel anything other than perfectly smooth to the touch?
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It feels really smooth. I’ll just run it. I’m assuming bearings are softer metal to save the crank?

This is my first engine tear down and rebuild, so just being careful.
 
JR4X said:
Crank looks fine. Block looks junk. Unless you know something I don’t that block isn’t useable in that condition
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Man…that sucks. Only other free block I have is the one I pulled out of it. The rod smashed one of the cooling channels when it broke.

I might have to swap the 115k mile one out of the kids 95’ Geo.

Or find someone to weld it up?
 
FleshEater said:
Man…that sucks. Only other free block I have is the one I pulled out of it. The rod smashed one of the cooling channels when it broke.

I might have to swap the 115k mile one out of the kids 95’ Geo.

Or find someone to weld it up?
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Can you zoom out a bit and post a couple more pictures of the cracked area?
 
I pulled the crank out of the original block from this Tracker. Crank journals are good. No cracks.

But this happened when the bearing seized and broke the connecting rod.

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I don’t know what that tube is that is smashed. I pulled a plug on one end and it just had oil residue in it.

Replace the piston sleeve and run it?

Can I use the sleeve from the cracked block?
 
I don’t know what to say about the cracked block. That’s weird, if it’s cracked it’s because it’s getting some force induced in a weird way. If it’s cracked through the oil galley it should cause some amount of oil pressure loss.

It’s very unlikely that you will remove a sleeve from a block without damaging the sleeve. Didn’t you say that block damage is a hole into the coolant passage?
 
JR4X said:
I don’t know what to say about the cracked block. That’s weird, if it’s cracked it’s because it’s getting some force induced in a weird way. If it’s cracked through the oil galley it should cause some amount of oil pressure loss.

It’s very unlikely that you will remove a sleeve from a block without damaging the sleeve. Didn’t you say that block damage is a hole into the coolant passage?
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I thought it was, but it’s not. I don’t think I can buy new sleeves for these. It’s an oil passage. Just found it. Now I need to see if it is in fact cracked through.

I’ll have to see if it causes interference with the piston. If it doesn’t it should be fine, right?


The cracked block had great compression and everything. Just what these are known for, I guess.
 
FleshEater said:
I thought it was, but it’s not. I don’t think I can buy new sleeves for these. It’s an oil passage. Just found it. Now I need to see if it is in fact cracked through.

I’ll have to see if it causes interference with the piston. If it doesn’t it should be fine, right?


The cracked block had great compression and everything. Just what these are known for, I guess.
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I mean, it is only 96 horsepower. Maybe the crack is no big deal. I’d have a hard time convincing myself to put an engine together with a cracked block. But, I have this tractor analogy. Are you going to stick your wife in it to drive it to California? No. It’s just a tractor at this point, if it runs it’s doing it’s job.

Back to the sleeves. I’ve worked at an engine machine shop and pulled sleeves with a legit sleeve puller. The block is the part that is meant to be salvageable and the sleeves expendable. I’ve pulled many sleeves and never without damaging them. They are thin and easy to damage. The way, the ONLY way to put them in is to heat the block and freeze the sleeve. It drops on and the two bond together. Once the temperature of the two normalize they basically become one, locking together tightly. There’s no way to heat or cool one without affecting the other directly.

You can practice this on the block with the bad sleeve in it to see what you’re up against.
 
JR4X said:
I mean, it is only 96 horsepower. Maybe the crack is no big deal. I’d have a hard time convincing myself to put an engine together with a cracked block. But, I have this tractor analogy. Are you going to stick your wife in it to drive it to California? No. It’s just a tractor at this point, if it runs it’s doing it’s job.

Back to the sleeves. I’ve worked at an engine machine shop and pulled sleeves with a legit sleeve puller. The block is the part that is meant to be salvageable and the sleeves expendable. I’ve pulled many sleeves and never without damaging them. They are thin and easy to damage. The way, the ONLY way to put them in is to heat the block and freeze the sleeve. It drops on and the two bond together. Once the temperature of the two normalize they basically become one, locking together tightly. There’s no way to heat or cool one without affecting the other directly.

You can practice this on the block with the bad sleeve in it to see what you’re up against.
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I’m really thinking about buying a girdle and running it. Tony from HWY83 said he finds tons of these cracks. The only way you know it’s cracked is once you pull the crank.

I have one more running engine to pull and tear down to check.

OR…

I call a reputable local engine shop and see if they can repair the sleeve and check if it cracked the oiling tube (that carries oil to the bearings).

YotaAtieToo said:
2.0 swap...... :flipoff2:
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Get outta here with that. :flipoff2::flipoff2:
 
Local engine shop is going to pressure test the crack and replace the cylinder sleeve if the crack isn’t an issue.

So frustrating.
 
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