DumpdEJ6

The title pretty much says it all. B20 block, had coolant in cylinder #2. Removed head to discover small crack in cylinder #4.

With copper gasket spray and an MLS gasket, what are the chances this will not give problems later on down the road?

ejv8s10

Zero percent chance of no problems.

TomCat39

Seeing the pics and answering the title, No... This will not be okay. The sleeve is cracked and deep enough to be right into the compression ring zone.

That block is done. Not worth resleeving as you can get a good short block for less. A day spent at the salvage yards will yield a good replacement for 100 bucks or less typically.

DumpdEJ6

See, that's the issue. If this were my vehicle, I'd be down at the salvage yard in a heartbeat. But it's for a customer of mine and I'm just not sure how I can replace the block without breaking his wallet. The only game in town salvage yard-wise is LKQ and they charge double what most yards charge. Good for a bracket or two but the labor involved in replacing just the block (meaning literally having to rebuild the engine up from a bare block) is just not feasible for him. Swapping another engine ($450 at LKQ) plus labor is also pretty bad.

And I can't just do my work for nothing. I guess I was really hoping I wasn't going to have to give him bad news again. He has an Accord, transmission went out, $1500. Two weeks later, other mechanic replaced the crank pulley, timing belt slipped, bent 8 valves, $1000.

Mitsubishi belt needed changing the week after that, turns out the crank pulley separated. $60 job turned into a $250 job.

And he literally just bought this CR-V last week so he would have a reliable car finally...lol nope. I just feel for the guy.

If that's the way the cookie crumbles then I guess there isn't anything to be done on it. It just sucks. I guess I get too invested in my customer's troubles, lol.

TomCat39

I've never seen or heard of anyone doing it, but maybe some fabrication and machine shop would be crazy enough to weld the crack and then bore the weld back to spec for a light hone.....

Personally I don't think anyone would be willing to try something like that. Really without a resleeve, I don't see that as fixable. I'm no authority though. I do know that the crack as it stands will be a pretty major issue if left.

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

that thing is done.

tony_2018

Any crack in the cylinder is not worth the time to attempt a temp fix.

DumpdEJ6

Well guys, thanks for the advice. I told the customer that the block is confirmed bad, but he said eff it, put it back together anyway and we'll see how long it holds up...so at least we will get some concrete info on approximately how long the head gasket will last with a crack of this magnitude. I'll update this thread if/when it starts leaking again.

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

its not just the gasket youll have problems with, but more power to him. my bet is that you see the car for sale somewhere soon

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

Any crack in the cylinder wall is a dead engine. Period. End of. Your customer is an idiot for trying to reassemble, and quite frankly, you're not much brighter for even offering to reassemble it for him.

v4lu3s

have a machine shop look at it and see if slip in sleeves will fix it. last time i got those done it cost me about $150 with bore and hone, though i was not trying to repair a crack.

W95civicEXcoupe

Look. I may be a fool, but.. Is this not what we would call a "cracked block?"

That looks like a bad one. It looks like it goes through all the way.

OP: Are you saying that the situation is that the customer simply does not have the funds to replace the engine? Does he also not have a physical space to tear it apart and drop in a new? (*Been there, done that.. is why I am asking.)

I learn something new here every day, but I'm thinking this "crack" is a bad one. Also that ANY crack would be bad, but.. this one in particular.

I would reluctantly agree that the block is "done." OP, is that your customer's situation - they need the car and can't do much?

tony_2018

What you don't understand is that the customer WANTS it, not the OP.

DumpdEJ6

The customer went against my advice, because he doesn't have the money to either rebuild or replace the engine. I would never do this and then sell the vehicle, I NEVER condone "passing the buck around". But at the end of the day, I am getting paid by the customer. I gave him all the information I had, recommended he replace the engine, but the funds just aren't there, so he's going to roll the dice.

We will see what there is to be seen, I certainly hope he doesn't try to sell it and screw over someone else, I probably won't do any more work for him if I find out he did.

DumpdEJ6

When you add in the labor of the shop, the labor to remove the engine and tear it down to the bare block, it's about the same as simply replacing the engine with a used one. Would *I* do what he is doing? Absolutely not, and I've told him that. But the fact is, he doesn't have the money to do it. He says he's going to just watch the temp gauge and try to get as many miles out of it as he can.

W95civicEXcoupe

I do understand, My post was directed at the OP and his relationship with his customer.

W95civicEXcoupe

Hell, why not. It has not been said..

J-B Weld.

If OP's CUSTOMER is in Dire Straits... shoot. BTDT.

And I J-B Welded Oil Pans.

They held.........................

(**If he can't put in a new block, a non-cracked unit
Or used engine
of any kind
and it has to run
then
with the cost prohibitions
I could see how
anything could go.)

TomCat39

I don't want to be a royal ***** but it's pretty painful seeing you don't have any idea what the limitations to JB cold weld are.

Take a torch to a spot you've JB welded, you will see it burns very nicely and easily. Now think about the flames and temps in the combustion chamber. And lets not forget the pressures in there. Let alone the material you would remove sanding down the spot after glue. Talk about out of round cylinder.

Anyways, it has better chance of living a long short life being put back together than if you even tried attempting the "jb weld".

This "idea" of yours is soooo bad, I'm actually speechless.

W95civicEXcoupe

Happy I could make you speechless, with all this typing we do with the fingers, .. I suppose they represent a mouthpiece, don't they. But I don't use it whilst I type. (Although, you could narrate your posts.. I don't know how you get down on your end. More power to ya. It's your thing, do what you wanna do!)

Now... While I am "tempted" to go J-B Weld something and hit it with my torch, I don't want to burn something that I may not have the means to put out. In your example.. that seems like intense flame applied directly to a small area. "Make a small J-B weld circle and set it on fire and watch how easily it burns." In the case of the oil pan, the oil would never get it hot enough to break through it (it really is about letting it cure all the way) .. if you are talking about a "flash point" on a cylinder I MAY be able to get my head around that. "Put J-B Weld on something, circluate pressurized liquid of some sort over it and see if it holds." And of course he would have to sand it a little to get it in there.

So what idea do YOU have for OP's customer?

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

my idea would be to toss that cocked over paperweight into the dumpster, shell out the $400 for a jdm replacement, and keep right on living my life.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

JB Weld, on a cylinder wall?





I've been around here for a while, so it takes a lot for me to say this. That is the most pants on head, window licking, mouth breathing ******* retarded thing I have ever read.

There are only two solutions for OP's customer. Solution #1: Get the block resleeved. Even if the customer wasn't broke, that would still be a silly waste of money. Solution #2, and the ideal solution for anyone in this case, is a replacement block. The local pick-a-part yards want $50-$150 for a bare block. Plus the price of bearings, seals, and gaskets, even if you're assembling for a broke dick who can't afford to properly replace the water pump and timing belt, you're still only looking at $300-$400 in parts. If you can't afford that, then let's be honest, you can't afford to own a modified car.

W95civicEXcoupe

DumpdEJ6

Yep, I agree, getting another block is the way to go. However, the timing belt MUST be changed. A Gates belt kit is $150. So now it's around $500 in parts. Labor to rebuild an engine? First of all, I have only rebuilt one engine, my LS/VTEC. If it breaks, that sucks, but hey, it's MY car. I'll deal with it. I do not feel confident enough to rebuild an engine for a customer, and the labor would be at least $500 for the job of removing the engine, building the spare block up from scratch, and swapping it in. So you're looking at at LEAST $1000.

Anyone who charges less than $500 to pull and engine, build another one from the block up, and swap it in is either doing it for a friend or is so experienced they can do it in their sleep. Neither of which is me.

W95civicEXcoupe

Please take this in jest.

24TEN

iTrader: (2)

"W95civicEXcoupe" - That's not the same thing. Can you understand why the video you posted shows an example where it works and we are saying for this thread it won't work?