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I purchased a S4 motor from a local dismantler about a year ago. You can read about that in this thread Purchasing a S4 motor - what to inspect beforehand. It's taken me a year to find a hoist and a stand, arrange transportation and convince my wife to let me take on this project. I had to finish a few house projects first, as well as, wrap up the GTS 5-spd manual transmission swap. So all that took about a year and now I am ready to start this journey. Here are some shots of the before photos. The build date on the car (WP0JB0922HS861120) was 12/1986 and the engine code: M28/42 81H 06549 with 144,544-miles.
I wanted to start this thread to document this journey, entertain some of you, frustrate others with my uninformed questions, laugh at my mistakes, and celebrate awesome outcomes. I'm not a very experienced auto mechanic, nor an engineer, but I really enjoy learning this car stuff and I've always wanted to get deeper into an engine and this was an opportunity to pick up an motor locally and use it as a learning opportunity and hopefully create something good (or just sell off the parts). At this point I don't have an outcome in mind other than to disassemble and asses the re-buildable condition of this motor.
Earlier this week, @PorKen helped me load the motor form the truck to the stand and roll it into my basemen t. Only to realize my careful measurements of door width and motor didn't account for the wider stance of the stand. Unfortunately, we were not able to get the motor inside. I was able to squeeze it into my already very small 1-car garage. Special thanks to @PortlandTom for the use of his hoist and stand. This is where the motor will live for now:
Working on in in the garage is probably a better thing, given how dirty and oily the motor is.
I was pretty excited the first night and started pulling the intake off. It has this nice GB fuel line but it's so badly kinked it's not usable.
The CPS housing is chipped, it doesnt seem terminal but it may be nice to have it fixed. Question: what do I need to know about block repairs. Is it specialized?
There does seem to be evidence that there was a fire at the back of the motor. These cam plate holders were melted on both sides. The injector covers were replaced with GTS style, the harness shows evidence of repair in this area and the cadmium coating on the injector rails looks burned off. Plus both dampers look to be new.
Looks like late GTS injector covers. Note the hole for mounting the breather hose between left and right valve covers.
Notice the 928.104.413.1R heads. Quite a bit of oil in the valley made for some fun cleanup. Notice the fancy oil cap. Q: Who makes that oil cap?
The injectors were replaced with these Bosch 0-280-150-556, AKA Ford Yellow top injectors. I noticed that one of the injectors was not properly sealed in the manifold. They look like nice injectors and I may want to swap them into the GTS when I do the intake on that car. Q: How should I store these to prevent them from clogging with old fuel?
Well that's a start, hopefully it not too boring for you all.
Last edited by Michael Benno; 12-12-2022 at 11:34 AM.
[QUOTE=ador117;19026139]Michael,
I should be able to get you an oversized piston. If you are interested, I can try. Send me a PM. Have a great day,
Raphaël[/QUO
I want to share an important update on this thread. Readers will be reminded that I needed an impossible-to-find, oversized piston to address the cylinder wall damage. Fellow list member @ador117 (Raphaël) was able to help find three oversized pistons. One for me and two for another member. Raphael has the pistons in his hands now, and we are working on getting them into the USA and then to me and the other fellow. This is really great news for me and keeps this engine build back on track to a relatively stock build. Here is the piston:
Thank you so much @ador117 and once again, the positive power of the list moves me forward. I'll provide and update once I have the piston and had a chance to drop the block and pistons off for rework.
All in that tiny little garage? You, sir, are an inspiration. Following.
Pro Tip Request: How, exactly, did you talk your wife into this? Asking for a friend...
Cheers
That oil cap looks a lot like what is (was?) offered by 928 Motorsports. There seem to versions on eBay, as well, so I don't know what to make of that.
For the injector storage, a little Marvel Mystery Oil in them and on the outside, then stored in a ziploc should keep them safe and happy.
I took a peak under the left side cam cover, looks pretty clean under there and all the cam lobes looks to be in perfect condition, but I’m not really sure what to look for so please take a look at the photos and give me some advice on how I should be inspecting this
The left side intake cam PN 928.105.292.6.R. I looked up this part number and the WSM calls this the Club Sport version Q: Is this part number a Club Sport intake cam?
left side exhaust cam PN 928.105.294.04.R . Q: What cam is this? I can seem to find a reference to it? the XXX.XXX.294.XX designation seem to align to S3 engines but I cant find that XXX.XXX.294.04 designation.
below are some close ups of the cam lobes and lifters.
what is this port? Is this an oil pressure supply?
Here is a video of the cam chain and tensioner block. Is that gap correct? I can see the pads look new and I can still read the raised part number under the chain
Edit: after turning the engine by hand the oil pressure pumped up those retainers.
From my untrained eye it would appear as though the cams were replaced, no info on springs or lifters also being replaced but the lifters look new. Comments and questions appreciated.
Last edited by Michael Benno; 12-12-2022 at 11:36 AM.
If you remove the cams, I have hold down blocks you can use while you remove the caps.Cheers
I'll take you up on that. I do plan to remove the heads so the cams will come out. If anyone has other special tools for the head / cam removal, I would be interested in renting them.
Definitely the o-ring needs to be replaced. Take a look at the spring and ball bearing for corrosion. I've replaced the ball bearings in the past.
Thanks for the recommendation Jeff and Kevin, I'll definitively add that to the list of items to service.
Before I go much further with disassembly of the motor, I am want to put some thought into what tests and inspections should be done before I remove the timing belt or the heads. Q: Are there any tests I should conduct to determine the health of the valves or the rings like a compression or leak down tests? Should I inspect the main bearings before going futher or can they wait until the heads are off.
I took a peak under the left side cam cover, looks pretty clean under there and all the cam lobes looks to be in perfect condition, but I’m not really sure what to look for so please take a look at the photos and give me some advice on how I should be inspecting this
The left side intake cam PN 928.105.292.6.R. I looked up this part number and the WSM call this the Club Sport version Q: Is this part number a Club Sport intake cam? It seems odd that a CS cam would even be able to be sourced.
left side exhaust cam PN 928.105.294.04.R . Q: What cam is this? I can seem to find a reference to it? the XXX.XXX.294.XX designation seem to align to S3 engines but I cant find that XXX.XXX.294.04 designation.
below are some close ups of the cam lobes and lifters.
what is this port? Is this an oil pressure supply?
Here is a video of the cam chain and tensioner block. Is that gap correct? I can see the pads look new and I can still read the raised part number under the chain https://youtu.be/TXTOfWYrbJw
From my untrained eye it would appear as though the cams were replaced, no info on springs or lifters also being replaced but the lifters look new. Comments and questions appreciated.
The casting part numbers mean very little, since all the various cam grinds (for each location) come from the exact same casting. I use the casting number to quickly identify intake versus exhaust and 1-4 versus 5-8, when I'm looking through the pile of used cams, on my shelf.
The stamped numbers, on the rear end of the cams, are what identify the specific cam grind.
The color of the chain guide would indicate that it is old...they start out white.
The amount of wear is also consistent with the mileage.
The "wear" occurs on each side of the part number....the grooves in the surface.
If the part number is gone...that would be insane wear (I've never seen one that worn.)
Look at the chain cross section and it all makes sense.
Under this aluminum part is a spring and check ball, which closes as soon as there is no oil pressure. And opens when oil pressure is present.
This keeps all the oil in the head's oil galleys from returning to the bottom end of the engine, when the engine is turned off.
Helps with "dry start" wear issues.