Tearing engine apart

[fusion1620]

Hey whats up...

Pulled the motor on my 1990 SHO in order to change the clutch. Ordered the clutchmasters stage 1 so I'm pretty excited. Unfortunatly I don't think that I can afford the $1400 diff and I'm not sure about opening the transmission to weld the diff pins. Is it worth it?? I have an 89 for parts that over heated...so I have and extra trans as well... I ordered all of the 120k parts and will be replacing them as well...

The engine smoked out of the exhaust when I floored it so my friend said to change the valve stem seals and piston rings as well. I'm pretty sure that I can handle the valve stem seals, valve lapping, and shim check.. as I just rebuilt the cylinder head on a 02 Mazda protege that turned out good. My concern is with the block...piston rings rod and main bearings. Read about "deglazing" and cylinder ridge removal.. The motor has got about 90,000 miles on it... Any tips while waiting for shipment would help.. Thanks...

 

[Eric VerValin]

I wouldn't worry about the rings at all... It's definately time for valve stem seals tho.. my car never smoked, but it looked like they should have been when I took my motor apart. Blocks are solid in these cars, heads are iffy I would say if you know it got hot... I wonder if there are "heat tabs" on these? Never noticed one... Mains.. not so much to worry about... rod bearings? when in doubt.. swap em out..

Depends on the shops around there... but I got a 3 angle valve job done, they checked my clearances, and replaced my seals for $250... came out nice out of the steam cleaner... Best money I ever spent.. didn't have to worry about scratching the heads when removing the gasket, plus the car runs like a ***** ape now buddy..

This is what $250 got me...



Good luck...

 

[sho_sc]

Hey whats up...

Pulled the motor on my 1990 SHO in order to change the clutch. Ordered the clutchmasters stage 1 so I'm pretty excited. Unfortunatly I don't think that I can afford the $1400 diff and I'm not sure about opening the transmission to weld the diff pins. Is it worth it?? I have an 89 for parts that over heated...so I have and extra trans as well... I ordered all of the 120k parts and will be replacing them as well...

The engine smoked out of the exhaust when I floored it so my friend said to change the valve stem seals and piston rings as well. I'm pretty sure that I can handle the valve stem seals, valve lapping, and shim check.. as I just rebuilt the cylinder head on a 02 Mazda protege that turned out good. My concern is with the block...piston rings rod and main bearings. Read about "deglazing" and cylinder ridge removal.. The motor has got about 90,000 miles on it... Any tips while waiting for shipment would help.. Thanks...

Normally, valve seal leakage shows up at cold start. What color was the smoke? Black??
Rings on these engines last a long time (unless you boost), I wouldn't worry about them. I would, however, change the rod bearings.

Why did you pull the engine to change the clutch?

 

[AREA 91]

Hey whats up...

Pulled the motor on my 1990 SHO in order to change the clutch. Ordered the clutchmasters stage 1 so I'm pretty excited. Unfortunatly I don't think that I can afford the $1400 diff and I'm not sure about opening the transmission to weld the diff pins. Is it worth it?? I have an 89 for parts that over heated...so I have and extra trans as well... I ordered all of the 120k parts and will be replacing them as well...

The engine smoked out of the exhaust when I floored it so my friend said to change the valve stem seals and piston rings as well. I'm pretty sure that I can handle the valve stem seals, valve lapping, and shim check.. as I just rebuilt the cylinder head on a 02 Mazda protege that turned out good. My concern is with the block...piston rings rod and main bearings. Read about "deglazing" and cylinder ridge removal.. The motor has got about 90,000 miles on it... Any tips while waiting for shipment would help.. Thanks...

For the time and money you have, this is what I would do.

1. Tear down the 3.0 and clean the factory pistons and rings. Make sure to put them back EXACTLY where they came from. DO NOT "DEGLAZE" THE CYLINDER WALLS!!! They will still have the factory cross hatch.

2. Change the valve stem seals.

3. Get the diff welded.

 

[Ocnaj]

I would consider welding the diff even if you do have an extra tranny. If you ever have wheel spin you will be much more at ease believe me. I learned this the hard way with my '92 and destroyed the tranny.

 

[Brett]

I would consider welding the diff even if you do have an extra tranny. If you ever have wheel spin you will be much more at ease believe me. I learned this the hard way with my '92 and destroyed the tranny.

I never did burn outs, i did one 10 second burn out to warm the tires racing at night once, thats it. I did do ALOT of hard 1-2 and 2-3 shifts that would make the tires bark. That alone blew my diff. Thing is there were brand new diff pins (they're like 50 cents) put in 25k before that. Mine is welded now, just gotta get that 3.2 in!

 

[fusion1620]

thanks for the replies. The smoke from the out of the exhaust was black when I floored it. I was also loosing oil from the top or side of the motor and when I stopped at a light the car looked like it was over heating because of all the smoke from the engine. Oil hitting the exhaust? I was told that smoke out of the exhaust could be either the rings or the valve stem seals and wanted to change both??

Pulled the engine to separate the trans and the block. That is normally how I do it on FWD cars...??

Already placed the order from RCM for the rings, so I will have to deglaze the cylinders when I change the rings right??

So if I open the trans to get to the diff.. stuff isn't going to fly apart on me is it??

 

[sho_sc]

thanks for the replies. The smoke from the out of the exhaust was black when I floored it. I was also loosing oil from the top or side of the motor and when I stopped at a light the car looked like it was over heating because of all the smoke from the engine. Oil hitting the exhaust? I was told that smoke out of the exhaust could be either the rings or the valve stem seals and wanted to change both??

Pulled the engine to separate the trans and the block. That is normally how I do it on FWD cars...??

Already placed the order from RCM for the rings, so I will have to deglaze the cylinders when I change the rings right??

So if I open the trans to get to the diff.. stuff isn't going to fly apart on me is it??

Black Smoke is normal on a SHO when WOT, factory dumps a "ton of fuel" at WOT. The valve pan gaskets get hard over time and will leak, causing oil to leak onto the exhaust.

Nope, you remove exhaust and "parts", support the engine and drop the subframe to remove the transmission. You can do it by yourself in a few hours.

Transmission isn't the easiest thing to work on and do it right. Takes some special tools to get the preload set.

 

[fusion1620]

Thanks for all of the responses, but I still have some questions...

1. When I change the piston rings, should I just clean out, de-glaze, or re-hone the cylinders so that the new rings seal properly?? I have a 90 SHO with about 90,000 miles on it. One thing I want to mention is the the cats were clogged soo bad when I bought the car that it kept stalling out when I drove it home. I read somewhere that this could cause damage to the cylinders??? It ran good after I changed the cats, but had black smoke out of the exhaust when I floored it..

2. I would like to get my diff pins welded because I like to spin the tires, especially with a clutch master stage 1 going in...I don't know what to expect when I open the trans to get to the diff. Can I get the diff out and put it back in after I have a shop weld it, or does a transmission shop have to??? I have a 1st gen so its standard.... I just don't want to open the trans then #@%# something up...

3. Last thing is I plan to paint the car black. It's white now with black interior. What do you guys know about painting the block, valve covers and of course the intake. Any tips on how to prep or what type of paint. I know it has to be high temp stuff, but never done it b4. Thanks....:sun:

 

[1993MTXSHO]

Thanks for all of the responses, but I still have some questions...

1. When I change the piston rings, should I just clean out, de-glaze, or re-hone the cylinders so that the new rings seal properly?? I have a 90 SHO with about 90,000 miles on it. One thing I want to mention is the the cats were clogged soo bad when I bought the car that it kept stalling out when I drove it home. I read somewhere that this could cause damage to the cylinders??? It ran good after I changed the cats, but had black smoke out of the exhaust when I floored it..

2. I would like to get my diff pins welded because I like to spin the tires, especially with a clutch master stage 1 going in...I don't know what to expect when I open the trans to get to the diff. Can I get the diff out and put it back in after I have a shop weld it, or does a transmission shop have to??? I have a 1st gen so its standard.... I just don't want to open the trans then #@%# something up...

3. Last thing is I plan to paint the car black. It's white now with black interior. What do you guys know about painting the block, valve covers and of course the intake. Any tips on how to prep or what type of paint. I know it has to be high temp stuff, but never done it b4. Thanks....:sun:

1) If cat material was sucked back into the engine yes it can cause damage. But I would not change the rings, 90k miles is barely broken in for a sho engine. As area91 said, take them out and clean all the crap out and then reinstall them. But if you are going to clean the rings yes you will have to get the walls lightly hones otherwise the new rings won't break in right. But when you do that you will realize you have cylinder wall wear and probably want to do more then just the hone, at least this is what happened to me.

2) the mtx isn't a very complicated trans, get a good manual that tells you how to do it and have at it but welding it is definitly the way to go, even if you don't shift hard or do burnouts

3) Use the igh temp engine paint on the block, clean it up and spray, you really can's see the block with everythign installed so you don't have to go crazy. As far as the Valve covers and intake, I personally like powdercoating better. It is much more durable then spray paint and will look great for years and years

 

[sho_sc]

Thanks for all of the responses, but I still have some questions...

1. When I change the piston rings, should I just clean out, de-glaze, or re-hone the cylinders so that the new rings seal properly?? I have a 90 SHO with about 90,000 miles on it. One thing I want to mention is the the cats were clogged soo bad when I bought the car that it kept stalling out when I drove it home. I read somewhere that this could cause damage to the cylinders??? It ran good after I changed the cats, but had black smoke out of the exhaust when I floored it..

2. I would like to get my diff pins welded because I like to spin the tires, especially with a clutch master stage 1 going in...I don't know what to expect when I open the trans to get to the diff. Can I get the diff out and put it back in after I have a shop weld it, or does a transmission shop have to??? I have a 1st gen so its standard.... I just don't want to open the trans then #@%# something up...

3. Last thing is I plan to paint the car black. It's white now with black interior. What do you guys know about painting the block, valve covers and of course the intake. Any tips on how to prep or what type of paint. I know it has to be high temp stuff, but never done it b4. Thanks....:sun:

First, just to answer your questions directly: 1) de-glaze will just be fine. Normally, if an engine "sucks up" cat pieces, it breaks a piston or two. 2) to get the diff out, you must disassemble the entire tranny. I personally wouldn't trust 99% of the "typical" tranny shops to "correctly" do the procedure. 3) High temp paint is a yes. However, paint on the intake will "dull" over time. Powder Coat will last. Just be warned that you can't paint/coat ALL of the intake, there are ground points that must remain bare.

My more direct personal comments, just to help: 1) 90K miles is hardly any miles on a SHO for a re-ring job, I've seen a many 200K mile SHOs that have compression on the high side of spec. I need to bring something to your attention, other than being extremely careful about cleanliness, getting the end gap right is the most important part of a re-ring job. You have set the ring end gaps before? Plus, it also expensive to do the job when you consider the cost of all of the gaskets. 2) Like I said in an earlier post, getting the tranny put back correctly is rough and nearly impossible without specialized tools. If you "like to spin the tires", you need to look at getting another car to abuse other than a SHO. The MTX-IV just won't take the abuse. 3) Switching colors on a car is difficult, especially white to
black. A lot of interior pieces must be painted to make it work.

 

[jayro]

As far as welding the diff. I got the MTX rebuild/Quaife video from SHOnut performance, and it walked me through the steps of assembly and diassembly very easily. I then took the diff to a machine shop with the case and had it welded. There are a # of pics of welded diffs on the forum. I was able to find examples from a search.

Jeremy

 

[fusion1620]

Well thanks for all of your feed back.. I have decided not to change the piston rings. I hope the smoke out of the exhaust when I floored the SHO it is not the rings. I don't think that it is....

I am going to open my trans to get to the diff pretty soon I think. Have the diff welded and put it back together. What do you guys think??? Can I do it or does a shop have to???

 

[sho_sc]

Well thanks for all of your feed back.. I have decided not to change the piston rings. I hope the smoke out of the exhaust when I floored the SHO it is not the rings. I don't think that it is....

I am going to open my trans to get to the diff pretty soon I think. Have the diff welded and put it back together. What do you guys think??? Can I do it or does a shop have to???

I would recommend getting the video from SHONUTPERFORMANCE and doing it yourself.

 

[fusion1620]

found this link http://www.shophoenixproject.com/mtxtrans/MTXdisassembly.htm did they ever make one for putting it back together??