Making this because I was curious about what things get done without being said or mentioned. Things that are little but help, or things along those lines. Old race car tricks or what have you. I stopped at my engine builders place last week, checked out my block and saw he put a chamfer at the ton & bottom of the cylinders. Cool but I didn't even think of that. No sharp bottom edge to get cuts on and the top(deck/chamber side) it knocks off a potential hot spot. He is knocking the "edge" off my piston dishes as well so they dont have such a sharp edge, more rounded & hopefully less prone to detenation. He is also balancing not only the crank, rods/pistons, but flywheel & crank pulley. Flywheel seems normal, but the pulley I hadn't thought about, said he's seen them so far outta wack from the supplier its the norm for him now. I feel he's gone the extra mile in helping me with questions, concerns and answers, and seeing little things like that truly make me happy I chose him over a more local (15minute drive away) machine shop.
Of course chamfering crank, balancing ect. But lets hear it guys? How far do you go to balance, within what weight? What about balancing pulleys? On my stock 4.0 everything seemed outta wack, wobbling or shacking away. I added some windage type mods to my oil pan. I know there's stuff out there, what is it for you...
One of the racing magazines had a column that was for "pit tips", it was all those little things, they gave a $20 prize for the good ones, we could have been rich!m but they were things we just tool for granted!?
I've probably got a ton of things that I "just do" that I can't even think of right now??
You can get more power out of ANY engine!!!
ASE Master certified engine machinist, gas and diesel
IH 392 wrote:One of the racing magazines had a column that was for "pit tips", it was all those little things, they gave a $20 prize for the good ones, we could have been rich!m but they were things we just tool for granted!?
I've probably got a ton of things that I "just do" that I can't even think of right now??
These are what I mean. Stuff not usually thought of. I naturally think of chamfering oil holes..but not the deck of a cylinder, seems a great measure in these 4.0s since they don't like compression much without higher octane. Could be because of hot spots. Same for the pistons. I did not think about it until I saw 1. They are some pretty decent edges that could easily be knocked off in mere minutes. It may help & it may not. But it's going the extra mile.
I thought of polishing the timing chain cover on the inside, to help "shed" oil. I know silver built a pretty wicked looking windage tray, anyone else have stuff like that? What about polishing the underside of the intake? I have a swain coated header, but again. Things add up. I did have a book marked page, but I must of deleted it now. Was on a Pontiac sight I believe, could be wrong..guy had tons of little tricks to help the oiling and such in that particular motor.
I knocked off the casting marks on my crack around the counter weights on my crank. Just casting lines that were rough and served no purpose. What about cleaning up the inside/top side of the where the valve train goes for better oil drain back?
When I am setting preload on the lifters I do one, put it in a numbered bag with the piston number on it, then rotate the engine and repeat do then next one and repeat. I do this so there isn't the full pressure of the spring on the cam lobe wiping cam lube off. Also, leave the oil pan off until you are 100% together so you can recoat the lobes if you need to. I also remove the rockers while bolting the torque converter tot he flex plate for the same reason.
Check the rocker pedestal heights. Mine were off from one another a good bit. While this won't cause much issue for stock arms, roller arms that are linked more solidly can have issues with this.
Set the thrust bearing correctly.
Keep everything as clean as possible. When not working on it, cover the engine with something. Trash bag, shower curtain, etc. When not in a bag cover all holes with tape. Don't assemble an engine in a garage or barn with a dirt floor.
Do not use one of those 3M gasket removing pads on a grinder on any sealing surface you want to keep flat. They really make sealing surfaces uneven and throw off abrasive when in use as well. Use a scraper to remove gaskets and throw those pads in the trash or just use them for paint and rust removal.
When filling the cooling system I fill it as much as possible then slightly elevate the driver's side to get air out of the radiator core. Then I leave the nose elevated over night to bleed the system even more and top off before lowering.
Bleed the fuel rail of air before first start. Key on a few times to prime the pump, bleed the rail, repeat a few times.
Remove the CPS. I bumped one with the flex plate while removing the engine. No damage was visible but when I went to start it wouldn't. Threw coded about coil dwell time.
During a cam break in the header/manifold tends to get very hot. I pull the relay for the electric fan and jumper it with a 10 gauge wire so its running constantly.
Check and recheck your distributor or cam sensor sync. A lot of problems are caused by an incorrectly indexed distributor or cam sensor.
Keep the battery you are going to use fresh, either by a battery tender or using it.
Do everything you can to get the engine to fire on the first turn of the key. The cam isn't lubed by oil until at higher RPMs. Excessive cranking of the engine is just wiping off the cam lube.
The easiest way I have found to get to the top engine to transmission bolts (at least on the XJ) is to 1) get all the accessories and such out of the way, 2) Attach the engine hoist 3) raise the engine enough to get the engine mount cushions out 4) remove engine mount cushions 5) lower the engine so the engine side mounts are sitting on the frame side mounts. This will give you about an inch or so more room at the top of the transmission. 6) From the back of the transmission, using a long extension and a swivel remove the to most bolts. If they are still the stock etorx bolts go to the hardware store and get some proper grade 8 bolts. Throw the stock bolts as far as you can.
Polishing any internal engine surface with casting grain is a good idea. It will help promote oil drain back. It will take some time though.
Anything you can do to remove heat from the incoming air is a good idea. Come up with a real cold air intake, none of this cone filter floating in the engine bay heat stuff. Coat the exhaust header with a heat barrier, coat the intake manifold with a heat barrier, install heat reflective tape on the intake manifold. Do not wrap the header pipes if you like them.
I have an oil pump check tip in the FAQ section. You really should read it. There isn't much that needs to be done to the oiling system on these engines. If you are concerned about cam gear wear with a HV pump, run an oil line from the sensor adapter after the oil filter to an NPT restrictor orifice that goes through the block to the distributor cam gear. I'm using a .015" orifice from McMaster-Carr, which is more than enough.
Make sure the rear cam plug isn't in too far and the cam is hitting it.
Muad'Dib wrote:1990 (RENIX) has the OEM electric fan relay on the passenger side fender near the EGR solenoid.
So unplug the relay and away she runs?
For others to think..ill be. Using my stock header for cam break in. Because it gets so hot, I'm worrie it'll flake the coating or possibly crack or distort. So I figured the safer bet would be use the oem header for break in and install the aftermarket once she's good to go.
Oh yeah.. don't let it idle too long. If you do bump the RPMs every so often. You have remote start? don't use it for more than 5 minutes. The cam doesn't get much lube at idle speed.
SilverXJ wrote:Oh yeah.. don't let it idle too long. If you do bump the RPMs every so often. You have remote start? don't use it for more than 5 minutes. The cam doesn't get much lube at idle speed.
Your talking on first start up right? I thought it was start, get rpm to 2000-3000 varying for 30 minutes?
I'm not sure I'd rev it to 3K, 2K to 2500 is good, like Silver said, you need to keep the oil flowing!
And I also agree that you need to GOOP! the cam and keep it slimmy, I prefer the MOLLY stuff myself, and with the low ZN oils we have today an OES isn't a bad idea!
You can get more power out of ANY engine!!!
ASE Master certified engine machinist, gas and diesel
