Need some advice for boosted 1GR rebuild.

Hello, Everybody. I have a 2006 Tacoma 4.0L that has been turbocharged and was tuned to run ~13 psi and dyno'd at 356 hp. 150k miles and it has just failed a compression test on one cylinder and is puffing smoke from the breather/oil filler.
The previous owner is the one who did the build, so I don't have all the details, but I don't think there are aftermarket internals.
My question is: Assuming there is no damage to the sleeves, can I tear down and hone and rebuild with upgraded internals? Or is the sleeve going to be out of round with no way to re-bore it? I thought about an engine swap first, the shop quoted me at $6989 for used/known good and $8989 for a Jasper reman, estimating about 30 hours labor. For that amount, I'd rather do the work myself (I have qualified help and decent mechanical experience) and put the money in parts.

 

@Torspd

 

Any pictures of the truck and turbo kit?

If it isn't losing coolant, which I suspect that it isn't since you didn't mention that, then I would say that only the ring land/s on that cylinder's piston, broke.

If you were using a thick enough oil, then you could have gotten lucky, and had no cylinder scoring. I have been lucky like that on these engines before. That would then mean that you only need a new piston and rings.

The nicasil lining can be honed over a little bit. A few thousandths. Done that as well. Only a tear down will let you know. Might even be good with a ball hone. It all just depends. There are plenty of after market internals available. www.lceperformance.com www.briancrower.com

A used engine will cost $1500 and up. If you get a complete long block, do the swap yourself. It is easy.

 

Thanks for the reply, @Torspd

https://i.imgur.com/ljnRXzk.jpg is a picture that I had on hand, not great though. No change in coolant level, thank goodness. Speaking of thicker oil, I had added a bottle of Lucas Oil stabilizer (followed the directions exactly!) about a week or two prior to things going badly. I wondered if the thicker oil had made things worse by increasing pressure in the crankcase somehow.

After making this post, I called a machine shop in town and they quoted me $4200 for a rebuild. That included upgraded parts and labor and is closer to what I was expecting to pay to fix this. I'm going to talk to another machinist in town on Monday that rebuilt my brother's 440 for his '69 Charger RT, my brother says he's the best in town. I've been looking at LCE; any thoughts on running a lower compression ratio piston in this rebuild? Any other suggestions for parts while I've got it apart?

 

Wow @Torspd , I just started reading through your fully forged build, you are just the man I needed to talk to.

Edit: Just read about the X-1 causing problems with the turbo. I have a X-1, guess I need to find a different option?

 

Just need the OEM AFR sensors post turbo, if they are acting strange pre-turbo, due to the pressure.

As for inclusive build prices, you must know of all of the parts to be installed. Do your research well, and or get the parts you want specifically. Then give them to the shop to handle the machining and building aspects.

 

I got my truck back from the shop that was potentially going to do the engine swap for me. I took some more pictures if you wanted to see more angles, @Torspd . I was wondering what thickness head gaskets you went with? I've been reading your build thread for the last few days and I'm curious how your build is now vs. ~2012-2013 where I'm at in the thread. Do you have your current build in its entirety somewhere?

 

In my Build thread. If the head or deck had to be machined, I added that amount back to the head gaskets.

Cometic has OEM spec, and larger selections from there.

Certain specs are build specific, thus they will not work for ever application. Measurements must be recorded to know specs necessary.

 

Thank you, I really appreciate your input and experience. Only 273 pages left to get caught up on the saga of the super built 1GR

 

I have an update. Engine is out, torn down, rebuilt and should have it back this week. I did forged pistons and rods, upgraded valves, springs and guides, and ARP studs for the heads. The source of the lost compression was where you would expect it on a boosted engine running stock internals. I'm guessing the rings expanded and did this. No damage to the block though, thank goodness. I've talked to Gadget a little about doing a UCON to replace my X-1, but I'm not ready for that financially. I feel a little overwhelmed by the project sometimes, is that normal? Reading posts from @Torspd and @RedLantern make me feel like I don't know anything.

 

Either it was knock, or butted ring ends. Either way, glad it's coming back together.

Another cheaper option, is the HP Tuner. Have you looked through that thread yet?

 

Good stuff brother! Our thread is there for that very reason, to help others learn from our success or better yet our mistakes. I really do miss the 1gr pep and wished I was able to follow through with a forged setup. I love it when builds like this come together.

Considering using UCON on your setup, current @Kamshaft2142 is trying to Get his UCON setup for tuning on his turbo kit. Long story short, he was URD SC but now has my old turbo kit installed. The thing is he is having issues trying to get gadget to get his truck retuned with the UCON because he feels it won’t work. But there are known cases where it worked fine. One being that I’ve had it running on mines. What size turbo is that?

I just hope he’s able to work with your setup and does t give a hard time. I think the issue for concern on his part is that if there’s back pressure pre-turbo, it will mess up the self tuning/readings of the o2 sensors on each bank. Scott(the tuner) advised me to make sure the sensors were pre turbo because software(tuning) can only do so much. In other words having them post turbo will not work. The key is having a properly sized turbo where there is no back pressure to confuse each bank of its grouped sensors for it to be “tuned” with the UCON.

 

Yes HPTuners is a great option!

 

@Torspd I haven't looked through that thread yet, I guess that's next! Is it in this performance and tuning section? @RedLantern that makes me a little nervous about the UCON, since gadget quoted me $200 an hour to tune it. If I go that route, I'll be sure to have all my ducks well in a row before I get him on the phone. Thank you so much guys, I really appreciate it. I'm not sure what turbo I have. It has Garrett stamped on it, but lacks any other identifying info which makes me think its an eBay turbo. This is actually one of the questions I was looking for answers for while going through those posts, if I replace this guy, what do I replace him with? Not an easy answer, apparently.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/hp-tuners-for-2005-2015.600793/page-320#post-23397980

@JustDSM has already tuned at least one turbo Taco. Overall a lot cheaper option than a UCON.

Is that a T4 turbine in let?

If staying with a true Garret, either a GTX35, or the new G Series.

 

@Torspd yes, its a T4. I just went to HPtuners website and got really excited. Starting at $300?! That sure is a lot easier to swallow.

 

that does look like a genuine Garrett. is there any A/R markings on the casting? Im sure if you go with HP tuners you'll get great results. I like that there's a community on TW that can help you along the way since there's a dedicated thread for it. UCON, you'll have to rely on Gadget and a remote tuner. from my experience, Sometimes it can be challenging to work with them.

 

Looks like "A/R .60 M 24"
Have you guys heard anything about CXRacing? I've been looking at their turbos for some time now but haven't really heard of anybody using them. After you mentioned GT35s, I started looking at something like this https://www.cxracing.com/turbocharger/turbocharger-t4-turbo/TRB-GT35-2-T4-81-RR?limit=100

@RedLantern I meant to ask you, do you remember how much you paid for PowerFab to make you that setup?

 

I am biased towards quality. You put quality components in your engine. Why put a less that equivalent piece on your exhaust? Will it work? Sure. Long time possibly. Will it work as well? No. Ultimately your choice though. Again, my bias.

Check out , www.theboostlab.com. They usually have some good deals.

 

Sorry can’t say that I remember. I think I’ve deleted my parts list I had on my phone. But if I come across it I’ll let you know.

If you’re on a budget, boost lab has an in-house version of their turbos that Kirk personally puts together. Might want to look into that.