1GR-FE rebuild

Also if the heads are machined, get the amount that they shaved off. you'll need to make up that difference by buying a thicker head gasket.

 

how does down stream cat particles get into the oil. Isn't that the other way around?

 

OP stated his exact hypothesis in his forensic tear down.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1gr-fe-rebuild.743548/page-7#post-26526286

 

Well damn.....

 

Feel like this thread should be stickied somewhere lol, or at least the outcome.

 

Damn what a roller coaster lol, good job figuring it out.

 

Well not to much has been happing. Mostly machine work and waiting. I still need to find a shop to machine the block the block. The shop I was looking at said he would not be able to touch it til after the first of the year. All of his tooling was set up for 90 degree blocks and had a large number to try a push through. My rotating assembly is getting balanced and shout has it by the end of the week. I got info from the other shop doing my heads. They said they don't leak and are straight. They will disassemble and clean them and install the new vitron seals. So I guess a little progress then.
I took the old rods and Pistons to clean at work. I found two of them had some strange putting on them like something was pounding off the top, but it is only in two spots and both Pistons have them in the same area. Maybe compacting the carbon build up? Not sure.






I never noticed any damage to the cylinder head.
Another thing I did was get a new timing cover with oil pump. I thought the old one was damage from a previous repair. It had two low or recessed spots on the sealing face. When opening the new I noticed it was the same way. well, if anyone wants a timing cover to clean and paint for themselves, pay shipping-ish.

Any ways I also noticed that the tube for the oil to travel from the pump to the filter was poorly made and had very tight bends. In my opinion any way. But what do I know?


So I took the old one and cleaned it up a little. There was no sludge just some staining. I can live with that, so I swapped it to the new cover and pump.
My OCD's are kind messing with me that the time cover will not be factory or have the Toyota embossing on it.
I can live with out it.
I think that is about it for now. As I have more to post I will.
Stay tuned til next episode kids, assembly and more debt.

 

Pitting probably from detonation?

 

Well, your sacrifices may help many Boosted Brothers (any Sisters?) in the future.

Myself and several others had the aFe Twisted Steel headers blow the cats out. Mine were really bad. aFe sent a complete replacement kit. Skipped that and went with URD EL.
I suspected there may be some back flow into the engine but you now confirmed that. Although, my cats were disintegrating down stream. One side had the honey comb separating like yours, the other side had blown out with melted chunks.
I had had oil loss for a period. No leaks (well a little around the valve cover gasket), no smoke. Ran a compression test, all cylinders +/-3psi from 180. Not bad for ~180kmi, ~50k mi boosted.
As of recent, I have not experienced noticeable oil loss. Are Toyotas Self Healing?

Curious how the new parts will perform.

 

I don't feel like I was have any detonation.

 

Is this an issue only with the cats closest to the engine? Could this still happen if only running the mid-pipe cats?

 

With the primary cats, yes. The secondary not sure, But I will say no due to how far they are down stream.

 

Which cylinders were those pistons out of? Detonation pits, from some point in their lives, perhaps?

 

I do not know what cylinders. I did not see them under all the carbon, so when I took them to clean them I did not keep track.
If I were to guess, it would be cylinder 3 and 4. Due to them being in the middle and based off the engine design to help reduce detonation on the middle cylinders. But we may never know.

 

Well shit happens, this motor has been in there for a while eh?

 

It sure does!
As stated before, just shy of 170k on a 06 model year. With an apparent rough life before me.

 

Is what it is, seems like the rings were packing out first. Did you happen to check the bores by chance?

 

No, I did not have or have access to an inside micrometer. I will try to remember to ask the machine shop when dropping off the block.

 

Those cats are a mess.

Fun story.

The 2002-2003 WRX has a small cat before the turbo in the up-pipe. It was tragically famous for breaking up if the car was driven in the typically American fashion of stop/go and depositing itself into the turbo. Hilarity never ensued and you were buying a new snail.

 

One small step for progress, one large leap for this project.
Today I got the head back from the shop. They are straight and have no leaks. They disassembled the heads and cleaned them. On assembly they put in new valve guide seals. Man do they look good.
Before:


After: