Broken 1KZ-TE

[ChrisCrowie Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ChrisCrowie]

Hi Damonat,

Couldn't agree with you more actually, but given that orginally the quote was under 10k I proceeded and then more and more issues were found that needed replacing and I had to make a decision... either continue and pay the big bucks, or pack it all in and start again.

I think at the end of it all i have made the right decision given I should really have no major issues at all for the next 5-8 years and I know the full history of the engine now.

I could have sold the car (stripped of accessories) but would have lost a lot of money and have to start all over again which I believe would have been a more expensive exercise.

[damonat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close damonat]

i hear ya.
as long as the affected parties (you and the family) are happy,
that's all that matters.

[StormyKnight Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close StormyKnight]

Update for all 1KZ-TE owners:

With the engine on a bench it provided a good time to look at causes for this issue and what was found was very surprising. The sump on these engines has a well at the front where the pick up gets the oil from; the issue here is that on an extended climb uphill (or any angle where the car is facing upwards) all the oil in the sump will flow to the back of it leaving the well exposed and after a short period of time the well will drain of all oil and if still continuing uphill there will be no oil circulating in the engine as it does not flow back into the well… Looking at a solution to this it was quite easy actually, all you need to do is add another 1ltr of oil to the sump. This leaves room for the crank to not be thrashing around in the oil but enough that when facing uphill oil will still flow into the well at the front of the sump and not starve the engine of it.

Just what sort of angle are we taking about here? Theres quite a few tracks where I have been in low range & climbing steeply for 3-4 minutes....the only plus though is the regular contour banks that may be helping with this issue...

Cheers
Richard

[McBAIN Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close McBAIN]

Update for all 1KZ-TE owners:

With the engine on a bench it provided a good time to look at causes for this issue and what was found was very surprising. The sump on these engines has a well at the front where the pick up gets the oil from; the issue here is that on an extended climb uphill (or any angle where the car is facing upwards) all the oil in the sump will flow to the back of it leaving the well exposed and after a short period of time the well will drain of all oil and if still continuing uphill there will be no oil circulating in the engine as it does not flow back into the well… Looking at a solution to this it was quite easy actually, all you need to do is add another 1ltr of oil to the sump. This leaves room for the crank to not be thrashing around in the oil but enough that when facing uphill oil will still flow into the well at the front of the sump and not starve the engine of it.

Just what sort of angle are we taking about here? Theres quite a few tracks where I have been in low range & climbing steeply for 3-4 minutes....the only plus though is the regular contour banks that may be helping with this issue...

Cheers
Richard

i had similar thoughts there. do you think this was the cause of your issues?

[ChrisCrowie Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ChrisCrowie]

Without actaully testing it in the real environment I can only go off what we found when the sump was on the bench.

From what it looked like once you were past about the 35-40 degree mark you would be risking trouble. In terms of length of time this we couldn't determine as to how long before there was no oil let in the well but would only be a matter of minutes....

It may well have been the cause for my issue, on the day, after getting her bogged I recovered and then sat on a hill waiting for the car in front to back up so I could get off the track, I jumped out of the car at this point for about 2mins with the car facing uphill at about the 35+ degree mark. When I jumped back in I didn't actually pay any attention to the oil light on the dash (which I will do from now on!!). This could well have the point of no return for her cause during the rest of the day there was really no load on the engine until it came time for the highway cruise home where all the troubles started.