OzVMX Forum
Clubroom => General Discussion => Topic started by: Curly3 on March 24, 2010, 09:04:56 pm
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I know this is not a VMX topic but it surely is related as I bet there are a few guy's out there who own one.
The early RA 3.5 engine has a bit of a history for shitting itself prematurely as mine did last week.
As I've discovered today the problem stems from the disintegration of the Catalytic Converter and the particles going back into the engine ( Dusting ), hence the Crank is Knackered in mine after only 100K.
I've investigated every possibility of repair and have decided to go with a fully reco'd donk which has had the recirc port blanked off, total cost inc a clutch $6200.00 inc gst.
I'm not a mech genius but given the history of my engine it all makes sense to me.
Hope this info may help someone else and of course any expert feedback is welcome.
There goes my project bikes for a while.
DOH.
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Rodeos are shitbox's, petrol or diesel, cant think of anything good to say about them apart from when they come into my workshop I know I'm gonna make some money!!!
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I know this is not a VMX topic but it surely is related as I bet there are a few guy's out there who own one.
The early RA 3.5 engine has a bit of a history for shitting itself prematurely as mine did last week.
As I've discovered today the problem stems from the disintegration of the Catalytic Converter and the particles going back into the engine ( Dusting ), hence the Crank is Knackered in mine after only 100K.
I've investigated every possibility of repair and have decided to go with a fully reco'd donk which has had the recirc port blanked off, total cost inc a clutch $6200.00 inc gst.
I'm not a mech genius but given the history of my engine it all makes sense to me.
Hope this info may help someone else and of course any expert feedback is welcome.
There goes my project bikes for a while.
DOH.
My sons has developed some expensive noises just today,like the mains are stuffed,it's an RA V6 petrol as well,who did you get the Reco motor off?
#8
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Rodeos are shitbox's, petrol or diesel, cant think of anything good to say about them apart from when they come into my workshop I know I'm gonna make some money!!!
How much is a bottom end rebuild normally,
#8
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No 8, a bottom end rebuild was approx $3K and dusting means shit in oil and the top end would've been affected as well I've decided to go the whole hog for price of mind?
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Make that piece of mind, the cost has affected my thinking. I'm in Syd if that helps.
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G'day Curly,
what year is your rodeo? i have a 2004 RA and wondering if mine is what you refer to as "early RA 3.5 V6" mine has done 55K.
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Hoony, mine was a 03, somewhere around 07 they went to a 3.6 Holden Engine so yours would be the same engine. Sorry.
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Bugger.
Thanks Curly ( i think) ::)
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Rodeos are shitbox's, petrol or diesel, cant think of anything good to say about them apart from when they come into my workshop I know I'm gonna make some money!!!
Davey, Davey.. My 2.6 4 cylinder Rodeo has done 390,000k's travelling from race to race around the country and the engines never been apart and it still runs strong and doesn't use oil.
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You know you've just put the mockers on it Johnny! ;D
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What about getting a low kilometre engine out of a wreck or from the importers?
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Hey Hoony, if it helps you avoid the same shit fight then it's good. When I find out where this port or whatever it is, is, I'll let you know, but it appears shit " Cats " are the main cause.
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He's probably talking about the EGR valve, their causing alot of problems with petrol and diesel engines nowdays, shit fuel doesnt help either.... DONT use anything with ethanol in it!!
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Davey do you suppose I should update my cat less ,OHC less ,fuel injection less, computer less *,no power windows, steering, or air conditioning straight 6, 4 speed manual 1978 HZ Holden one tonner ? $6200 buys two and a half fully re manufactured long engines. Then again I could remove the six pack and straight bolt in one of the Holden Red V8s I have in the shed for nothing ,in say 3.5 hours........ ;)
*it does have an early electronic ignition ..luxury no points :D
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maybe i better remove the pussy and make a flanged cat replacement pipe to save shite going in to my vl nissan powered lpg only common hore and dusting the engine
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Hey Hoony, if it helps you avoid the same shit fight then it's good. When I find out where this port or whatever it is, is, I'll let you know, but it appears shit " Cats " are the main cause.
G'day Curly,
how did you get on?
when your "cat" shit itself was it the OEM unit or was it an aftermarket unit that was replaced earlier?
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Hoony, I picked it up today, going from what I've been told when the cats overheat the materials used breakdown into small particles, dust-like and gets sucked back in to the engine.
As someone else posted it is the EGR valve that they block off and is not easy to get to, apparently.
Regular oil changes at 5,000K intervals is essential.
Hope it helps.
Steve
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Thanks Steve, appreciate the feedback. i am hoping to run this car for another 5 years and then buy a Hilux.
i would have bought the hilux back in 2004 but toyota would not option a 4 x 2 with a V6 back then, 6 months later they did just that.
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Where does the catalytic converter live in these things? In the manifold, I assume?
If its in the traditional spot under the floor, that's a long way for anything to travel against the flow of exhaust gases.
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They are under the floor Nathan and I've been scratching my head trying to work out how it all works and trusting that I'm not being strung along. The theory has been confirmed by a couple of engine " Experts ", so Ill just keep my fingers crossed for the next 3 years or so until I trade up.
Cheers.
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I have seen a couple of these myself and they have always gone for the complete eng swap but it's the first I've heard of the cat thing which is strange as cats are my thing-being in exhaust. I reckon it's bullshit and they're looking for excuses for a shiot eng build from the factory. Remember this is the same V6 that Alfa use so it's bound to shit it's self.
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Rodeos are shitbox's, petrol or diesel, cant think of anything good to say about them apart from when they come into my workshop I know I'm gonna make some money!!!
Davey, Davey.. My 2.6 4 cylinder Rodeo has done 390,000k's travelling from race to race around the country and the engines never been apart and it still runs strong and doesn't use oil.
Agree completely with you JohnnyO, my 1999 2.6 4 clylinder is just about to go in for its 200,000km service. Have never had a single problem. however I have had a Holden dealer who wanted to rip me off for $1500 to overhaul the cylinder head when I had asked them to do the 100,000km service a few years ago. The engine would not idle smoothly, they said the valves and seats were stuffed from running on LPG. I adjusted the valve clearances myself, engine idled smoothly again and has done so for the last 100,000km without a problem. I have never been back to that particular dealer and have told a few freinds not to trust them.
CJ
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Rodeos are shitbox's, petrol or diesel, cant think of anything good to say about them apart from when they come into my workshop I know I'm gonna make some money!!!
Davey, Davey.. My 2.6 4 cylinder Rodeo has done 390,000k's travelling from race to race around the country and the engines never been apart and it still runs strong and doesn't use oil.
Agree completely with you JohnnyO, my 1999 2.6 4 clylinder is just about to go in for its 200,000km service. Have never had a single problem. however I have had a Holden dealer who wanted to rip me off for $1500 to overhaul the cylinder head when I had asked them to do the 100,000km service a few years ago. The engine would not idle smoothly, they said the valves and seats were stuffed from running on LPG. I adjusted the valve clearances myself, engine idled smoothly again and has done so for the last 100,000km without a problem. I have never been back to that particular dealer and have told a few freinds not to trust them.
CJ
Had a similar experience when my wife took the Falcon to the local dealer. Tried pulling the wool over her eyes about blown head gasket and $1600 to fix it. Changed his tune when I started asking questions ;) :D.
I've had a bad run with 'professional' mechanics over the years. Getting one you can trust is hard to come by.
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I'm with you there Graeme, it's hard to find a good one.
At the end of the day my engine was well rooted for whatever reason, it appears these engines have a long history of destroying themselves.
I didn't even bother with a Holden dealer apart from getting a price on a new crated engine and that coupled with the cost of a clutch & labor was way out of the park.
The guy who did my " Fully Reco'd ' engine was recomended to me by a mate who is in the trade and does a fair bit of offroad racing. His explanation rang true to me as I had a cat disintegrate on our way back from holidays on the far south coast just over 12 months before and prior to that, no problems at all.
After exploring every avenue of repair this was the least inconvenient option and I had my truck back in 2 working days.
All this discussion & opinions is doing my head in wondering if I did the right thing and I'm on the verge of removing this thread, but I risk getting bagged :P :P :P
Thanks for all your input anyway guy's.
Maybe after this we can try to solve the Middle East problems.
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I spent 20 years working on stinkin' motorcars and I can't for the life of me work out how a deteriorating cat can make it's way back into the engine. ???
The cat is indeed under the floor and a fair way downstream. On a 2 stroke, imagine it being as fat back as the end of the expansion chamber. Unless I'm really missing something, it's impossible for particles to travel against the flow of exhaust gases and back into the engine. :-\
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my 2.6 L 4 cylinder got thrashed as my company car for over 200,000 without coughing. Likewise my 2.6 L Triton did 250k just replacing the brake pads.
However my Holden Frontera ( Isuzu) 3.0 L diesel gave nothing but grief, got worked over by expert mechanics, finally i found the problem myself. It was blowing a heap of white smoke, changing the alternator fixed it ???
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My turn know, how does an alternator cause white smoke in a diesel?
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I'm not much chop on diesels, but white smoke is caused by unburnt diesel getting into the exhaust and even coolant. And because they don't generate vacuum like a petrol engine, they often have a vacuum pump driven from the back of the alternator. Maybe that had something to do with it? ???
Yeah ok............. I've got no idea.................. ::)
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You guys are opening a can of worms here. The vaccum for the brakes is indeed provided by the pump on the back of the alternator on many models, so that could have been the problem, then there's the chance that the alternator was not chargeing at the optimum rate and was sended the ECU a mixed message that then sent the fuel injection a code that made it fuel up. Who knows.
This is what we mechanics now have to do everyday and we cop plenty of shit from customers that think we're just ripping them off.
What if I told you about the N14 Pulsars that won't rev past 2500rpm so we do all the things to see what's up including checking the ECU the EFI the cat convertor the fuel pump, hoses. filter. injectors, plugs, leads, fuel rail, vaccum system etc... etc... etc... only to find that the car has a code to tell it not to rev out if BOTH REAR BULBS ARE OUT!!! Now do you all get it-it's a bloody mine field.