[engine_work] Xu9j4 Mi-16 Rebuild

[kyepan 291]

This evening i'll be starting to rebuild an XU9J4 engine, I need a replacement for mine and have always wanted to build an engine.

 

So this is the engine as it stands, it's been standing unused for 5 years.

 

 

The workspace in dad's garage i'll be using to strip, inspect and clean the engine.

 

 

The engine mounted on its stand,

 

 

Used some long bolts for the three m10's and some threaded rod through the m12 with nuts at either end... seemed to be fairly secure after i cleaned up the threads on the block with some oil and a tap so they ran nicely.

 

 

More to come.

Edited May 18, 2009 by kyepan

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

Good luck Justin. However your dad's garage has always been a little cramped, and I can see you shouting alot as you bash your elbows on things and run out of space to put items you remove. Take out a few canoes first.

 

I'd be tempted to speak to PeterT about mods to the liners, liner seats and alloy block to perhaps dink the comp up a bit; particularly if you plan on running the chipped ECU again with his stage I or II inlets together with their offset woodruff keys.

 

Remember when I went to Pete's house, he told me the secret to his inlet cam upgrades I & II (which use a new key to advance a no.2 pulley to just under a no.4) is a second key on the std exhaust cam but used to retard it a tad.

 

Some serious driveability gains are to be had here for very little work.

 

I know you enjoy the MX5, and it is a great car, but you've been yearning to do this and I know you can't wait.

[Tesstuff 222]

Good luck Justin. However your dad's garage has always been a little cramped, and I can see you shouting alot as you bash your elbows on things and run out of space to put items you remove.

 

 

a lot

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

I spy a Mini engine!

[kyepan 291]

This evening, I’ve whipped the plugs out after wicking all the water out of them with some rag over the past week.

Intended to turn it over to see how free it is, dropped some oil down the plug wells first to lubricate the rings.

 

Dowels all lined up in the cam belt pulleys, so it appears safe to turn over via spanner without too much worry that valves will get bent.

 

After an hour of sitting at a couple of different angles to get the oil down the bores, an initial turn felt quite stiff, but a bit more oil and another half an hour and it would turn over with fairly low resistance, except for the expected valve train resistance every ¼ turn. Very similar levels of resistance to when turning over the engine during a cam belt change.

 

Whipped kev’s pace dry sump sump off quickly to reveal the bottom end was still well lubricated,

will give this back at the weekend kev!

 

And put my old one back on to keep things dirt free.

 

First look at the bottom end

 

 

I’m assuming cam belt end is counted as the front and number 1 cylinder is closest to the cam belt.

 

First mistake of the day, should have put the plugs back in before turning the engine upside down, hence the oil I put down the bores ending up on the floor.

On the way back upright all manner of calcified crap fell out of the water distribution block hole on the back of the block, need to figure out how to clean these bits, expect bottle brushes etc to play a part.

 

 

On an aside, my experiment with malt vinegar and a tool box of very rusty old motorcycle spanners has had mixed results, some of the more high quality solid tools and chrome spanners have come up a treat, some of the thinner less quality tools have definitely suffered with the week spent in the vinegar. A week is too long, perhaps 4-5 days tops and some more elbow grease next time, but at 26p per litre, it beats degreaser hands down. Not sure how it would affect aluminium though.

Secondly when rinsing I would wipe and rinse and dry all at the same time, as the tools quickly tarnish if wiped, then left then rinced then left then dried. Finally malt vinegar does leave a brown resedue, which you have to wipe off, cannot decide if this is good because you wipe everything conisitently, or bad because you have to wipe everything….

 

 

J

[welshpug 1,657]

Flywheel end is Number 1 cylinder

Edited May 27, 2009 by welshpug

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

Flywheel end is Number 1 cylinder

 

YES!!!! This is crucial.

 

It catches many out, including me a few years back as it IS a normal assumption; but totally wrong. Number 1 is at the flywheel end, as 1-3-4-2 firing order relies on getting this numbering the correct way round.

 

Good luck J. Nice thread.

[Stu 18]

As above.

 

Good work fella, you'll enjoy building that, they're a nice engine to build.

 

Only advice i could offer (not that im saying you need it ) is check, and recheck the liner protusion, dont forget the centre main is cross bolted (this stumped me for an evening ) and as a side, i regretted not fitting a set of ARP bolts to the big ends, if i had my time again (even on a standard engine) id fit a set.

 

Keep us updated fella!

[petert 587]

First look at the bottom end

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3321/357154...11e416a3e_b.jpg

 

It would appear the bottom end has been balanced, gauging by the grinding marks on the big end caps. Do you know the history of the engine?

[Batfink 201]

its quite possible it has. I sold it to Justin , but did no work to the engine. Stuart Baker owned it before me. He may have been the owner who got the work done.

It was a cracker of an engine when I had it, very smooth and loved to rev

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

Alright J,

 

I may have a few spare bits, if you need any for your engine.

Drop me a PM if you need help!

 

Paul

 

On a more serious note you never took me out in your car...

[kyepan 291]

This evening I’ve begun the strip down, the project has been on hold due to other commitments, so on we go, spent an hour removing the sensors and oil cooler.

 

The first oil level sensor was very tight, had to use some extended leverage to get it to move, signs of some sealant were present. The two copper electrodes on the end looked intact.

 

Secondly the oil cooler, this proved more of a challenge. As when measured the retaining nut/thing came up as 27mm… or there abouts. Luckily a spanner from the many rusty cleaned spanners came up nearly right. Cleaned up the inside burring on it with a small file in the vice and we were away!!! Came off to show signs of sealant being used on the mating faces again. The oring oil seal has seen better days too

 

There was some fairly hefty rust on the pressed in steel hose inlets and outlets. Those were left soaking in a shallow bath to get rid of the rust on them… not sure if I should keep the modine cooler or not, does it help warm the car quickly, and actually cool at all when ragging… Perhaps a mocal would be better.

 

Next the other sensors, the straight 22mm one came off easy, but was not sure how to remove the bell shaped one, luckily cleaning things up revealed a nut on the back, I was just about to try tapping the indented section round with a drift…. Not a good idea. Once again this came off easily.

 

Have bought about 60 freezer bags with white bits on them to label, and a magic marker, so everything is cleaned labeled and bagged with numbers and their name on. Hopefully that should help when it comes to putting back together time.

 

This evening I’ve made a pact with myself, if it’s not working stop and look at it, clean it up and look again, if I can’t figure it out, consult the Haynes book of lies, if I still can’t work it out, instead of breaking something, post up here and find out for sure… perhaps knowing when to stop and realize it’s not quite right is a bit of the learning process.

 

Have also tried to keep the work area clean and tidy, putting things away after each task, even if they come out again, so far so good on that one.

Edited June 17, 2009 by kyepan

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

 

 

What have you decided to do with this BTW? I know you're only stripping and investigating, but where are you (we) going with this J?

[kyepan 291]

 

 

What have you decided to do with this BTW? I know you're only stripping and investigating, but where are you (we) going with this J?

 

 

It will be a straight strip, check and rebuild, only replacing things that are out of factory tolerance, I'll be just trying to put it back together well enough to run without blowing up. That for me, will be achievement enough. Then i'll pop it into the 205 miami shed edition and get it back on the road.

 

the shed might also get some trim changes to make it look a bit more like a trio and less like a gti... but that's not decided

[kyepan 291]

This evening I wanted to make some progress, and get the head off.. however that didn't happen.

 

Removed the dizzy cap and arm, also took off the dizzy drive flange thing, using a pully puller.. the previous person had pried it off and bent the key way on the camshaft...

 

 

 

Modine came up ok after a bit of elbow grease, flushed the water circuit out with water and it came out brown for quite a while, but cleaned up eventually.

 

 

Was going to take the head off, but dad suggested i give the block a cursory clean as it had oily gunk in all the nooks, and the paint was just flaking off everywhere. Was reluctant at first, but thinking about it, when stripping it's going to spread nasty bits everywhere, was also keen to find out if the block was corroded at all. Put the sensor and switch back in.

 

So a scotch bright, then soft wire brush, gentle rubbing with screwdriver blade egdge, the block went from this:

 

to this:

 

Not completely clean but it's got rid of the loose debris.

 

Other side tomorrow morning perhaps.

[Batfink 201]

looks better all ready

[Alan_M 66 1 Cars]

I remember rebuilding my Mi16 a few years ago. Never done anything like it before, but with the Haynes & Pug Mi16 rebuild guide it went together no problems. As someone has mentioned, the biggest arse ache is the liner protusion especially if your block isn't square!

 

You'll need the bigger set of valve spring compressors for the head

[brumster 135 1 Cars]

My recommendations : lots of rags, lots of brake cleaner, an anal attention for cleanliness (I mean *ANAL*) and a kitchen shelving board, brand new, from Ikea to place all the clean bits on in order (scribble with a marker on the board "flywheel" and "belt" at opposite ends, then place everything in relation to one another).

 

<touches wood> Did me proud

[kyepan 291]

This evening i've done more cleaning, only spent half an hour.

 

Thanks for the suggestions about how to, be thorough, I do agree, and will go back over everything with some brake cleaner until i'm happy it's all properly cleansed.

 

 

Other side before,

 

Other side after,

 

 

brumster, i think i get the board idea, how do you keep things in the correct position.

 

cheers

 

J

[kyepan 291]

last night i finished cleaning the block, will put some pics up.

 

Quick question though, how would you recommend removing the crank pulley bolt if the flywheel is not attached?

 

second quick question, someone had chemical metal fixed the rear crank timing pin stop, which broke off, i see it's attached to a detachable lower section, is that part of the oil pump housing, is it common to all xu engines, or MI specific.. either way i;m going to replace it but need to know where and how.

 

cheers

 

J

Edited January 22, 2010 by kyepan

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

First question: take a small block of wood am put it between the block and one of the counterweights of the crank to lock it. Don't know if I explained this right, but you'll get it.

[brumster 135 1 Cars]

brumster, i think i get the board idea, how do you keep things in the correct position.

 

Well, for me, it was simply strict instructions to the missus that if she moves anything I'll break her legs

 

But alternatively, stick components like valves through some thick cardboard to keep this in position. Works for bolts too. Bit harder with rods/pistons/caps, but just keep them in an order that YOU will understand, that's the main thing.

 

Remember when you're working on an engine stand that, with the engine upturned to get to the bottom end, the front of the engine is no longer the same side it was when the engine was upright. Sounds silly, but it's all to easy to forget at the time. You start putting all your components on the board thinking the side nearest you is the back of the engine when in reality it's now the front

 

Cheers,

Dan

[brumster 135 1 Cars]

second quick question, someone had chemical metal fixed the rear crank timing pin stop, which broke off, i see it's attached to a detachable lower section, is that part of the oil pump housing, is it common to all xu engines, or MI specific.. either way i;m going to replace it but need to know where and how.

 

If I've understood this, you mean the ally casting that the crank end comes through? Slightly triangular in shape, with a chopped-off top (and the hole for the crank end, of course). If so, no, it's not part of the oil pump. It's shown with different part numbers in the pug catalogue between 1.9 mi16 and non-mi, so I'm guessing it's different in some way.

[kyepan 291]

First question: take a small block of wood am put it between the block and one of the counterweights of the crank to lock it. Don't know if I explained this right, but you'll get it.

of course, i've heard of this before, i can't believe i forgot, thanks!

 

if I've understood this, you mean the ally casting that the crank end comes through? Slightly triangular in shape, with a chopped-off top (and the hole for the crank end, of course). If so, no, it's not part of the oil pump. It's shown with different part numbers in the pug catalogue between 1.9 mi16 and non-mi, so I'm guessing it's different in some way.

 

that's the bit yes, do you happen to have a part number?

 

once it's apart i'll see if anyone has a spare one in wanted.

 

thanks for the replies guys.

 

J

[brumster 135 1 Cars]

that's the bit yes, do you happen to have a part number?

 

405 1.9 mi16, "HSG gasket plate", part #0514 81 it would seem. 0514 57 for a 2.0 XU10J4.