What happens when you need to have your engine rebuilt? Before deciding on a rebuilt engine you have to decide on ordering a rebuild kit or buying a crate engine. Both situations have benefits and you will have to decide on which way to go. First is you vehicle a daily driver? If so, your down time can be a large hassle. In this case you would probably be better off to go with the crate engine. Crate engine, simply implies the way the engine is shipped to you. A crate engine will be complete and ready to run, many times with a warranty included. Crate engines come in different power levels, especially v-8 engines. They can range from stock 350ci to 502ci monster sized engines. Many import tuners also upgrade to a JDM crate engine, for increased horsepower.
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A spark plug is used in every type of gasoline engine. Many people change their own spark plugs. Spark plugs handle the ignition spark that combusts or ignites the engines fuel and moves the piston. Spark plugs have to endure very high temperatures from combustion. Spark plugs also have to handle the spark erosion from the ignition system. There are many popular brands of spark plugs like champion, ngk, bosch, denso and autolite. Spark plugs can be gapped widely to help burn the mixture in the cylinder, especially if the mixture is lean.
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A tune up is a simple task that almost anyone can do. This will make your vehicle more fuel efficient. This applies for any motorized vehicle. The filters are a good place to start. Depending how often you do a tune up will affect how much of an improvement that you will see. Most mechanics suggest a tune up by 60,000 miles. The engine air filter can be your first tune up item. The air filter is located over a carburetor on older cars. The air filter is in the airbox on fuel injected motors. The fuel filter can be located anywhere between your engine and the fuel tank and should also be replaced. If the fuel filter is clogged it can make your engine run lean. Many times if your check engine light has been on it is due to the o2 sensor not working correctly. This is normally only replaced when it fails but usually will not last long anyways. Now is also a good time to have your transmission filter replaced. If the transmission filter has alot of miles on it the transmission could be slipping.
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Many people agree with the phrase “there’s no replacement for displacement”. While technology can also accomplish this, having a larger displacement engine can produce a large gain. You may have heard of people saying, I went 60 or 30 over, on my engine’s bore. This is a machining process that is done to enlarge the engines bore to straighten worn out cylinders. While this is fun to say to your buddies it gives very little performance gain. The bore is usually kept as small as possible by your engine builder. Some engines have enough bore to hone out and could gain some power but most don’t. This is why more people are looking at stroking their engine. I would have to say that stroking engines first became popular with drag racers. This whole sport is centered on how much horsepower you can make. Many people were building big block engines then stroking them to make huge displacement engines. Companies then started realizing there was a demand and built several length crankshafts. Probably the most influential engine of all time, the chevy 350 smallblock, is a also a popular stroked engine.
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JDM engines stand for japanese domestic motors. Many import tuners have already changed to these engines. Many more sport compact enthuaists will look hard at purchasing these engines. Some people buy a jdm engine at rebuild time or simply to increase 10 or more horsepower, depending on the vehicle. JDM engines are generally tuned for a little more power than american engines. This is due to the company choosing to do so or emissions restrictions being tighter here. Most european cars are under the same stipulation. The jdm engines bought are usually used engines shipped over from main land japan with low miles. Beware as the condition of some of these engines may not be good. Purchase from someone reputable that stands behind the engine. Nothing is worse than spending the money to find out you have a bad engine in a month after installing.
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Troubleshooting engine problems can be a difficult task if you are not familiar with engines. Sometimes problems can be a combination of smaller problems or one problem normally not associated with the specific problem. If your car has not had a tune up in a while it’s always a good place to start. We will start with a generalized analysis and then try to narrow our search. If the car runs rough, jerks or surges as you press the gas more it may be an ignition problem. It may still feel smooth at low speeds or when pressing lightly on the gas. Start with the spark plug wires. Replace them if it’s been awhile (couple years or a lot of miles) or look for any arcing coming off of them. It is easiest to look for arcing at night time away from lights. Remember that a tiny little glow is all it takes to cause problems. Next remove your spark plugs and replace them if they look worn on the electrode corners. Also check or replace the distributor cap and rotor, all of these are part of an engine tune up.
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Four stroke valves are what allow air to flow in and out of the cylinder bore. The camshaft in a 4 stroke engine controls the timing of the air flow by the shape of the camshaft lobe. The height of the lobe dictates the lifting of the valves off their valve seats. Engines that spin high rpm’s can control valve float much easier when the valves are light. Valve float happens when the spring can no longer keep the lifter/valves in contact with the cam, power quickly drops off and the cam will be destroyed in a short amount of time.
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