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So Who Has A Rebuilt Motor That Didn't Last?  

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my starts up tomorrow.. :(

also, the fuel would also help with how long it lasts yeh?

like e85 would be better insurance than 98..

like if the tuner isnt as good than e85 will help allow for their lack of tuning skill.

would be interesting to see what fuels ppl are using on there stuffed engines?

im going e85 to keep it safe :(

The motor that was in the car when i bought it had done 3000kms on it and failed within a month doing no hard driving at all.

My current motor has done 20000km's, ~15 track days, 2 drag days and over 100 dyno pulls (Built by Dan @ ERD in July of '08). Running on BP Ultimate / Shell Vpower all its life. No fancy fuels here.

Shit happens thats out of anybody's control (faulty parts), but in the end if your builder/mechanic knows there stuff, and you don't cut corners, you can get a lot of life out of them.

  • 3 months later...

First engine lasted 12,000km on a standard rebuild, running approx 300RWKW, dropped a ring in sixth

Got a Built engine now so fingers crossed holding 400 +RWKW when shes up and goin

Mine lasted 200ks at the most... Had a built 26/30. Did a few power runs on the dyno up to 24psi and 8000rpm. Made 475rwkw.

I didnt have a oil temp guage so tuner asked me to feel how hot the oil cooler was and it was cold...

Oil cooler lines were hooked up wrong by the previous mechanic so oil wasnt passing thru the system. results are a bent crank.

  • 2 weeks later...
also consider most motors are putting out twice or even 3 times their stock output and being driven very hard at the track etc... also it seems anybody can open a workshop and claim to be a import specialist etc...

This ^^^ Even though RB was built for power and longevity, you can't expect 200kkm+ from a engine you've doubled the power from, simply won't happen. Driving at track and such isn't such a problem, it is driving in the engines danger zone that is the problem. ie, doing 100kkm at 2500rpm average vs 100kkm at 5000rpm average isn't so much of a problem as too much boost/pressure, lack of cooling, etc.

Anyway, it is always better to buy something properly built for your power rather than building up to it (ie N1 from the get-go), so in that regard rebuilding a RB with stock stuff if you plan to do more than 20% more power is just stupid; stick forgies in, have it balanced properly, port n polished etc, and you WILL get an engine that can last 200kkm from double the power.

After watching an engine rebuild "howto" video it was interesting to see that it's not nearly as simple as getting the right parts and putting it all together and making sure it seems to be turning smoothly. once all the prep work has finished just about every stage of assembly is done twice. first time is often done with plastigauge to check clearances and then once you're happy it goes together for real. however, often in checking a later stage you have to disassemble back to an earlier stage to check the part.. so really it's like 5 engine assemblies (or more) to get a complete engine back together.

like others have said it's a miracle that so many go together and DO work perfectly. miss just one tensioning step and that bolt is going to let go and ruin your day. engine builder's warranty on a new build is extremely important.

if the shop cant do the whole job from start to finish its hard for them to give warranty

how do they know the person tuning the car knows what they are doing?

how do they know the person who owns the car isnt going to play with it and blow it up?

i know of someone who had a big $$$$ EJ25 built and was making near on 400kw all day every day

till the owner decided it was smart to replace all the hoses with silicone ones

his fancy new silicone hose to the FPR came off one day and well the rest is history

if the shop cant do the whole job from start to finish its hard for them to give warranty

how do they know the person tuning the car knows what they are doing?

how do they know the person who owns the car isnt going to play with it and blow it up?

i know of someone who had a big $$$$ EJ25 built and was making near on 400kw all day every day

till the owner decided it was smart to replace all the hoses with silicone ones

his fancy new silicone hose to the FPR came off one day and well the rest is history

That's exactly right. That is why when I give warranty it is under the condition that I run it in and it get's tuned where I say.

When you take out all variables except the owner, it makes it fairly easy. But regardless of how an engine fails, the cause can usually be determined before the new engine is ready to go back together. That way, if the owner has stuffed something up, it can be diagnosed correctly so it doesn't happen again.

i have a RB26 built and so far it has about 26,000kms on it running fine no noise and makes good power still running stock computer and turbos so far but very happy i use it for daily driving most of the time and i hope it lasts as long as my other RB25 did :)

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