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Thread: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

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    Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Hello!
    Ive always thought these Previas were cool since I was a kid. So now that I'm close to 40, I took the plunge. Bought one on Craigslist with a rod bearing (?) knock to it for $600. It has 120k on it, AWD, and a nice interior. I figured when buying it that maybe I would just throw in some bearings through the oil pan, and call it good. Sounds like a bargain, right?
    Well, I got under it last night. Found what appears to be a reman engine in it. Painted block, wax seal head, black silicone permatex seals, obvious bolt movement. Oh, boy. What did I get myself into?
    All the information on the web is amazing. I read people's forums very often on all different subjects, yet I have never tried to enter the conversation or contribute to the pool of knowledge. So I am going to try it here. Hopefully someone out there will be helped out by information I share on this site, cause I'm going all the way with this van. Full all out snowboarding and camping mobile hacienda! Big dreams are going into this odd bird :-)
    Here is the first pic... Wait, I don't know how to post pics yet

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Hello & welcome to TVT! There are many possible courses of action, but the one you choose will depend on how much time & money you wish to invest and how long you think you'll be keeping it. If I ended up where you are, I would start looking for a used engine to put in it. There's a place in Lynnwood, WA that sells used engines imported from Japan. They claim their engines have around 50k miles on them.........but who really knows. Even if they have more, I'd still consider it better than a reman engine. You might also check eBay as sometimes there's some good deals on used engines there too. The usual problem with eBay engines is distance and shipping charges, but you might get lucky (timing is everything). Craigslist is another place to look. Not likely anything will be listed, but if there is at least it will be local. Good luck with your project & keep us informed as to how things go. Tim

    PS: You can add pics by pushing the "manage attachments" button below the dialog box while posting or editing. Just follow the prompts and it should work.

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Welcome to the forum!
    120k and the second engine is hammered? Maybe the odometer was swapped too. Anyway, if the body and interior are clean you did OK. Now find a second one with body damage and a sound engine for the same price, and you're in business!
    Or as Tim suggests, get a JDM engine. If your current engine is truly a reman, and it's got a knocking rod, that pretty confirms Tim and theMAN's advice to run away from remans.
    As you've probably seen in my posts, I've had good luck with both the JDM exchange and self-rebuilding route. I suspect the key to the latter is to rebuild an engine before it fails. The lower ends are robust, but once the head gasket blows or they lose coolant for any other reason, the head will warp if they aren't shut down soon. Once the head warps, it's done.

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Thanks for the warm welcomes!
    I got into the bottom end this morning. Turns out it was the rod bearing closest to the transmission. I could reach up in there, and actually move the rod back and forth on the crank! The crankshaft is worn, and my suspicions were correct: reman engine for sure. The bearings were already .025 oversized.
    Im sure the right thing to do would be pull the crank and cut it, or pull the whole motor and JDM it. Maybe possibly even rebuild it myself. But I went ahead and ordered a new bearing to replace the worn one, it seems so easy to try and I will only be out $15. And if this doesn't work, I will know exactly why :-)
    My long term hope is to get myself acquainted with the vans with this one, but ultimately I would like to find a low mileage later model year previa with the dual roofs, awd, tinted glass, and supercharger. If I can find one, I will transfer all my conversion work to that van. You're right about the mileage on my current van... Judging by reman motor, and the sludge build up, it could possibly have more mileage than is seen!
    i have taken a few pictures, even a short video of the bearing slop. But I still can't seem to get them up here. I tried what Tim said, but there's just a spinning disk in the right upper corner when I try to upload and then nothing. Maybe I can't use the iPad?

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    If the bearing was bad enough to knock that loud, then the crank is no doubt damaged. Not only that, but you have to wonder why it started knocking in the 1st place. My guess is the machinist made a mistake that led to early failure. If you're time is plentiful enough you don't mind wasting it, then changing just the bearing certainly won't hurt anything. Not likely to help much either (at least not for very long), but no harm in trying. When it comes to knocks like that, I'd simply consider the engine a core............and not a very good one. Lots of core engines available for cheap that would be more desirable than a reman with a knock. Let us know how it works out. Tim

    PS: Another way to post pics would be to upload to a hosting site like photobucket.com then paste the tags in the dialect box when making a post. Most of these hosting sites have free accounts available. Tim

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Yep, you were right. Just finished the new bearing. Still noisey. I'm thinking of going to the wrecking yard and pulling a crankshaft. Mine is definitely bad! Is it common to change the crank with the engine in the car? I looked at it, and it seems doable...

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Sorry to hear that. I'm a big fan of doing things cheap, but this is one area you can't cut corners (things need to be precise). Although it may be possible to do the crank with the engine still installed, you'd still need to remove the transmission. This is due to the way the back of the crank is bolted to the flex plate (flywheel for standard transmission). Since most Previas have auto transmissions, I'm going to assume yours does too. The flex plate is bolted to the crank & the torque converter is bolted to the flex plate. You could get the torque converter bolts out with the transmission installed, but you wouldn't be able to slide it back far enough to get the flex plate-to-crank bolts. Sorry the bearing didn't work. You are motivated, and that's 90% of being a good mechanic. If you have a passion, & you're out there working on things, experience and knowledge will come. Good luck. Tim

    PS: Rods are pretty darn tough. But being pounded hard enough to knock like that is extremely hard on things. Even so, I'm guessing it's probably okay, but I would be a bit concerned putting it back to work without at least checking it's ID for roundness. Might not be a bad idea to take that one into a machine shop to have it checked before putting it back into service. Tim

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Ok. So the u-pull it yard wants $50 for the crank. I called the place you re commended in Lynnwood ("Foreign Engines"), and they want $750 shipped for a JDM engine. I also called my local wrecking yards. Found two used engines. One has 160k, comes from a wrecked van and has been verified running. The other is from a Prev with a bad tranny, 140k. Both are priced at $350.
    Im at the conclusion that I should replace the engine and rebuild the one that's in the car now as I know it only needs a crankshaft. However I'm not too sure about going the JDM route or used route. Saving $400 is appealing, and both are in fact used engines. I have heard so much good things about JDM engines, but is it worth spending the extra $400?

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Quote Originally Posted by timsrv View Post
    Sorry to hear that. I'm a big fan of doing things cheap, but this is one area you can't cut corners (things need to be precise). Although it may be possible to do the crank with the engine still installed, you'd still need to remove the transmission. This is due to the way the back of the crank is bolted to the flex plate (flywheel for standard transmission). Since most Previas have auto transmissions, I'm going to assume yours does too. The flex plate is bolted to the crank & the torque converter is bolted to the flex plate. You could get the torque converter bolts out with the transmission installed, but you wouldn't be able to slide it back far enough to get the flex plate-to-crank bolts. Sorry the bearing didn't work. You are motivated, and that's 90% of being a good mechanic. If you have a passion, & you're out there working on things, experience and knowledge will come. Good luck. Tim

    PS: Rods are pretty darn tough. But being pounded hard enough to knock like that is extremely hard on things. Even so, I'm guessing it's probably okay, but I would be a bit concerned putting it back to work without at least checking it's ID for roundness. Might not be a bad idea to take that one into a machine shop to have it checked before putting it back into service. Tim
    Lol I just read this after I posted the last message :-)
    sounds like I'm on the right track, though. However I had totally forgotten the flex plate to crank bolts! Guess I assumed the crank would drop out with flex plate still installed, yet disconnected from the torque converter.

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Quote Originally Posted by NoLimePlease View Post
    Ok. So the u-pull it yard wants $50 for the crank. I called the place you re commended in Lynnwood ("Foreign Engines"), and they want $750 shipped for a JDM engine. I also called my local wrecking yards. Found two used engines. One has 160k, comes from a wrecked van and has been verified running. The other is from a Prev with a bad tranny, 140k. Both are priced at $350.
    Im at the conclusion that I should replace the engine and rebuild the one that's in the car now as I know it only needs a crankshaft. However I'm not too sure about going the JDM route or used route. Saving $400 is appealing, and both are in fact used engines. I have heard so much good things about JDM engines, but is it worth spending the extra $400?
    And that is the million dollar question (or should I say $400 question). No way to really know. If in fact there was a way to verify actual miles on engines, and if we knew for sure the JDM engine had ~50k miles, then I'd think $400 for 100k miles less would be a very good deal. When in this territory (used anything), it's always somewhat of a gamble whichever way you go. If I planned on keeping the vehicle I'd probably spend the extra $400 (and keep my fingers crossed tightly).

    Quote Originally Posted by NoLimePlease View Post
    However I had totally forgotten the flex plate to crank bolts! Guess I assumed the crank would drop out with flex plate still installed, yet disconnected from the torque converter.
    It's called a flex plate, but I don't think it's flexible enough to squeeze it through the inspection plate area . You might be able to weasel it out of there if you separated the engine from the transmission an inch or 2, but then there would be the need to support both engine and trans........just seems messy. If you figure out a trick that works, let us know as we're always interested in new ways to cheat. Tim

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Quote Originally Posted by timsrv View Post
    And that is the million dollar question (or should I say $400 question). No way to really know. If in fact there was a way to verify actual miles on engines, and if we knew for sure the JDM engine had ~50k miles, then I'd think $400 for 100k miles less would be a very good deal. When in this territory (used anything), it's always somewhat of a gamble whichever way you go. If I planned on keeping the vehicle I'd probably spend the extra $400 (and keep my fingers crossed tightly). Tim
    And that is the great thing here... I don't plan to keep this particular van long. I've never owned a Minivan, and should the "minivan" way off life work for me (which I'm fairly confident will) I would look to upgrade as soon as possible to a newr previa with tint, awd, dual roofs, and sc.
    Thanks, Tim. You helped a lot in this process! I'll keep you all up to date, still having trouble with the pictures. I think it is the file size :-(. Haven't tried photobucket yet. Will they show thumbs?

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    If the file size is too large photobucket will automatically reduce. There's a way to do the thumbnail thing with photobucket, but it requires linking a thumbnail with HTML code over to the full size version. I like full size pics displayed directly in the forum anyhow, so I usually don't mess around with thumbnails. FYI, all the pics I post are hosted by photobucket. I encourage members to use the on-site hosting though because at least the pics are secure. One thing I hate is people closing their remote hosting accounts and/or deleting pics there. That destroys the value of the thread when the pics disappear. That won't happen with the on-site hosting. Tim

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Quote Originally Posted by timsrv View Post
    If the file size is too large photobucket will automatically reduce. There's a way to do the thumbnail thing with photobucket, but it requires linking a thumbnail with HTML code over to the full size version. I like full size pics displayed directly in the forum anyhow, so I usually don't mess around with thumbnails. FYI, all the pics I post are hosted by photobucket. I encourage members to use the on-site hosting though because at least the pics are secure. One thing I hate is people closing their remote hosting accounts and/or deleting pics there. That destroys the value of the thread when the pics disappear. That won't happen with the on-site hosting. Tim
    Yes, I would like to go direct too. Just don't know how to resize the file. I usually take a photo with my iPhone. Then I would like to post directly from there.

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Hopefully somebody that does it this way will have a suggestion for you. I have nothing to offer regarding smart phones (I'm too stupid for a smart phone ). Tim

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    One quick note about getting a newer Previa. For some strange reason, in North America, you can get a Previa with the Dual Sun/Moon Roofs, OR AllTrac. They didn't offer a Previa with both in North America.

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    Quote Originally Posted by tlhaas0000 View Post
    One quick note about getting a newer Previa. For some strange reason, in North America, you can get a Previa with the Dual Sun/Moon Roofs, OR AllTrac. They didn't offer a Previa with both in North America.
    This is true. But there is one I know of. The guy took a dual sunroof 2wd and turned it into an All-Trac by transferring all the 4wd parts over to it. Big job and it requires welding.

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    Re: Finally bought a previa. With a Gremlin wielding a hammer inside the engine...

    8 seater, rear independent suspension, and true rear heater wasn't available in north america either

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