An FA20D failure / diagnosis & repair story...
 

So in September of '21 I picked up a clean title, 52,856 mile 2013 FRS that had rod-knock, it was car #16 on the Opie & Dave-RoR's rebuild page. Car ran when we got it, drove it up on my trailer, and then off & into my garage. We swapped in a good motor and sold the car...the engine we took out has been sitting in my garage ever since.

After almost 3 years of my wife asking why it was still in the garage and what I was going to do with it...I decided to pull it apart and see how bad the damage really was. Story from the previous owner was that the car had the valve spring recall done and shortly thereafter it started knocking so he stopped driving it and got a new car. The paperwork in the car confirmed the recall, clutch and an oil change had been done at 41,238 miles at a local Toyota dealer. When I recieved the car, it still had the OEM Toyota oil filter on it. Looked to me like the owner went 9,000+ miles without an oil change in addition to whatever we might find inside the engine that "might" be caused by the recall work.

So yesterday, I rolled the engine out of its hibernation spot, SuperClean & pressure washed it off and started tearing it down...here is what I found...it is not pretty.

Removed crank pulley, water pump & pully and pulled front timing cover. Then removed the lower oil pan.

Pic#3: Removed Oil pan and found that the Oil Pickup was 99% plugged with RTV. This likely occurred during the valve spring recall when the tech failed to block the passages to the oil pan and allowed the old RTV from the timing cover surfacesxo fall into the pan when cleaning the surfaces before resealing.

Removed thermostat and upper oil pan assembly, here I can see the connecting rods, checked each one for play, only cylinder #3 has play...that's the knocking.

Pic #4: Removed valve covers for inspection, now that I know oil starvation is an issue there are other things to check. First the cam lobes for galling, no damage found.

Pic# 5: Then removed the cam caps from the carriers, uh oh. First oil starvation damage found. Cam shafts are galled from lack of lubrication...also found the ham fisted tech that performed the recall gouged the crap out of the cam carrier sealing surface.

Removed both heads. Head gaskets look great...

Pic #6: Pulled all of the pistons and connecting rods from the block. As noted, #3 was the knocker. The remaining bearings looked ok. Crankshaft is seriously galled at Cyl #3.

So this is where I stopped to add up the minimum parts I'd need if I chose to rebuild it:
Engine Gasket Set - 1
CrankShaft - 1
Connecting Rod - 1
Main Bearing Set - 1
Rod Bearing Set - 1
Cam Carrier Assembly* - 1L & 1R
Camshafts - All 4
Oil Pickup/Strainer - 1
Piston Ring Set* - 1
Retail parts cost.....$3,636.62
Astericks are parts that could potentially be reused...but I wouldn't feel comfortable. Plus there are many other parts that may need attention...pretty much anything that oil touches, oil pump, chain tensioners, VVT sprockets...

This is why a finding a used engine is the preferred solution....

Conclusion: shoddy workmanship definitly caused this engine's early demise. Improper cleaning, wrong sealant, too much sealant...of course the owners negligent maintenance certainly didn't help the situation....

So what is next for this engine? Not sure...maybe I'll complete the rebuild. Anyone got a good set of cams, or crankshaft? Either way I'll likely keep all the good parts...

Small update, local machine shop says that if the camshaft and carrier damage is light enough, they may be able to micropolish those surfaces. Since I can only barely feel them with my fingernail, going to drop them off tommorow to be evaluated...if they can be salvaged, thats about 40% of the parts cost...we'll see.

I'm always concerned about mitigating any contamination. Once upon a time I spent big bucks getting a crank ground and plated. Too bad the oil passage wasn't cleaned properly. I should've double checked it before assembly but didn't and the motor lasted a week. I'm impressed with your knowledge of these cars.

Rebuilding engines is like paint work, the prep is the most important part. If rebuilt every oil passage, in-block filter, VVT sprockets, Oil pump gears, etc will be cleaned multiple times. Will likely also put a magentic drain plug in it and change the oil & filter after running up to operating temp. Can't be too careful....

Good news, machine shop says they can micropolish the cams and carriers. Should have them back in a few days.

Well these look better...

^^^ this ^^^

I'm sure it'll be like new or better when you're finished.

If I was going as far as to rebuild one of these, especially for track use, I’d want to line bore the cases and size the mains. I have a 13’ long block in my shop that’s the same deal I may get to one day. I had priced this out a few times and a OE short block or a used engine is a far better deal then rebuilding. Even a built short block doesn’t pencil to bad in comparison.

Crank is being replaced, mains will be measured before assembly to see if any further work is needed. Then will get new bearings (main & rod) upon final assembly. I'm doubting line boring will be needed, but the specs will tell...

I don't disagree with that. It's just that if I am building another engine for myself, I would probably go the extra mile and have them checked if not just done.

There are precious few useful parts in one of these engines after a blow up! I had similar issues, I had to strip 3 engines to find enough usable parts to do a rebuild. Fortunately one was a crash damaged engine and still had a good crank.
I had lot of trouble getting main bearing clearances right. I bought 3 sets of main bearings (2xACL std and 1xACL 0.001 undersize) and with a lot of careful measuring I mix-and-matched a set that had the correct clearances.

Split the block, did a little cam carrier cleaning and replaced the #3 connecting rod. Main bearings won't arrive until Jan 31st...so doing little bits as I can...did I mention how awesome the cams came out....lol

Hone and re-ring?

13 feet, that *is* a LONG block!