Here are the crank journals #1-4 in order.
I don't think those look too bad?
I guess the $2000 question is do I plastigauge the bearings, clean everything the best I can in situ, slap it back together with new bearings & send it? Or do I pull the engine & do it the right eay, dealing with all the "while I'm in there"'s that I encounter(like a new clutch, etc.)?
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
The first thing. As I understand it, running/blown up/running again is the DSM ownership cycle, and the frequency of that cycle gets higher the more of a legit DSM guy you are.
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
From what I've learned it really depends. 400hp is legitimately a pretty safe number, as long as your tune is solid, and you avoid wheel hop on hard launches, everything should hold up. The engine can handle more HP, but the drivetrain needs upgraded first. 700hp apparently isn't a big deal on a 4g63t - which I find incredible on an engine that made 195hp stock.
Honestly to me that crank looks pretty good. The fun loving devil in me wants to say slap some new bearings in there and crank the boost to 350hp. The I don't want to see Pete cry side of me says build it once build it right.
$20 on bearings and some fresh oil seems like a small gamble before you wind up in Machine Shop Purgatory with an empty wallet. Buy the cheap bearings no sense in buying the expensive Super Tri-Metal XTRA Race Bearings. If the cheap ones are going to spin so are the pricey ones.
I guess this comes down to what you want out of the car. Do you want to Challenge it and roll the dice or rebuild it "the right way" and wonder when it's going to happen again anyway? This is giving me flashbacks of why I went with an LS swap in my truck.
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Fortunately the "good" bearings are only about $40, so no worries there.
I need to put some thought on it though. My intent was already to run the Challenge with it, then continue to build it up & tweak it for autox. However, if running the Challenge means destroying this engine(with its good pistons & rods) I'm not sure that makes sense long-term.
+1 on the GRM send it plan, you could slap new bearings in it and run a few quick oil changes of cheap oil to get out any more contaminants.
If you go the GRM route, worst case scenario is the engine runs until further bottom end failure and oil contamination toasts the crank, rods, head, turbo. I don't believe its very common on these, but a failure with lots of debris could ruin the head cam journal surfaces, which can't be align honed very much and still be within spec. Usually the bottom end fails spectacularly before this happens. Turbo failure from oil contamination is more common though.
To note: if the crank is toast, it cannot be saved from cutting without significant effort since the 4G63 crankshafts are nitrided.
In reply to engiekev :
Honestly, your comments are making me really consider fixing it once correctly even more than before.
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to engiekev :
Honestly, your comments are making me really consider fixing it once correctly even more than before.
If you hadn't already rebuilt the head I would be less hesitant about risking it. It's hard to say just from pictures about the crank, if its still within spec or not, like mentioned you could plastigauge test it to get a rough idea. You also don't know how the main bearings look as well.
But on the other hand like Ron mentioned machine shop service costs can balloon fast, and with just new bearings the engine is not likely to grenade. You'll either eliminate the rod knock or not, worth a shot.
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
With how loud that was in the video, I’m surprised that I don’t see any obvious damage to the crank. I bought a DSM once with a spun bearing, and it was way quieter/more subtle- only made noise on decel, and much less than your vid. The crank on that car was trashed. That tells me that maybe something else is going on. Maybe the bearings were damaged by the contaminated oil like you mentioned. It also sounds like this engine had a questionable rebuild in the past- is it possible they installed the wrong sized bearings? Either way, if the crank is as good as it looks- no damage that catches a fingernail- I say toss in the new bearings and go for it. $40 and and afternoon and you will be back on the road. Worst case is that you end up back where you started short $40 and an afternoon. Best you avoided the cost and time of a rebuild and avoided project purgatory. It is a risk that debris could damage other part of the engine, but that’s not common on these engines unless you completely ignored the knock if it came back.
I say toss some bearings at it and if you end up crying I'll hug you.
I'd toss bearings at it.
This thread made me look for a galant vr4 for 20 min. I miss mine. Just a hair under 500hp before it got flooded. I've come to my senses though.
I pulled the 1-3 main caps tonight. I can't pull 4 & 5, which are also siamesed, in the car(unless I can find a super thin-walled 17mm socket). The rear plate of the engine is almost completely against the bolt heads.
Unsurprisingly the main bearings look about as bad as the rod ones.
Fortunately the main journals look ok too.
I may have found a clue to the underlying problem though: when removing the oil pickup I noticed one of the bolts was a little loose. I didn't notice this until I got it on the bench though.
So that's one more project that needs done on the engine.
I did a bit of research today, and while it seems possible to replace the main bearings in the car, it also sounds too easy to either damage the bearings/crank, or screw it up resulting in future damage.
Time to pull the engine & trans.
Yeah all those critters in the house don't need constant attention ......so bearings are US!!! 
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:I did a bit of research today, and while it seems possible to replace the main bearings in the car, it also sounds too easy to either damage the bearings/crank, or screw it up resulting in future damage.
Time to pull the engine & trans.
Good call. With the bearings looking like that, the block needs to be disassembled and cleaned by a machine shop (cleaning oil galleys, crank oil passages, head, etc.) to remove all debris before a rebuild.
It's too bad that JDM 4G63s are more expensive now, otherwise would suggest that for a quick fix. They used to go for under $1000 and all had low mileage due to JDM standards.
Well the damn thing isn't going to fix its self so I guess it's time to stop sulking & tear the berkeleyer back apart.
The general consensus is to pull the engine & trans as a unit, either up through the bay, or dropping it onto a cart & lifting the body up over it. Having wrestled the Miata engine & trans solo(which is lighter) I'm going to pull the trans first, then that'll make it easier for me to pull the engine out the top. It might be a bit more work/time, but seems like less frustration.
It definitely is easier to pull the trans first, but pulling both together is possible with a engine hoist and leveling bar. The trans is so easy to remove on a DSM compared to the Evo and others, it's not a bad job at all.
Trans Removal:
Hard to tell in the pic, but it looks like that intercooler pipe does not have a lip or bead. Something to look into addressing in the future, or while the engine is out, is to bead all the pipes. Without a bead, even the best silicone couplers and clamps will struggle holding a tight seal and pipes will blow off. Having piping support helps, think about how OEM piping is supported in many places on newer factory turbo cars (obviously with some flexible joints to account for engine movement), but a bead is the best first solution. If they're aluminum pipes its even easier to bead with a tool or the true GRM way, make a beading tool with a vise grips!
In reply to engiekev :
That might explain the sticky residue that was on them. I'm thinking it might have been hairspray.
Long time, no update - though I discussed some of this in my other thread recently.
So despite my posts above, I decided to go ahead & replace the rod & main bearings in situ. It was kind of a E36 M3ty job to do on my back under the car, but I took my time, mic'd the rod & main journals to ensure they were still in spec, checked the thickness of the new bearings to ensure they were in spec too, torqued everything to spec per the FSM & reassembled.
It was really hard to start & didn't want to idle, but with enginekev's assistance I was able to get it running for a few minutes, then do an oil change. The next weekend took it for a drive around the block & it died suddenly a block from home, and wouldn't restart. We towed it home & I listed it on Marketplace - I was done.
The next day I hooked my 60-amp starter/booster to it & briefly got it to start - I was immediately greeted with a rod knock louder than before. berkeley. My hunch is I probably screwed up something somehow, and this time it actually spun a bearing, which I'm guessing explains the hard cranking & difficulty idling I'd experienced.
So I deleted my ad off Marketplace, because this really is a car I want, and it has a lot of good parts on it(plus a decent paint job, which is not something I'll ever do myself). I think I'll find a good used engine, then pull this one & see what's salvageable. I'd like to be able to reuse the rods & pistons, although that will mean boring out the next block for them. I did get a lead on a machine shop in the region who has 4g63t experience at least. So I'll eventually drag everything to them, let them figure out what's good vs. junk, and pay them $$$ to build the engine correctly.
Of course while the engine is out would be a good time to send the trans out to be gone through & upgraded a bit. And at that point I might as well send the shocks to Koni for rebuilding & revalving...
So it really sucks that this won't be the Challenge car I'd hoped & planned for - I think it could have place well, especially at autox. I'm certainly not looking forward to spending fistfuls of cash over a long drawn out period of time before I can ever drive it again, but obviously trying to do this cheap hasn't worked out at all. Besides, looking at any other turbo AWD car likely leaves me in a similar situation of having to rebuild & upgrade to get it where I want.
I think thos this overall is a good plan, but do in steps. Motor and trans and maintenance/reliability in the engine bay. Put a few miles and events on. Sort that first. Make sure its safe and reliable, then fast.
Fall in love with it before the big fistfulls of cash, and see what it and you want to get to where you want to be.
I don't bookmark many builds, so when I saw an update on this one I got excited. Prematurely, clearly... that is a bummer of an update. Hate that one of the new bearings spun.
Hope you can find a decent used engine. If you can get it sorted it will be a fun car. I agree with duster, this isn't something you need to do all at once. Get a decent engine, get it running and go from there.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael & Number1Gaza :
I agree with you guys, but much of this work is physically painful to me, so I'd like to avoid having to duplicate it. At this point it's going to be project purgatory regardless, so I want to try and build it once the right way.
Not that it won't occur in phases, but the engine rebuild needs to happen, as does the shock rebuild. It makes sense to bulletproof the trans now too before I have the opportunity to grenade it.
At some point I'll need to consider dropping the rear subframe to install the poly bushings that came with the car, and I might as well do the rear-steer elimination while I can. Of course there's a bunch of smaller projects, but some of those I can work on while waiting for time/money for the bigger things. I'd already started sanding the roof so I can Plastidip it, I need to find & install the missing trim from the bottom edge of the hatch window, at some point I need to find/make enough of an interior to be either SM or XS legal, and I've already gathered the steel to make a harness bar.
Sorry to hear the engine is toast, though I'm happy to see this thread back at the top.
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