Engine 1zz-fe Warning!!! Rod Bearings and Lubrication

1zz-fe Warning!!! Rod Bearings and Lubrication

I recently pulled my original motor because it was making rod knock noise when driving. I spent the later part of today tearing apart the motor to see what damage had been done and found not one... not two... but three spun rod bearings and the fourth on its way to becoming damaged itself. I noticed the Main Crank bearings a little worse for wear as well and looking over the motor can see signs of damage due to lack of oil.

Now before anyone jumps out there and blames me for not keeping the oil up to level and changing it frequently enough I can assure you that I change my oil quite frequently and check the levels often. I am very anal when it comes to the oil in my car and run mobil1 Synthetic at all times.

Here are a few pics of the damage...













I am going to be contacting Toyota about this as it seems to be a problem with the oiling system in the motor. Looking it over I will have to toss the rods, get the crank reground and replace all the bearings as well as have the block pressure washed, decked and all oil galleys cleared.

Hopefully when the motor is back together it will be sporting sleeves, forged pistons and rods and a lowered compression to ready it for boost... :clap: :whatwhat:

Did you seee the MWR 1ZZ Spyder? The same part failed on thier car... of course... they were runnign like 430 some WHP with only pistons and rods. Heh. They'll probably put out an aftermarket part for this.

Yeah I did... I hope he comes up with a solution as I'd hate to put all this money into the motor and have to rebuild it every thousand miles because the bearings can't handle it.

Replacing rod bearings every 1000 miles is completely out of the question and NOT normal by any means unless you are running a Pro Drag motor in your Corolla. There are motors out there pushing 500+ HP and not having to replace rod or main bearings every 1000 miles. If the motor is built right in the first place, this should not be a problem unless you lose oil pressure or drop low in oil volume.

Toga makes bearings for the 1zz-fe and I will be ordering a set as well as their high volume oil pump. The mains show signs of oil starvation and the complete breakdown of the rod bearings only backs that up.

My car was turbocharged and had little over 60,000 miles on it. I wasn't even close to MWR's power output but believe 230hp would have been a good estimate. When the motor is complete I plan on running 11psi on a daily basis running my own custom turbo.

How many other people have said this VERY SAME thing?

Exactly, no one listens until it happens to them.

To be honest, replacing the rod bearings every 1000 miles isn't a bad job and isn't really a big deal when you're running a turbocharged engine.

You want to play, you have to pay.

But to most everyone else, every 1000 miles taking the time to replace them is not very convienent or cost effective. Do you plan on that being a side effect of your kit? If so, I may need to rethink it. I just got done replacing my barings. Only 2 sets were bad, 1 barely, 1 majorly, the others were fine.

Haha I sure hope not!!!

All I'm trying to say is, people need to realize: if you're going to be modifying your car, you're pushing it BEYOND what it was built to do. So naturally there are going to be reliability issues, sooner or later. If you can't deal with that then stick with a cold air intake. Otherwise, welcome to the tuning world

As far as THIS issue goes, there very may well have been other issues at hand. Several people are running the exact same setup as my kit and have not had any rod bearing problems to date, so...

Well, my car has absolutely no mods prior to my rod bearing failure. And the only 'mod' if you even want to call it one is a strut tower bar. And I make sure to lubricate my engine.

That's not the norm. It's possible that the bearing clearances weren't right from the factory. Or it would be your driving habits (cold starts, etc). Or even the oil that you use... or maybe something got into your engine, just a little dirt getting past the oil filter (while you're changing it, for example) can damage the bearings....

It's been tried with little success. This is the very reason I am looking to have a company make a better pump. I found a manufacturer that makes a high volume oil pump for another motor that will fit our engine with minimal modification. They list the other pump at $180 so hope they take up the offer to help us 1zz peeps out...

I am also working with a machine shop to produce a better fuel rail and possivly a return fuel line kit for our cars. This way with the MAF to MAP conversion and a return fuel setup, boosting will be that much easier.

My 2003 Corolla CE 5-spd with 60,000 miles runs consistent low oil pressure. I have ran Mobil 1 5W-30 full synthetic and either Toyota oil filter or Purolator PL14476 since 7000 miles. Oil & filter has been changed every 5000 miles or sooner since the 7000 mile mark. Oil pressure runs around 10psi at idle and 40-45psi @ 3000rpms and maxes out @ 60psi at 4000rpms+ when at full operating temp. Toyota specifies 43-75psi @ 3000rpms. Obviously, I'm a bit low. Much lower than it should be. No strange noises, but VERY worrisome. NO mods at all, other than a Magnaflow muffler.

I expect to have the same thing happen to me anytime now. High revving REALLY aggravates the problem and causes the oil pressure to dip down to 40psi or lower @ 3000rpms. Shutting the engine off and allowing it to cool down a few minutes will bring the oil pressure back up to normal (50-55psi @ 3000rpms).

How easy is it to inspect main and rod bearings? Just pull the oil pan and remove some caps??

Trav

Checking the rod bearings is as simple as that... just remove the oil pan and rotate the crank to gain access to each of the rod caps. Remove the rod caps being very careful you do not scratch anything up with the rod bolts. You can check the bearings then return the cap and torque the bolts to spec. YOU MUST FOLLOW THE TORQUE SPECS TO A TEE!!! This is a very very important step...

I am looking into a high performance oil pump for our cars and should have some info shortly. Less than $200 to increase the life of the engine or $1000 to replace the motor.. that is if you do it yourself. I'd hate to know what Toyota charges to replace the engine...

So.... okay my motor has never been turbocharged or pushed to limits or anything BUT when the motor is cold it sounds like I have a spun rod but then once it warms up it sounds normal throughout the whole day, it only really happens when it's cold, so any input or thoughts? is that normal?

i dont think its a rod bear man. probably just your lifters gaining up there oil pressure man.

I agree, When I start my 98 it ticks untill the oil reaches the top and lubes everything.
started useing lucas oil and was hopeing that it would prolong the life of the parts that have been neglected by high RPM's and low oil.
I too check my fluids regularly but wonder what part is gonna go first.
I have allready found power steering fluid on the ground and have to fill it once a month so far.
Whats Invovled in changing that?

sweet stuff I was kinda worried about that... I'll probably end up doing some internal work to my motor too by the end of this year... About the power steering check ur hoses/lines there might be a leak somewhere.

I'm going to look into shimming the stock pump to increase pressure...

Your engine oil also has to lubricate your hot turbo charger...
You might also consider getting a high flow, reusable, high performance, stainless steel mesh oil filter. I got a System 1 filter in the larger PH3614 size. I just had to trim down the cooling fins a bit; http://www.s1filtrationgroup.com/index_backup.htm
There's also the shiny Ultra 1 Filter available in regular size; http://www.proficientperformance.co...=&Store_Code=PP
and Pure Power...;http://www.gopurepower.com/store/it...D=8400&dia=true

Why waste your money on oil fliter when you can put it into the engine....I'll be doing some internal soon for my 7afe turbo because my engine is Knocking....And that suck ass......

It was a beautiful time installing that new motor, no one died. Girlfriend bored as hell though, but hey we still have all our fingers.

Jeff can I tape your motor into my motor, I want a v12, maybe just glue it to the trunk and get some of the AMG v12 badges, what do you think