KA24DE - Rebuild or Replace?

[thomasjamal]

So my KA currently has about 205,000 miles and most likely bad piston rings (a compression test tomorrow will confirm this). It's been burning oil since I got it and has only gotten worse.

So I'm trying to decide whether to rebuild my motor or buy another lower mileage KA and replace the head gasket and main seals.

Obviously my main concerns are keeping cost down relative to reliability.

Let me know what you think and why.

BTW, I should probably request that Nzmoman weigh in on this since I'm counting on him helping me do it...

FYI, I'm currently considering a KA with 120k miles that runs well with a MT for $350.
Modified by thomasjamal at 10:30 AM 4/24/2007

[gumby74]

A good rebuild is the only sensible choice. I applaud the engine for not crapping a rod bearing. You can have your engine rebuilt for well under a grand if you wrench yourself. Pay a couple extra $$ for Clevite bearings, take your time measuring tolerances, and you will be good to go for another 200K.Thats my opinion anyway. Good luck.

[xSeraphin]

Since you're sticking with the KA there's no sense in paying for what you already have. You can get some good rebuild kits for around $300 which is great if you can do the work yourself. Buying another KA will cost you at least $200 if you can find a really good deal but it'll still probably need to be rebuilt. You might be able to find a drop in for around $700 but you'll still want to pull it apart and see what kind of condition it's in unless it has a guarantee or warranty with it.

[thomasjamal]

Anybody else have any thoughts on this?

[thomasjamal]

bump

[krazydriver]

i vote rebuild.My KA has 185k on it. My plans are currently to build and turbo it. There's a wealth of swap engines, but i just think it's cooler to have the stock engine rebuilt and pushing big numbers, then swapping in a monster powerplant.

If you only want it to run better and stop burning oil, a simple ring and seal rebuild is pretty cheap and will be better then buying a new engine.

[TheOne]

if you have the knowledge & means to rebuild the engine, i'd do so.(i've probably rebuilt/replaced 6 ka's,lol, 4 bein to my car)

but if you don't know, just go ahead and get that engine, save yours for later on to get it fully built.

[Delerium]

Im with TheOne on this one. If you have the know how rebuild it because it will be more reliable, but on the other hand you could drop in the replacement and build up your old engine over time and then drop it back in when the other one craps out...or before if you wish.

[Soravia]

You'll need a garage and a bunch of time to rebuild. I see this mechanic rebuilding a Supra engine from ground-up and he's been at it for over a week now, working on it every other evening. But it seems to involve a lot of things like painting and stuff to the engine, not just replacement parts.

Personally I would get a low milage NA SR20DE but that's my taste.

[funigui]

the ka is a horse, so id say rebuild. I did my truck motor which is a toyota.... no comments plz.. for like 400 and its almost all full race

160 for boring .010 over and .010 oversize ringskept stock pistonslike 30 for all clevite77 main bearingsanother 30 for rod bearingslike 4 tubes of rtv freee for me im a mechaic, i charged my shopgasket set ~110 (this gave me fr ad rear main seals)valve sels ~20and i would have been done but...i added-blueprinted rods and pistons free just takes time and a medical scale-cam 100 bucks-valves 90-double valve springs 85-titanium retainers 45-shims 25-guides 12--port polish, lapping valves, oversizing the valves and spring seats-275

was it worth it? eh.... i know its reliable, has more power than stock and sounds cool when it idles.

Would i do all that again? no, id cam it and get oem springs and leave the valves.

its a toyota 22re, same engine as an ae86.

so if you look at mine, i assembled it myself and had a shop do the machining on the block and head. basically i could have done it for 350 and had it good as new, but i had money to burn.

[Soravia]

I thought AE86 had a 4AGE.

[funigui]

depends on the year, the true blue ae86 yes is the 4age, but toyota corolla gt-s`s had 22re`s as well