JustbKuze2010

Hey all,

Earlier this spring my wife, the kids and I had a little too much fun splashing through puddles and ended up flooding the airbox sufficiently for the engine to get a big gulp of water. Fortunately I was able to get it to restart, but it was hurt and had a bad rattle. But we made it back home, about 10 miles of gentle driving.

No this isn't a thread from some befuddled noob asking how this happened and what to do.

I fixed it. Here are the fun details.

First I pulled the valve covers in the slim hope that somehow this was a bent pushrod. It wasn't. Next I pulled the oil pan down and quickly spotted the issue - number 6 rod was very bent.

Thoughts that come to mind:
"Ok, well I saw that guy on YouTube rebuild his without pulling the motor out."
"Jeez, it's dirty. if I took it out I could clean it up really nice."
"If I take the motor out, I can put a clutch in it."
"I could really clean it up nice"
"The motor is coming out"

JustbKuze2010

OK I am not new to forums, but I am new on this one. The image uploader is really nice here! I think this should all display well, it looked good when I checked the preview. If not I will do what I can to fix it.


bent on two planes!

bent on two planes!

working on removal

stripped

Honed and cleaned up

Hemi Orange and VHT Black wrinkle on the intake and valve covers. Sort of a nod to the Hemi of the 60s.

VHT Black wrinkle on the intake

Centerforce 2

JustbKuze2010

I prefer GM typically, and often rag on Chrysler. And I see a lot of people rag on the 3.8L. I can tell you this, after being inside of it... its not that bad of an engine.

aluminum heads
Roller cam.
Shaft rockers.
Crossbolt mains
big exhaust ports
long runner intake

JustbKuze2010

Internally the engine was in pretty good shape, except for the bent rod. It was very clean, the PO had Amsoil use records, and it shows.

I found some weird marks on the cam bearing journals, and the cam bearings didn't look great either. So I paid someone to install them at a local machine shop. He butchered them and charged me $125. So I ordered the tool to do it myself and two new sets of bearings. I dont know what the issue he had was (he complained at the shop 'it was hard and I won't do those again for any money') as I had the butchered ones out and new ones in in about 20 minutes. And most of that time was spent learning the finesse of the cam bearing tool.

The cam had one lobe with a weird spot. If it was a flat tappet cam, there would be no question, but this being roller, I considered hard before I ended up replacing the cam and lifters. Melling brand stock replacements.

I rebuilt the oil pump and really shoved the plug down in to apply additional pressure on the relief spring. It has great oil pressure now (I dont know what it was before the rebuild, I added a mechanical gauge as part of this), 50-60 psi hot down the road, idle at 20 hot.

New water pump just because I was there.

1 new Mopar piston and rod assembly. The machine shop that surfaced the heads and flywheel for me could not do the full block work for months. If I wanted to wait and not have it all summer, I could have had it bored and used new pistons and rods from the older 3.8L to get away from the cracked cap style the JK 3.8 uses. But I am really not spinning it all that hard, and I dont plan on any power adders so it should be just fine. The engine was pretty good really so it didn't need a full bore and new pistons. I reused the other 5. I honed all 6 holes.

I used all Fel-Pro gaskets. I copper sprayed the heck out of the intake gasket and used some of that black tar stuff around the water ports where they leak. If you ever mess around with the intake on one of these, watch out for that stamped gasket. Its RAZOR sharp.

I should have gotten the Centerforce flywheel but it was going to take too long to get. I just got the new clutch kit and had the flywheel surfaced. I used nice ARP chrome moly bolts for the pressure plate.

I primed it good with engine primer and then painted it with Hemi Orange. I used VHT black wrinkle on the valve covers and intake just to make it look nice. That is good paint, but I felt like I didn't need 3 coats like they said. The one valve cover I did 3 coats on doesn't look as good as the one with 2 coats or the intake.

I blocked off the EGR valve and plugged the hole. I turned it off in the ECM using my HP Tuners software. I am still learning on the HP Tuners Suite; there is a lot to learn. (I am a software tech so stuff like this comes naturally for me but for the Dodge tuning there is not good documentation).

JustbKuze2010

I installed a 180 degree thermostat and used HP Tuners to turn the fans on low at 185, mid at 190, and high at 195. Going down the road fast or in the woods creeping or sitting idling in the hot sun, it bounces between 180-185.

Since I was basically rebuilding the engine, I wanted to take this opportunity to add some quality gauges. I used the Auto Meter 3 gauge dash pod and have their Sport Comp oil pressure and temp gauge. I have an AEM Wide band in the 3rd hole but I have not wired it or installed the o2 sensor yet. I might wait until my budget allows for long tube headers and no cat wye pipe.

I am not trying to make huge power gains but I am trying to make it run as best as I can and be as reliable and as durable as I can make it. Reducing the temps made a huge difference in that it isn't getting super heat soaked on the trails or in traffic. Using the logging software I can see that it really pulls back on the timing during power enrich mode so I am going to tune in that area as I have time. Currently there is no knock retard taking place and my O2 values indicate it reasonable rich (I will know a lot more once I get the wide band installed) so I think I have room to gain "power" by adding timing advance.

resharp001

This has been a great read. Thanks for taking the time to put all this in a thread.

JustbKuze2010

Hey thanks! I am glad you enjoyed.

I am not much of a videographer and do wish I had taken more photos. I will post some new ones showing the completed project.

hornetman

Nice job. I can’t see myself tackling a project like that having never attempted a rebuild. But maybe once I retire, and if I have the space and tooling I might consider doing this on my 3.8. Appreciate your posting.

JustbKuze2010

Thanks!

I haven't rebuilt an automotive engine since high school so this was a lot of fun. I built a 351w and put it in an 85 Mustang GT. It would melt the tires like nothing and sang sweet songs through the Flowmasters. Which at 21 was pretty much the only goal. Other than that I have done a number of my power sports toys, jet ski, snowmobile, dirt bike.

As for the tools, I can tell you having a Harbor Freight nearby has been a blessing and a curse (on my wallet). HF has some perfectly good (enough) tools for my use, which is home use. I don't buy electric tools there, I like my DeWalt. (Ok I have one of their Bauer impacts that I keep in my camper. It is fine for the camper but its nothing like my DeWalt.) Their new Icon ratchets are really nice. And the very affordably priced 1/2 drive impact sockets are just fine. It will take a cheater bar 10 foot long to break one, maybe not even then. The Earthquake 1/2 impact gun and 3/8 air ratchet are great and great values for the price. I ended up getting quite a few new tools as part of this, and ended up needing a bigger tool box. I got a great big Husky from Home Depot. it was by far the best bang for the buck on size and quality.

I am actually just coming out of "hibernation" from having two kiddos so being back to work on something in the garage has been nice. Hibernation meaning I literally haven't done anything except work and help keep my wife sane with our two boys when I'm not working. Now they are big enough to just play with stuff, I can get stuff done. I let them wash and 'inspect' the tires when the wheels are off the jeep. The love it.

RonandJanet

Nice summary! I enjoy working on cars have rebuilt several engines and enjoy the results. A little older now (ok maybe more than a little) so not as much fun getting up and down all the time but still do some tinkering! That engine will last you a long time!