I recently picked up a LS2 engine and T56 off of Ebay. The engine was said to have 43K miles on it. Once I got it home I attempted to run a compression check on it and found that it wouldn't turn over. At first I thought it may have been a bad battery but after trying a known good battery I realized that there was a problem with the engine.

The first thing I did was pulled the top end apart. Everything looked ok but I did notice that the front piston on the passenger side (#2 cylinder?) had a lighter color to it. The carbon buildup in the other cylinders appeared to be wet and this one in comparison looked dry and the carbon buildup flaked away easier.

Next I began to take apart the bottom end. Oil pan, windage tray, so far so good. I then attempted to turn the engine over via the crank bolt. It took some effort but I was able to get it to slightly turn. When it moved I heard a creaking sound. I noticed that the sound was coming from the same cylinder that had the different color to it. I looked everything over on the bottom end and couldn't see anything obvious that would be causing the cylinder to bind. I spun the engine back over on it's stand and checked the top side of the piston. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the piston wasn't perfectly centered in the cylinder like the rest of them. Looked like a stuck ring.

After lots of careful hammering with a wooden dowel I removed the piston. The rings were intact but there was lots of buildup stuck between them. I also noticed that this particular cylinder appeared to have light brown almost rust looking spots in some places. When running my finger along these spots they were very smooth just like the other cylinders.

So here's my questions:

1- What would cause this?

2- Is this buildup excessive for a 43K motor?

3- Assuming this is nothing more than a seized ring, How would you suggest getting this motor back in good shape?

4- I didn't originally intend on tearing the whole engine down but now that I have. What would it typically cost for a builder to do an overbore and get the larger pistons/rings to match?

I took a bunch of pictures along the way. This one was taken on the side of the seized piston. It's the one to the right.



This is what the other 7 piston/cylinders look like.



This is the seized one. Notice the difference in the piston to cylinder gap from the top to the bottom.



This is the inside of the cylinder and the rust looking spots inside.



Here's a shot of the piston and all the buildup caught between the rings.




And Lastly, a shot of the head. The valves on the left are from the cylinder with the seized piston. You can see the extra buildup.


Here's a link to the rest of the pictures I've taken.
http://s974.photobucket.com/albums/a...%20Mile%20LS2/

 

seems like alot of build up for the low mileage but also depends how well the motor was maintained (looks like it wasent). i still see the crosshatches in the cylinder wall which is good, now that u have it all apart i'd recommend doing forged rods and pistons arp bolts the whole 9 yards, it cost me just about $3000 to put compstar rods and wesico pistons, and arp main studs in my ls1 going from 3.898 to 3.905 bore. machine work and i assembled the motor myself to save some money

 

The gap between the piston and the bore is normal. Some of that will close up when the piston is up to operating temperature.

That engine is garbage. It was at the very least filled with water at one time, who knows how. There's a chance that it was running when it ingested the water which likely bent a rod if that is the case.

I'd settle for no less than a full refund with shipping reimbursed if I were you.

 

My original intention was to take this motor, slap on some heads and a cam and be done with it. An extra 1-1.5K I'd consider but 3K is just out of the budget at this time. Would upgrading the rods be necessary?

The oil I removed from the pan didn't show any signs of water in it. There was also no signs of rust anywhere else in the engine. Just the one cylinder. Would there be any other places I could look to indicate water in the block?

 

I may be mistaken as all I can see is what youve pictured, but your pic of the seized cylinder looks like it sat for a while full of water.

 

hope you can get a FULL refund on this. if your having this much trouble with just the engine i wouldnt be to excited to test the t56 either. are they both from the same car?

 

The engine looks horrible for 43k miles. It was overly rich, burned oil, or has 93k miles on it. If water got in it may be from a bad head gasket. I would not pay over $500.00 for the engine and trans in that condition.

 

I had an engine just like this. I don't think it was under water or you would be removing the pistons with a torch. While it was a bugger to clean I managed to get the rings off the pistons without breaking them and clean/scrape everything clean. I reused every damn thing in it and the engine ran like a champ. No smoke or oil consumption. The only noise I had and wished I'd addressed was the timing chain.

Patience will be your friend here.

 

It might have been a good engine...before he left it outside in the rain for a year.
The whole thing is worth the same as a good core - a couple of hundred bucks at best, IF the heads, crank, rods are OK.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I just sent the email requesting a refund/return. I wouldn't mind doing small repairs to the engine but doing a complete rebuild on an engine that was supposed to be running in the first place is ridiculous. Hopefully the guy isn't an ******* about it...

 

It may have had fuel in that cylinder, that will also strip the oil out of the cylinder and rust it in place.

I'd definately be asking him some questions if he sold it to you as a running engine. Also why did you not try and turn the engine over before you installled it? Or did I miss read that and you tried runningit on a stand for a compression check.

 

Yea, it was on a stand the whole time with the starter still installed. I knew it would be a while (longer than the 90day warranty) before the car would be ready for the engine so I decided to check it ahead of time...luckily.

 

I hope it works out for you. He was an ******* for selling it to you in the first place.

 

most of the motors come from insurance cars that were damaged,rolled over etc.Most of them sit in the yards for months with no hood on,cracked intake and water gets into them.Motor looks like it has alot more then 43,xxx miles.With my Drop outs I run them first,if they have problems I just rebuild them not worth the headace.

 

If you dont mind me asking who was the seller? An individual or a yard? I had a similiar problem with a yard in NY who is also a member here. You got to be careful check derivative vin#'s on the new motor you got unless they provided you with some proof of miles

 

Wow...Looks like a bit more then 43k!

 

Wow that motor was in crappy shape, who would do that to their GTO? Glad you got your money back and have a better engine now.