An engine rebuild or overhaul can be pretty scary to those unfamiliar. People know that engine rebuild services take a long time and cost a lot of money, but they don’t know what they’re paying for. So, what do engine rebuild services include?
Engine rebuilding generally entails: (1) removing the engine from the vehicle, (2) disassembling all the parts, (3) cleaning and inspecting each piece to find the damage (4) repairing, refurbishing, or replacing defective parts, (5) refurbishing the engine's internal surfaces, (6) putting back all the engine components, (7) reinstalling the rebuilt engine in the engine bay.
This guide will help you understand what engine rebuilds entail and how to know if or when your car needs one.
What Happens During an Engine Rebuild?
You might be shocked when your mechanic mentions how much time and money an engine rebuild will require. It takes knowing the general steps that an engine rebuild entails to understand what your mechanic is trying to say.
Here’s what happens during a typical engine rebuild:
1. Removing and Disassembling
The first part of any rebuild or overhaul is to remove the engine from your vehicle’s engine bay. As you can imagine, that’ll be pretty challenging for several reasons.
Firstly, a typical car engine weighs upwards of 100 kilograms. Moreover, car engines interconnect with so many other components in the engine bay that it’ll take time to disconnect everything safely.
Then, the mechanic needs to attach the engine to a crane to lift it out of your vehicle and move it to the work area.
Once there, the next step is dismantling the engine piece by piece. That will take time, given that engines have more than 200 internal components of various shapes and sizes.
2. Cleaning and Inspecting
After taking the engine apart comes the second stage of the engine rebuild. This part is when the mechanic (or mechanics) cleans the engine parts thoroughly.
Remember that engines that have been used many years will likely have all kinds of buildups inside—carbon, dirt, debris, and other impurities, you name it—and must be cleaned before anything else.
The cleaning phase is also the best time to inspect each part for signs of wear or damage and identify parts to be repaired, reconditioned, or replaced.
The duration of this step depends on the number of people working on the engine. You must understand that a workshop can’t devote all its staff to your engine while neglecting other customers.
3. Restoring Components to Optimal Standards
The overall goal of an engine rebuild is to restore its function to optimal levels, and if possible, to mint conditions or OEM standards like when the car left the factory. That’s why worn-out parts need to be replaced.
So, after inspecting each component, they will then start restoring parts as needed.
In other words, this is where all parts are made to be as good as they were when the car left the factory floor.
Slightly damaged parts can be repaired or refurbished, while components that are no longer usable must be replaced with brand-new ones.
Some of the critical parts that must be restored include:
- Camshafts
- Crankshafts
- Pistons and piston rings
- Bearings, gaskets, seals, and other supporting components
4. Reconditioning of the Internal Surfaces
The engine’s internal components are not the only things potentially damaged or worn, requiring attention. On top of those, the internal surfaces must also be reconditioned back to how they should be.
For example, the cylinder and cylinder heads need to be resurfaced. That will ensure that new components, like the seals and gaskets mentioned earlier, can fit correctly and form a proper seal.
5. Reassembling and Reinstallation
The final and arguably most challenging part of engine rebuild services is putting everything back together.
Firstly, the engine must be reassembled correctly, practically from scratch. The hundreds of small and large engine parts must be put together again. Then, lubricants and fluids like engine oil must also be replaced.
Of course, the mechanics must test the engine to ensure that they’ve rebuilt it correctly and that everything can function as it should.
Once they’re confident that the job is done, they’ll have to reinstall the engine in the engine bay, using a crane to lower it into place before reconnecting it to all other parts and systems.
6. Engine Testing
Last but not least, they need to test the rebuilt engine to ensure it works and test-drive the car a few blocks to troubleshoot any remaining issues before handing the vehicle back to you.
How Do I Know If My Engine Needs a Rebuild?
Fortunately, not all engine problems mean that you need your engine rebuilt. In fact, you can resolve most engine issues without taking the engine apart.
However, if the engine has suffered damage after a collision, you might need a rebuild. An engine rebuild immensely helps old vehicles, especially those that have been running for more than 10 years.
Rebuilding an engine becomes necessary when your vehicle suffers from problems that cannot be fixed any other way, such as the following:
- The engine has lost compression due to cylinder wear or damage.
- Fuel consumption by the engine has become very inefficient despite regular servicing.
- The engine suffers from consistent performance issues like jerking, shuddering, and stalling.
- Loud noises are coming from the engine, like knocking and grinding.
When the engine clearly has an internal problem that can't be solved with external solutions (e.g. fresh fluids and lubricants, new spark plugs, etcetera), an engine rebuild is likely the only way forward.
The engine rebuild cost you will have to pay ultimately depends on its internal condition. The more work is required to restore that engine to good health, the more it’ll cost you.
So, compare prices around different workshops to find yourself the best deals.
Whether you’re looking for an engine rebuild in Perth or elsewhere across the country, you can find the best workshops through CarpartAU. The website has a directory you can use to locate the workshops nearest to you. Then, use the details provided to call them and find the best deals for your next engine rebuild!
By Ray Hasbollah