I recently tore apart my engine. I found that a part of the case was missing. Kind of hard to describe so I took a picture. It is on the passenger side below the main bearing that lies between cylinders 3/4. I did not find a hunk of metal in the oil, I think that the issue may have been there on the last rebuild.

Is this going to cause me any issues. Is there anything that I should do to fix it? I should mention that I am cheap and don't want to spend any money.

Pic? Man, you sure have some luck...

I think its 10% luck, 90% stupidity. For once, I actually think that I was not responsible for this issue. I think the PO brains took care of this.

looks bad to me.

the area missing would give support to the main bearing boss. with out the area joining in the bearing web it will be a very weak and prone to distortion.

Reminds me of a patient I saw today:

Me - Do you have high cholesterol or high blood pressure?

Him - Nope.

Me - When was the last time you were checked?

Him - Never been checked.

If you do not look for problems, then do they really exist?

Haaa
I saw a similar type patient last week. The guy had never been to a doc, until two weeks ago. Last weeks visit was a follow up appt. He was pissed off at me, he said "I hate doctors, I was perfectly fine until I came to see you, now after seeing you I have cancer". He was there because he couldn't urinate. I had checked the dudes PSA and it was 47.9- not good.

Anyways, sorry for the tangent. Think it is something that needs addressed or just leave it?

on looking closer.... thats at the lower cam boss. might not be such a big deal, but i'd locate another case and go from there.

if the p/o let that go by what else did they not bother with?

Is it a problem to mismatch case halves assuming both were from the same displacement engine? This is a 1.8l case. I think that I might have an extra case but one of the sides was bad. Its too cold to search for it to see which side was bad. Whats the going rate for good cases?

Is that the boss that holds the sump bolt in place...
The one that cracks off when over tightened?

Rich

Nope you cant mix and match halves, They are matched. Going rate is $50 for an engine case, I have MANY im willing to part with. If you are interested send me a PM. -Bruce

i don't think i would mix case halfs.

i would expect some extensive machining to get things in spec and then you would have to deal with over sized bearings and shiming the cylinders alot to get the compression right.

just find a donor engine from some one close and go from there.

Just found a reference to this problem on tunacan.net. They say it screws up the cam bearings.

http://www.tunacan.net/t4/tech/case.htm

Why the question mark Rich?....That's exactly what go on.
Bet it was always leaking from the sump plate.

Case is pooched get another. The fix will cost more than the case.

? was cause I could not tell with the pic so close...pull it back and it would make sense...just seemed like it may be, but hard for me to process that pic for some reason...

Jake said he fixed these frequently...but I would assume you need the piece...which is MIA.

I would get another case. the bearing seats dont look right either.

Rich

Absolutely. You'll be $$$$$$$$ ahead with a new case.

These cases are cheap and plentiful. Unless there's some compelling reason not to, throw that one on a bonfire and you'll save some money. It's cost more to do it twice.

While cases may be cheap and plentiful, GOOD cases may not be all that easy to come by. A year or so ago I went through 5 to get 2, and I'm out of good ones. I have to put together another one in the next few months, and I've informed the nice lady she's gonna have to bring me as many cases as it takes to get one that I'll be able to use.

The Cap'n

That's what we refer to as the syndrome.... Happens all the time from medieval mechanics with the precision of a brick..

It can be repaired, cost about 250 bucks to do it right.

Good cases are hard to find, I now charge 1k for an inspected case if the customer's core is bad... We build from the customers supplied core primarily. Cores have become priceless.

Most people don't know what to look at when inspecting a case.

How bout some JB Weld? Just kidding.

What should I look for in a new case?

this kinda relates to the deep sump thread since this is where the OEM sump plate connects to.
Jake: what do you think about deep sumps? (not as a solution to "the syndrome") the ones I have used dont use this bolt to hold on