Gasket replacing, how hard is it? Options

[Soulend]

I have a 3SGTE sitting in my garage that I've torn down enough to get the Turbo off so I can get it rebuilt. but since it's not in my car yet... I have been throwing back and forth the Idea of replacing the seals and gaskets... but I'm new at working on cars...

The engine is a used one with around 35-55K miles on it, and I have a strong feeling that it wasn't babied when it was used. my friend keeps telling me "you have it out you might as well" and my Father keeps saying "don't go to deep with taking the engine apart you could make a mistake and have to pay much more to fix it..." both my friend, and my dad have and do work on cars regularly. my dad really doesn't want to mess with the Celica engine because its Japanese, and he doesn't know Japanese cars. that and I think secretly he wants me to do the work to learn.

anyway, how much work would I have to put in to redo the seals and gaskets on the engine?

do you suggest that I do the replacement or just skip it and go on?


thanks for the help,

Kevin

[ZGear]

You'll eventually have to do it some time down the road. Why not while it's out of the engine bay. It's great to learn the parts on the motor and their function. As long as you follow the manuals and books you'll be fine.

This post has been edited by ZGear: May 2, 2010 - 10:30 PM

[SwissFerdi]

^ Agreed. You'll learn how it all fits together. On top of that, there'd be nothing worse than having to potentially pull the engine in the future because of something that needs to be changed, when you could have done it right now.

I'd suggest a gasket kit from Toyota, I think they're around 130.

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: May 2, 2010 - 10:21 PM

[JustinCapps]

replace them now, but make sure your gentle with your new gaskets. look up the touque specs for all your bolts, and you should be fine. I use alldatapro.com at the shop i work at, and that has everything you will need to know. goodluck

[Smaay]

Engines are engines, USA or Japan. the concept is still the same. there really isnt anything special about the 3S-GTE. I highly suggest taking it apart and replacing the piston rings, and bearings. read the thread i made about rebuilding the 7A-FE. i also suggest buying the BGB (Big Green Book) from toyota. its the holy grail for dissasembly and reassembly.