Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if the piston is up and the exhaust valve stuck down, it sounds like a bent valve. That and you can only turn the crank a 1/4 revolution. Engine may not be total toast, but head will need to come off. Pistons head may not be damaged to badly, be glad you were only cranking it over. Had a cam belt let go on one car and bent every valve. Best of luck and wishing minimal damage. Others more knowledgeable on VTEC systems can probably tell you better what went wrong.

 

Triz had one of his cams times 180 degrees out on his 2ZZ and got away with no damage but the fact that the motor will only turn a few degrees either way before it stops sounds like you have a valve interference problem. As wylde said, with any luck it will just mean replacing a valve. Pull the head back off and hope for the best.

 

Yeah I got real lucky. Thats sounds like you bent the valve. Get a set of ARP(MWR) headbolts while your at it, just in case you need to remove the head again later.

 

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If I recall correctly, the OEM head bolts (studs) are one-use-only. They are designed to stretch when the head bolts are torqued, and thus cannot be reused. I don't know about the ARP (MWR) bolts. Check into this matter before replacing the head.

The ARP/MWR are reusable. Well worth it. Only wish I would have done it earlier. Plus you torque them and done vs the torque+90+90 which can be very nerve racking.

 

Next question - why would being 180 deg off cause a bent valve? No one bothers to tell the pistons if they're up for compression or exhaust......

"Off with its head" - I've always wanted to say that.

 

360 degrees off would be compression for exhaust, piston will not care but ignition will. 180 is quarter full cycle and may be an issue. I suspect the crank moved before cam timing was set but that is just a guess, sure sounds like something didn't go right.

 

360 degrees off would be compression for exhaust, piston will not care but ignition will. 180 is quarter full cycle and may be an issue.

Depends on whether you are talking about cam degrees or crank degrees.....


That begs a different question - I've never checked, and have seen conflicting info about it, but is the 1ZZ an interference or non-interference engine?

 

Thanks for all the input guys I really appreciate it! Yes something definitely sounds wrong and there's no doubt the head needs to come off. I haven't searched it yet, but can the head be removed without taking the engine out of the car (or the car off the engine lol)?

 

A close friend of mine who is also a excellent Toyota mechanic thinks it is possible. I can see the intake manifold as the possible issue and not working on a lift would be a hassle. I would like to try it sometime if I find a OEM MR2 head to play with. I think your answer is going to be drop the engine.

 

Think it through.... if you get in there and find any work needed on the block, you'll end up dropping the engine anyway.

 

True... but, and here's the sad part, this is a fresh reman engine we just put in the car this summer... :'( but you're right, probably would be easier to take it out of the car either way. I tore the old engine down so I can imagine how hard it would be to remove the head with the engine still in the car... 6 of one, half dozen of the other... ugh.

 

Just goes to show there are at least two ways at looking at anything. It is just a shame about the problem though.

 

Oh man that is bad news