Fraidy

Have you tried your local boneyards? One or more of them should be attached to a nationwide network of salvage parts dealers and should be able to find you another engine ASAP.

'90 Corolla LE 5spd w/4A-FE, 205k miles. I had some kind of a knocking sound coming from the rear of the engine at low idle (600-800 rpm), but would go away above 800 rpm. It sounded like a rod knock. I was under the impression that a rod knock would be present throughout the rpm range. I have since pulled the engine out and am going to go through it. What are the common trouble areas for these engines? My plan is to make this thing bullet-proof and then install it in a southern/western rust-free body so I can get another 300-400k miles out of it with none other than routine maintenance. So far I have removed the head and taken out the camshafts. The bearings and journals look like they're almost new. There is an ever so slight ridge at the top of the stroke and you can still see the cross hatch marks from the factory honing of the cylinder walls. Someone suggested that I replace the connecting rods with lightweight forged rods to reduce the inertia and therefore reduce the wear on the connecting rod bearings. Any idea where I might find some and what brand I should be looking for. I plan on having the crank checked out meticulously for any signs of wear or out of balance condition. What else should I be looking for? Any/all advice/suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time and consideration.

Japanese made '90 Corolla LE 5spd w/4A-FE. I would like to find a location in which to obtain an oil temperature reading for my aftermarket guage cluster. There is a threaded plug (12mm?) located on the left side of the block about half way between the oil pressure switch (already removed and using that for mechanical oil pressure reading) and the oil filter. Is this location part of the oil system? I thought that I had read somewhere that the 4A-GE configurations use that location for some sort of oil pressure reading. Any ideas?