Hey guys, i've been working on this b18 for a couple days now. It was dropped off to me by a friend that wanted his car to be running properly again. It's having some problems that i will explaine in the notes that i've taken & pasted in below.

11/28 - 6:30pm
Come home to car
-start car / pull into garage
-very rough sounding
-pop hood & listen / sounds like valve trane troubles
-nasty vibrations & loud engine running noise that sounds like it's in the
head
-put hood down to take for test drive
-release e-brake & rear brakes feel like they are sticking
-check front brakes b4 test drive & they seem to be alright but weaker
than
normal

11/28 - 6:45
Test Drive

-very weak
- RPM range doesn't seem to utilize cams properly
-grindy feeling / no real varriance in power
-put back in garage / waiting to cool before i pull the valve cover to
take
a look.

-COMPRESSION TEST-
Cylinder4 - 185
Cylinder3 - 180
Cylinder2 - 180
Cylinder1 - 190

looks good to me!

Next

Pulled valve cover (where i noticed u were missing a nut due to broken off
stud)
- nothing appeared wrong or bad to the point of being able to see it
-valves seemed a lil tight so i gave it a valve adjustment job & put them
back to spec. (for now)
-got a slight bit quieter
-erratic idle continues

Test Drive
-still weak / almost sounds like bearing failure in the bottom end

Back in Garage
-let engine warm up till fans kicked on
-disconnected IACV & everything remained operating the same.. i would ave
expected it to change (thus, it could be bad)
-just for shits & giggles i took the alternator belt off coz i rememberd a
situation i read about before where it sounded like engine noise but it
was
actually the alternator pully bearing .. really freaked me out coz it got
quieter.. still noises tho...

I'll tackle some more tomarrow.. afraid to tell u that the oil pan will
have

to be removed to check out the status of your crank next.. if i don't see
anything then the next step would be to pull the head & look to see what
messed up parts i run across! Another sound that could sound similar to
the

DAY 2

I've begun to tear this thing apart to search for destroyed parts or metal shavings or what ever i could possibly find that would be noticably wrong!

I could go step by step but heres the quick notes.

- NO metal shaving in oil pan
- Bottem end bearings appear to be functioning properly
- Top end on the top of the head looks good, no bad worn parts or anything noticable
- possibly valve issues, you can look at pix
- i examined the top of the pistons very very closely & you can barly see any type if any of a clean mark on a couple edges (pushing tword head gasket but it's very hard to tell)

heres the pix

DISCUSS!


]

 

the head gasket appears to be ok. how are the bottoms of the valves???

 

they appear to be seating properly but could be a microscopic problem.. they do look a little off..

 

im thinking the valve guides could be scorched or egg eggshaped. cause from hwo u explained it to me over the phone, its the only thing that could make sense seeing as how everything else appears to be mint

 

yep.. probly gonna end up dropin the head off at the machine shop to have it inspected (& then fixed if there is a problem in the head). Then re-assembly makeing sure everything is to spec. Set the Timing perfect, ect.

 

did you check the oil pressure? we just tore my roommates del sol apart to fix his trans we replaced some gaskets that were leaking and found his dipstick tube was almost fully clogged. Enough that the VTEC was not working. Oil pan and valve stuff were spotless. After cleaning it good the engine got quiter smoother and has more power.

 

Assembly time!

Used all Mr. Gasket Gaskets.. very nice quality!


Nice clean head back from the machine shop




Checked for straightness at the machine shop



Nice & clean


Old intake mani gasket being a pain in the ass.. had to sit there for an hour or so with a razor blade! (lil bastard)

 

more old gasket getting removed


almost done


back together.. just some touchups & then start for test

 

timing belt is loose, tensioner bolt is stripped..

trying to come up with a plan of action that would allow me to get the bolt out in the small area that is given to work on that, so that i don't have to pull the freakin motor to take the damn bolt out.

parts store is closed till tomarrow, thinkin of sacrificing a socket by filling it with JB, letting it setup & then crankin on it with my rachet (i've got more bolts).

another option would be to try goin to parts store tomarrow & getting an EZ Out that might fit.. problem is that i don't have much room to work with, the bolt is about 2-3 inches from the frame rail & it's recessed into the damn area that it sits in.

what a pain in the azz!

 

did the machine shop find anything wrong? Did they not mill the bottom of the head because it was flat and didn't need it? I'm putting my step moms head back on in the morning myself.