mugenpwr17

Hello all, I have a 98 ITR, I just got back from the Acura dealership where they did a compression test on my engine. These were the findings: #1 185 #2 160 #3 162 #4 185. From the numbers that I received and looking at some of the numbers that you all have I think it's safe to say I have pretty low compression. My CEL came on and I got a 72 and 74 (misfire on 2 and 4), which is why I had them do diagnosis on the car. They are telling me that it could be a bent valve causing it.

I changed out my spark plugs and wires. Will be changing out the cap and rotor tomorrow. Fuel filter and O2 sensor are next in line.

My question is what are the steps I should take next? Valve adjustment? I don't see smoke coming out of the rear of the car. These are the mods on the ITR: AEM CAI, Comptech Header, Apexi N1 Cat back, FPR and gauge.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

bbasso

Honestly, I would go to another Acura dealer if you can.
If they could not diagnose what is wrong then they are a bunch of ...

Change out your cap and rotor, make sure that the plugs and wires are ok and report back. After that and you still have a problem try to do a leak-down test and compression test yourself.

mugenpwr17

Sounds good. I actually had a leak down test done today and #2 and #3 are leaking 78%. The other thing that I forgot to mention is that the car was running very rich and it had been sitting in storage prior to that. I was told that there might be carbon build up on the valves and thus the leak. I was given 2 options to fix the problem. 1) Drive it hard and engage VTEC and see if that blows the carbon off. 2) Have the head taken off and get the valves cleaned and readjusted to make sure that everything is well. Thoughts about what my options are? Is it a load of crap? I will be changing the cap and rotor when the parts arrive. Thanks again for looking and even more for the suggestions.

Provocateur

It doesn't sound to me like valve problems. When you said you were running really rich, I will bet that you washed out your rings and they lost their seal. I am putting money on the rings being bad because it is highly unlikely that the valves could be that out of whack in all 4 cylinders.

On a side note, what do you have the fuel pressure set to and if it anything besides stock, why?

mugenpwr17

Maybe in 2 of the cylinders? I was hoping that it was something simple. I think the last resort would be to open it up and see. I bought the car with the mods that I originally posted. I checked the fuel gauge and it was up towards 60 psi, so I immediately dropped it down to 50 psi (that is what I read from the Helms) if I'm wrong please let me know. There are a couple of other things that I have concerns about:

1) Fuel gauge
2) Tranny whine?

I'll save those for another post, in any case. I'll repost after I change the cap and rotor. Thanks again for all the help.

Provocateur

It isn't in just 2 cylinders. All you compression numbers are very, very low for such a high compression engine. You should see compression numbers around 250 psi.

The tranny whine may be due to a clutch that is on its way out. The throwout bearing may be bad but I couldn't tell you with how vaguely you describe the problem.

mugenpwr17

That is what I thought about the compression numbers that I have. So will I have to take the head off and get the internals checked? i.e. Valves, springs, retainers, pistons and rings? Is it bad to drive the car in this condition? I've driven the car about 120 miles and the engine was fine and the CEL never came on. When I started the car about an hour after driving that distance it came on and the idle was funky. I reset the CEL and drove the same distance and it has been ok, I'll be driving it again tonight to check things out.

As far as the tranny goes the clutch is brand new along with the throw-out bearing. What happens is when I accelerate the tranny sounds like an electric motor. It is the loudest at about 40-50 mph. If I let up on the throttle it slightly goes away and comes back as I depress the throttle. So it seems as though it is only there when there is some kind of stress on the gears. Could it be a bearings? Gears?

Thanks again for all the help as it is greatly appreciated. I am just frustrated with these problems with such a nice car that has low miles. I look forward to more feedback. Thank you.

mugenpwr17

Any thoughts, suggestions?

bbasso

Before you pull the head get a boroscope ( i don't know how to spell it) But look inside the combustion chamber and see whats going on in there.

If you are able to get a good one, you might be able to see the valves, and their condition.

Don't pull the head without checking everything first. That is a costly method and might not get results.

mugenpwr17

That sounds like a plan. Now I just have to find someone that has that tool. I'll see if I can get it done. Thanks!