stevew84

alright like the title says i have a 94 ls/vtec that my girlfriend was driving and believes she either blew the motor or the head gasket, not too sure yet but this is the situation....

driving roughly 70-80mph, check engine light came on, maint. required light came on, blue/gray smoke came from under the hood, pulled over, turned car off...wouldnt start up again.

this was a couple of days ago and when trying to start it now, it doesnt even crank, got all electrical inside car (windows, instrument lights, head lights) but the motor doesnt turn at all.

there is oil pooled on the intake mani side and timing belt side just where the head and block meet, no oil sprayed the hood, no oil on ground, no cracking, banging noise.

so this has me a lil confused on what the problem can be, if the head gasket is blown then the motor loses compression and its done...right? if anyone has blown their motor let me know what you have done to diagnose/fix

thanks,
steve

AWD Terror

Easiest way to make sure would be to do a compression and leakdown test. Try make sure it is locked up by playing with the starter. See if you can get it to turn over, even if you have to use a jumper wire from the battery straight to the starter.

The only engine I've seen blown had a hole in the block.

stevew84

i'll have to do some research to perform the compression test as i have never done one. same goes for the leakdown test...

there were no noises in the engine compartment when this happened as I TURNED OFF THE CAR, IT DID NOT DIE. so hopefully that stopped it from going to the next level.

stevew84

did a quick search and saw a c-speed racing tutorial for both a leakdown and compression test. im glad they are both easy to perform and the gauges are not expensive.

question...on the compression test page, all it says that if the compression is different that +\- 20psi to have the motor checked out by a tech, well im trying to avoid that so what do i need to look for if im hitting like 150psi in one cylinder and say 240psi in another cylinder.(my head is b18c1 vtec normall compression should be 180-220psi).

the leakdown test gave solutions so any help would be appreciated on the compression test.

thanks,
steve

vietnamezerice

was it running rough? jump the plug and see what kind of codes you have stored

stevew84

no it was not running rough. thing was a champ with *****. i had a leak around the oil pan gasket and it was using a quart every couple of days because of that. more than likely it was too low on oil, got too hot, and is now dunskies.

AWD Terror

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stevew84 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">question...on the compression test page, all it says that if the compression is different that +\- 20psi to have the motor checked out by a tech, well im trying to avoid that so what do i need to look for if im hitting like 150psi in one cylinder and say 240psi in another cylinder.(my head is b18c1 vtec normall compression should be 180-220psi)</TD></TR></TABLE>

The reason why they don't give a reason is b/c there are many possibilities and you will not know until you tear it down. The problem could be in the head, or the block. Chances are that the rings are shot, but there are other possibilities.

stevew84

ok quick update...my girlfriend was driving the car when this happened. so i can only take her word on what she THOUGHT happened. i swapped out the battery and gave it a crank.... i noticed that the timing belt came off of the camshaft pulley on the intake mani side. so the front camshaft pulley turned but the rear one did not. so i have to do a timing belt job and im pretty sure the car will start.

as far as the smoking that she said happened before she shut it off...i dont know...but this is the problem i found and its reasonable enough as to why the car wont start.

AWD Terror

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stevew84 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i noticed that the timing belt came off of the camshaft pulley</TD></TR></TABLE>

Stop right there. Bent valves.

stevew84

just because my timing belt came off the pulley doesnt automatically mean bent valves...the teeth arent resting in the gear properly, they popped out somehow.

i had an ef when the timing belt broke completely and i did not have bent valves. so its hit or miss maybe or maybe not.

1992blueGSR

your valves are bent, or siezed from it running low on oil

think about it, if one dosent spin then you have some serious issues,

to make sure tho put a wrench on the cam bolt and try to turn it with the belt off, it should turn with a good pull, but if you feel like your gonna have a hernia, you have issues

im only speaking from expierence

stevew84

ok well my next question would be...will i still be able to to a timing job on the car with the two cam shafts rotated differently? the TDC marks are based on the cam gears being oriented the same direction.

is it possible for one cam shaft to "sieze"? or would both of them have to sieze?

AWD Terror

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stevew84 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is it possible for one cam shaft to "sieze"? or would both of them have to sieze?</TD></TR></TABLE>

They are two completely sperate things connected with a timing belt. One could be destroyed and the other could be fine.

[QUOTE=stevew84]ok well my next question would be...will i still be able to to a timing job on the car with the two cam shafts rotated differently? the TDC marks are based on the cam gears being oriented the same direction.
QUOTE]

Yes. People replace cams all the time. How do you think they do that?