NA_DA

I had my LS Vtec tuned by Blundar at TPR in Cincy, was pretty down on power after pulling alot of timing so we stopped tuning and did a compression test, Results were 180, 190, 200 and 220 with a Snap-on Compression tester. This motor has always smoked slightly since I've ran it. Most noteably during high RPM and deceleration. The motor made around 160whp and 120 ft/lbs and fell on its face after about 7200rpm.

Obviously there is something wrong but I'm not sure what. I had the head done at a reputable machine shop. They replaced valve guides, valves, and valve seals. They also took .030" off the head to get the mating surface straight because the shop that originally did the work milled it crooked. This motor was in a friends car for about 2k miles with pro3s in it which where not properly installed so the motor had 50% leakdown through the head due to bent valves Im assuming, and smoked slightly then. Thats why I had the head completely redone. I did not have the head pressure checked when it was redone, I wish I did now but I dont see why it would be an issue.

The block was done by the same machine shop and still had good cross hatches on the cylinders when I got it so I didn't have anything done to it.

I just used a MATCO leakdown tester on the car last night and came up with less than 5% leakdown on all cylinders. This was after the car was run to operating temperature blah blah. I did another compression test on a cheaper guage after the leakdown and cam up with anywhere between 230 and 240 between all cylinders. I added some oil to do a wet test and the gauge pegged to the max which is past 300 psi. Oops. No signs of leaks in the cooling system, intake or exhaust. Slight leaks past the rings in the dipstick which is to be expected.

Motor doesnt not show any signs of burning coolant, does burn oil slightly but not really excessively I havent had to add much to it even after driving for two plus hours down to cincy at 4k ish with a b16 trans and it was less than 1/8 of a quart.

Plugs looked normal on the dyno was using NGK BRK6Es on 93 oct.
Valves lash was properly adjusted per SK2 specs .008 and .007 respectively.
Dave and Mistabone both said that it didn't sound like any valves were floating and timing is dead nuts on.

Im at a loss for why its down on power and smoking so badly, The motor should make more than that and shouldnt fall on its face after 7200. Possibly theories include that the head maybe still warped, bad rings or incorrectly clocked rings, out of round cylinder or blown headgasket although it doesnt really show signs of it.

I guess I could have failed to do the leakdown test correctly but I followed the instructions to the t so take that for what its worth. My thought is no catalyst and open crank case vent could have something to do with the smoke but still its not going to effect it that much. I would like to hook up a vacuum gauge and see whats occuring there but I have not had a chance to do so yet.

I will eventually pull and disassemble the motor but if anyone has face similar symptoms and thinks the motors junk then I may build a new block/ buy a new motor.

If anyone has anything to contribute please feel free to post, Im at a loss to why this thing is weaksauce and Im pretty bummed about it.

B16 Head
Modified AEM 3" Type R Intake
Stock LS TB
Stock 99 SI IM
Ported & Valve Job
Stainless Steel Valves
New Valve seals
Pro Series Valvetrain
S2S2 Cams
Brand New OEM Prelude LMAs with shims
Precision 440s
GE Cam Gears
Milled .030
Cometic .060 Headgasket (to correct for milling)
MSD Plug Wires
OEM ITR Cap and Rotor
ARP Headstuds
Crank Breather Kit
ITR Header
2.5" Test Pipe
2.5" Apexi WS
LS Block
P30 Pistons
ARP Rod Bolts
AZ Race Machine Crank Girdle
ARP Main Studs

IntegraType-R

AFr, timing?
Blunder knows what he's doing 100% .. I'd assume it something along the lines of timing off? Possible something is matching up correctly..

NA_DA

Timing Im pretty sure is dead on, we had a timing light hooked up and it was dead on the ignition timing mark. Timing belt is OEM along with new tensioner. The cam gears both point exactly 90 to each other on TDC.

The graph that dave gave me says 12.666 AFR but thats at the very start of the pull so I dont really know if thats an accurate reflection.

Could bad spark plug tube seals cause the engine to smoke? I dont see how oil could get past the spark plugs and into the combustion chamber but I know mine aren't in particulary great shape and Ive seen weirder stuff happen. I already have new ones so I think I will replace them and install new plugs to see if that helps the smoking issue.

91whiteZCrex

I Bet that intake mani/TB combo isn't doing much to help your Ported head flow better into that ITR header

Get a set of skunk Pro1 cams with a different intake/tb, header

My b20/V used to smoke a little bit in high rpm and deceleration also...its a honda

Also, is your exhaust custom with just a 2.5 inch WS muffler? because WS catback is 2.38 not 2.5


Modified by 91whiteZCrex at 11:00 AM 8/28/2008