Sorcereryk

Ok, today I took my 00' Civic Si to a mechanic and had him do some test on it to find out why I was only getting half the power in my car. Of course because of catalystic converter problems ive had recently, i was told that it was probably installed wrong, or it was clogged up. For the last year its thrown out a little smoke when I get down on it, and recently it's gotten worst. The mechanics around here told me that if the o2 sensor isnt on right or reading it, and the Cat is bad, then that could cause smoke. So i ordered and installed both of them. Well, anywayz, long story short, the mechanic said the codes read off the computer said Piston 1 and 3 were misfiring. He replaced the spark plugs, and cables and cap, still did the same thing. Then throught the fuel injectors were bad because 1 cylinder wasnt running at all. After he called a couple people, ran some test, said cylinder 1 isnt getting any compression. He says it must be the valve seals. With it smoking, and with what Ive said now, is that what any of you think it is? Or is possibly any other problems? The engine has 120k miles on it. And if it is, what kinda price range does it cost to get a mechanic shop to replace them and get it working right? Any input would be great. Thanks.

dr_latino999

The first thing I have to tell you is D.I.Y. Valve seals for your application are 0.97$ each (intake = 12210-PZ1-003, exhaust = 12211-PZ1-003). There are other reasons beyond valve seals why you would have no compression, one coming to mind being bad rings.

mikeycivic

i dont see how valve seals would have anything to do with cyl 1 having no compression!!

Sorcereryk

Well, thats what the idiot told me... something about a valve not right in cylinder 1 and not giving it compression. any of you want to speculate and give me a better answer on why the compression in 1 cylinder just failed on its own?

also depending on what it may be, what kinda cost am i looking at for labor and parts?

mickiemagik

So if compression is present and in good numbers then the rings must be good? I am having a similar problem on my 95 and was going to run a test tomorrow and was hoping it would tell if the rings or valve seals were bad.

Sorcereryk

its not present, the mechanic said cylinder 1 had NO compression at all, just in the other 3 cylinders....

stock ek

i would suggest doing a compression and leak down test yourself it will save you time and will tell you alot of things, you can rent the stuff to do it at auto zone, and its fairly easy. and then you know if your mechanic is right or now.

Sorcereryk

i watched him do the compression test and he said he did a wet test(i assume he meant leak down) and his answer was that cylinder 1 had no compression because of a "valve" but he couldnt be sure without taking the head off and etc. how expensive might this be to get fixed? i hear the labor is whats going to get me the most....

Kiwibird83

A wet comp test is for checking to make sure your rings arent leaking, which it seems they arent, a bent valve or valve spring will hold the valve open leading to no compression. Its fairly easy to remove a B16 cylinder head, but you seem to be a little mechanicly miffed so I imagine your going to be paying your mechanic a bit of money to remove your head.

If its simply a binded spring the parts cost should be very cheap, if the valve floated and contacted the piston (I doubt, but could very well be) then you may be in for a pricy repair. Either way, its a great time for a port and polish while the head is off, and a fresh set of springs and retainers installed is fairly cheap.

Sorcereryk

Kiwi, thx for the info, alot of what I was looking for.

I assume the smoking is from the valve seals, which i assume by taking off the head, he can replace then?
Check these for me and verify if im looking at the right things.

Valve Gasket: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

Springs and Retainers: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

Will those 2 things be what im looking for when it comes to the valve seals, springs, and retainers u mentioned?

If not please give me more info. I am not hesitant on looking things up and researching it, just give me links, proper part names and stuff and i can look them up. Just let me know what im looking for.

Also you said if the valve floated and contacted the piston, its going to be a pricey repair.... if thats the case, what kinda parts could be damaged and needing to be fixed? I know alot about computers but car motors I do not. Learning as I go along. More info would be appreciated. Thanks

Kiwibird83

The valve gaskets you listed are a good idea, since you would be removing the cover itself, but what your looking for in a rebuild are these.

http://(Use the actual URL)/2u56ov

Valve stem seals are cheap, and I would recomend picking them up local to avoid shipping and Ebay sending you ones that wont fit (common on Ebay parts)

Presuming the smoke out of your car is a blue-ish color, not black, I would point the finger at bad valve stem seals, but either way, when the head is off you should be replacing them if they are bad or not since its very cheap insurance.

The link to the valve stem and retainers are what your looking for, Titanium is truly overkill on your engine, its more along the lines of when your gunning for a full race setup and have already changed internals, cams, and lightened the valves. I would stick with stock springs and retainers since they are more than enough for the job (Honda builds em tough^^) You can pick them up at most machine shops, or straight from Honda. Give them a call for prices, but they should be fairly cheap. Oh, and make sure you pick up a set of Valve keepers with your springs and retainers.

If you valve floated and contacted the piston you may be in the market for a new piston or worse, it could have damaged the head itself when it bent, or broken peices may have marred the cylinder wall, resulting in the need for some block machine work. Either way this is WORST case scenario and I highly doubt this is what happend to you, your probably a simple spring and retainer away from a happy B16.

If your researching for parts in hopes of doing this yourself I would highly recomend sending it out to a local shop for a fresh rebuild, I sent out a Ford 4.6 SOHC head out to a local carquest just last week, I got it cleaned, hot tanked, new valves, valve springs, retainers, keepers, and they measured for head warpage, valve seating etc, all for 200$.

Yet its tons of fun assembling your own head, you learn a huge amount about your own engine while your tearing it apart, and when you throw it all back together you get that wonderfull sense of accomplishment from doing your own work. Along with the fact that Honda motors and heads are very easy to work on it makes it a great first project. So if you have time to kill and care to be a bit of a gearhead go for it, just make sure to do your homework and buy all the tools your going to need (Torque wrench FTW)

Sorcereryk

Kiwi again thx for the info. If i didnt work so much, and maybe was a little older with more money to sink into tools, i would make this a nice project for myself and a buddy to work on. But at 23 and working 50-60 hr weeks, that isnt going to happen just yet. So the do it myself thing isnt going to happen. What is a fair decent price for labor to get the valve stem seals replaced, springs and retainers? And the smoke was never really a dark black. Always a mix between whitish and bluish, touch of grey maybe...Never just dark black.

Will a mechanic shop be able to do enough test without it costing me so much to find out if its just the springs and retainers or if its the other thing you said about the valve floated and contacted the piston?

Sorcereryk

after talking to some friends and considering my options, would replacing the heads on my b16a2 fix the problem IF it is not the piston problem you said? and if replacing the head of the motor would fix it, what would be my best options of getting a better head with more performance and speed?