VSBB6

I have a heartbreaking story....

So I have spent a lot of time & money on rebuilding my engine, and after I got it back last November, I have put on 3,000 miles to break-in slowly and didn’t have any problems at all. It was not until recently I brought the revs to VTEC range and notice the “hicciping” which I posted earlier:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1522896

In solving the problem, I have replaced the plugs, wires, rotor & cap with brand new but it didn’t help. So last weekend I decided to take the car out for some data-logging just to make the A/F is good. Spent almost 2 hours on the highway doing back & forth 2nd & 3rd gear redline, the O2 graphs read 13.1 to 13.5 consistently without any dips.

Still couldn’t figure out the problem, I decide to turn around and head home. I was driving out the exit doing about 60mph 2nd gear and suddenly the motor shut out on me. There were white smoke coming out from the breather filter, I pulled the dip stick out and there were smoke coming out from there as well. The oil level was good, as I have topped it up just the day before.

So I got the car towed to my mechanic’s shop, he pulled the plugs out and was shocked. The plug from cylinder #2 has been partially melted or crushed in. At this point its hard to tell whether it was hit or melted but the tip of the plug including part of the threaded area was badly damaged. There’s a very good chance something has dropped in the chamber. However, the other plugs in cylinder #1, #3 & #4 were in perfect shape.

What’s worse is the motor was seized as he couldn’t turn the crank. Basically my motor is fucked. They have yet rip my motor apart so it’s still guessing game here as to what had happened in the motor. From what I can tell, the timing was fine.
Any ideas as to what could have caused this, and if it could be the machine shops fault. They rebuild my bottom end with Type S pistons and Kaizenspeed BS eliminator kit.

I will post pictures once the shop rip apart the motor, but for now I want to hear what you guys think about this accident. Its sad because I was thinking to hit the dyno soon but now **** happens.

Anyways, I would have to start all over again. I’m preparing for the worst and expect only the valvetrain survived from this accident. What do all of you experts recommend for the bottom end to make it stronger & reliable? Should I go bore or stroke?

My set up was...

H22A4 - 12.2 compression on 94 Octane…

TWM ITBs w/ filters
AEM EMS & wideband
RC 440cc
Jun camshafts
Jun valvesprings
Jun cam gears (0,0)
Portflow retainers
Supertech flat valves (stock size)
SMSP header
3” exhaust (no cat)
P&P head, milled 0.023thou
Type S pistons
Spoon thin headgasket
Kaizenspeed balance shaft eliminator kit
UR pulleys
Jun flywheel
NGK –7 copper plugs
MSD plug wires
HKG ground
Sun hyper voltage system

SMSP

Damn Leo, sorry to hear about that. I was really wanting to see the results of this build.

With the balance shaft eliminator kit, you (the builder) must remove the balance shaft bearings, rotate them and press them back in, to cover the oil feed holes. If this wasn't done oil pressure will be reduced and maybe you didn't have enough for vtec actuation and you were actually feeling the vtec cutting in and out.

Edit - Have DFE build you an engine. I remember a couple he did were right around 300 bhp and they weren't anything crazy. They actually used an off the shelf CompTech header. He'll build it, break it in, tune it and you be ready to go.

The Birdman

Damn man, that really sucks, I'm sorry to hear that.

I'm curious to hear what the builder did to plug the oil feed holes...sketchy area...

Also, did you buy a new oil pump when you built the motor?

And one more thing... were your valve guides cut down by the head builder?

I would build the bottom end for sure, and some RLZ-ness in your head yO. Oh, and PS: Stroke and bore that bioch! Don't get down on yourself though, keep at it.


Modified by jd3jdm at 1:24 AM 2/23/2006


Modified by jd3jdm at 1:30 AM 2/23/2006

VSBB6

Just an update to the previous thread, the problem is found to be physical damage either from the valves or plugs.

For details refer to this thread: https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1536482