BlueShadow

Hey guys,

This morning I went for a short drive, and all of the sudden my car started to sound like a modded WRX. At first it would cut in and out going from normal to that WRX-ish sound, but eventually it started to sound like a Subaru all the time. I drove the car home trying to keep the car from dying and shut it down. I let it cool off and started it back up 30 minutes later and still had the weird sound. I noticed the motor was really hot to the touch, and the upper radiator hose was really hard. This was only after driving the car for about 20 minutes.

I'm not sure if the cat may be clogged or if I spun a bearing (ACL). I heard that spun bearings will make a knocking sound, but I dont hear anything other then the engine which sounds like a Subaru. The motor only has about 2000 miles on it and I've changed the oil about 3-4 times. First time was when I assembled the motor. ran the motor for about 15 minutes, then I changed the oil. 1000 miles later I changed the oil again.

Let me know what you guys think and start giving me some ideas. So far the only things I've been able to think of:

-clogged cat (it is a used 95 GSR cat)
-spun bearings
-oil or water pump crapping out (only have 2000 miles on them)

EDIT:

motor specs:
Laskey Racing/Benson built B18C (so far I've put @ 2000 miles on it)
83mm Benson sleeves
LS crank
9:1 CP pistons
Manley Rods
ACL bearings
new OEM water and oil pump





Modified by BlueShadow at 10:35 AM 11/4/2005

notoriousB

have you done a compression test? my car sounded like a WRX when I broke ringlands and was losing compression in one cylinder.

BlueShadow

I haven't done that yet. The motor is a new rebuild though with CP 9:1 pistons, Manley rods, and ACL bearings. My last motor had busted ringlands and this doesn't sound anything like it. The last motor had a loud ticking that got louder as the RPM's went up. This one sounds just like a Subaru motor without the ticking that my last motor had.

BlueShadow

One other thing that I thought about was that my valve lash might have come out of spec. What would you guys recommend for my intake/exhaust valve specs? also if it makes a difference I have 0.5mm oversized valves.

213374U

Def do a compression test

kulrevon

is there any way you are misfireing. is all your ignition stuff new?

BlueShadow

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kulrevon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is there any way you are misfireing. is all your ignition stuff new?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, my dizzy is brand new which I got it from Full-Race. Plugs are OEM replacements which I got at Kragens 2000 miles ago. Plug wires have about 2 years on them. But if I had to suspect any of those it would be the dizzy. I'm gonna ask Full Race and see if they've had people complaining of problems with their dizzy.

How can I test to see if the dizzy is delivering spark? I heard you can take the wire out and hole it to the frame or screwdriver and it will arc. HOWEVER, I dont know if that is the proper way to do it or not. So how do I go about checking to make sure the dizzy has spark without killing myself? hehehe

seen4ever

car would be dead if you had no oil pump. you say hot to the touch, most engines are hot to the touch, what does your coolant temp gauge read?

what are you using to tune car? are you running stock injectors?

change your freaking plug wires, they are only good for 30k miles.

if you spun a bearing and have drove for over an hour, then a rod would be hanging out of the engine. Plus rod knock sounds like metallic knocking coming from the head. its not really that quiet.

what header are you running? have you checked for exhaust leaks?

BlueShadow

The coolant temp was at normal temps, a little below half.

Still on stock injectors chipped P28 with a stock GSR bin running 3 degrees advanced throughout the whole high/low timing map.

Plug wires only have about 10-15K miles, but I'm gonna change them out anyways.

Running a DC GSR 4-1 and Invidia catback no exhaust leak. However, it might have been just my imagination but there didn't seem to be a lot of exhaust gas coming out the tailpipe. That is why I'm thinking it's a clogged cat or as somebody else mentioned a misfire. If it was a clogged cat then the high engine temp would make sense after only 20 minutes of driving, because of the extreme amount of exhaust backpressure.

BlueShadow

ok guys, I just left the car sitting for the last 2 hours. I cranked it up and let it run for about 20-30 seconds. I got out and checked the exhaust flow and it felt pretty strong. After I shut it down I felt all of the runners for my header. 1, 2 and 4 are very hot to the touch, however #3 was only slightly warm. I was able to put my whole hand on the #3 runner, but I couldn't even touch the others cause they were so hot.

EDIT: I went back out o the car with a squirt bottle full of water. I started the car up and let the engine idle for a few seconds. I squirted water on 1,2,4 and the water evaporated. I squirted on #3 and the water did not evaporate. So it definately sounds like a misfire on #3. So it's either a bad plug wire on #3, or maybe even a bad injector on #3.

DOUBLE EDIT: ok I just went back out to the car, it looks like my #3 injector is gone. I used an old trick and put a screwdriver tip on the injector and the handle up against my ear. injectors 1,2,4 are clicking away like normal. However injector #3 is not clicking. So it looks like injector #3 is dead.

Modified by BlueShadow at 12:23 PM 11/4/2005


Modified by BlueShadow at 12:24 PM 11/4/2005

MI KENT

probably a broken ring land on cylinder #3. next rebuild don't 'break' the engine in for 2000miles. you only have to break in an engine that is hammered together (i.e. old chevy vates's).

Muckman

iTrader: (2)

haha you use a screw driver as a stethoscope?

Ill tell you a better way to check injectors. Just unplug them one by one. If you unplug one and it doesn't affect the idle rpm or sound then that one is dead.

The same can be done for spark plugs/wires.

JSpin

more bad luck man

stay in high spirits though, you're gonna come out of this one alright i think.

BlueShadow

Well I'm just driving the motor around until I can get the turbo installed, not really breaking it in. It's definately not something loose on the exhaust system. I'm almost positive that the #3 injector is dead. It's not making any clicking noises like an injector normally does, and the water bottle on the runner trick I did is one way to tell if your cylinder is misfiring, or in my case if the injector has stopped firing.

BlueShadow

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JSpin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">more bad luck man

stay in high spirits though, you're gonna come out of this one alright i think.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yah, I was all excited to finally get my new turbo. I still have my RC 750's sitting here, and I'm tempted to just throw them on and tune it with my wideband. But I guess I'll just buy another injector and swap out hte one that's bad.

DRAGLS

Ok do you have any cel? Start by turning the motor on pull one plug wire at a time and listen for change this will determine which exact cylinder it is. Once you have found which cylinder it is pull the sparkplug on that exact cylinder, check the plug and see if it is saturated with fuel that will tell you if your injector is firing if it is covered in fuel its time to check for spark. Grab the plug wire from the dead cylinder while the motor is running and put it near a ground source and look for the spark to arc between the plug and ground if both check out its a blown or sunken sleeve or bad rings.

notoriousB

injector will definitely make it sound scooby-like as well, I had the same thing happen recently with a set of crappy GSR injectors that I bought used. good catch.

BlueShadow

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by notoriousB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">injector will definitely make it sound scooby-like as well, I had the same thing happen recently with a set of crappy GSR injectors that I bought used. good catch.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yup, good thing I remembered the spray bottle and screwdriver trick. I just bought another set of GSR injectors. Hopefully it's just the injectors and not something else like the wiring.

TheBobFather

just a thought....i always hated the way wrx's sounded. It sounds like they all have a cylinder out

LilCivic04

why don't you also do a compression test? that will rule out if you have a bad ring, it only takes like 5minutes to do. its not a bad idea though

racecarpete

I still don't understand why people with built motors break them in with stock injectors. That is such a bad idea.

BlueShadow

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SilverCivic2k &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I still don't understand why people with built motors break them in with stock injectors. That is such a bad idea. </TD></TR></TABLE>

The reason the stock injectors are still on is cause the car still needs to be BAR certified for my swap.

chet

Honda-tech amazes me.

of all the responses, not one person told this guy to take his spark plugs out and look at them.

after you run the car for 5 minutes, check your plugs, after you run the car for 500 miles, check your plugs, after you run the car for 2000 miles, check your plugs. any time you beat on the car, check your plugs, any time you have issues, check your plugs.

spark plugs tell you EVERYTHING about what is going on inside a motor...whether the timing is too steep/conservative, how the air/fuel is...etc...etc...etc...

now i'm not saying this is your problem...but pull all 4 of your spark plugs and take a look at them...

you'll know right away if you're having an injector issue, you'll be able to see the differences in compression (if any) between cylinders, you'll be able to see if there is detonation, what the cylinder temps are...etc...etc...

SiR Kid

^^^ :withchet:

Plus, you COULD have just killed the tip off the #3 plug if your stethoscope trick was a little off. Instead of replacing injectors, you might just need a $1 spark plug.

If the plug was there, and looked normal, it would be wet from fuel it it was a plug wire issue. And the plug would be clean and pretty if there was no injector, possibly white formt he injector firing sometimes a little, and causing that cylinder to look lean on the plug.

Chet knows best.

TheBobFather

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SiR Kid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">^

Chet knows best.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yea Chet!!!!!