well almost! a bad thing happened tonight..

goin down the highway about 85 when my friend goes chasing after this mustang in his TA, I down shift to follow.. vrmhhhhhhhhhh BAM! tack is maxed out passed 8500! "oh no im in 2nd"..

this is not the first time this has happened.. I dont know if this had anything to do with my synchros but seriously im not that stupid to just downshift into 2nd at 85mph.. for some reason it just went in there..

the first time this happened I noticed my vacum at idle started fluctuating, this was about 5-6 weeks ago.. I made good #'s on the dyno and there was no valve ticking so I thought i just needed a valve adjustment and id be fine.. I ended up missing my appointment for the VA so that never got done..

Now my car is making a tick tick tick noise when I drive home.. Its definitly a bent valve or floating valve or something.. First thing I did was the screw driver trick.. All the valves sounded deeper then usual but one stood out in particular.. the one above cyl 3(from left to right)..

drove it home and the first thing I did was pull the dip stick out.. No smoke or anything out of there and no smoke out the exhaust.. next i pulled the plugs and did a compression test.. pulled the plugs and it seems im detonation free anyways.. compression came out 180,185,170(i think, might have been 180, confused myself),180.. (from left to right looking down)..

when I put the turbo on compression was 200 accross the board with vary little varience.. i did the comp test after the car had only been at idling temp for 5 minutes or so and since it was 20 degrees out tonight there is a possibilty that it already had cooled down.. Im going to do another compression test tomorow and let it idle warm for a long time..

alright, so what do u guys think? what should I do next? I know I should do a leak down test.. anyone know of a place in dallas to get a leak down test done?

im pretty sure the head is screwed and id rather just buy a new LS head for 150-200 bucks then rebuild it.. it seems to me that the head is the only problem.. hopefully this weekend I will be able to get some help to take the head off and look at it.. Im abit scared to do it by myself without good instructions..

My friend has a B20B head lying around.. He said he would give it to me.. what is the difference between the B20B head and the B18B? is it only the cams? could i just put my cams back in.. would i run into any fitmit problems?

thanks in advance.. this is very aggrevating, although im glad Nothing worse happened.. I just hate the fact that I messed up my car and it didnt even have to do with the turbo, this coulda happened if i was bone stock..

 

Hmm, adjust the valves first... then get worried if it still ticks...

 

What Dustin said too.
But, I would defintely get that head. The quench area is gonna be bigger. Keep that head, send out the block for sleeving, bore it too 84 or more and use the head. That'll save some money in machine work.
Basically you overreved a bit. I did it once and did a valve adjustment and it made the noises go away.
Do the leak down, that should tell you where you are standing.
After that, you need to make a decision.

 

Using that head is a bad idea unless you get your block sleeved/bored. Hot spots in combustion chamber because the sleeve will be protruding into the quench area...

 

ok so I should not use the B20 head then? I was thinking it could change the compression as well.. ahh i see now, thats what i was thinking as well..


[Modified by DIRep972, 7:48 AM 2/28/2002]

 

Sorry, I should elaborate on what I said. Some how or another I had in my head that you were going to have the block sleeved--dont know why I thought that.
Maybe if its bad then you would have it sleeved and bored, or just bored.
Damn, Im just confusing myself here.
Just do the leakdown before you pull the head so you know what your looking at.

 

where can u get leak down tests done? the dealership? can I rent one?

 

Aren't the B20 and B18 exactly the same head? Has anybody measured the combustion area of the B20?

 

They are the same head people...

Both P75 Castings, and they both have 81mm Combustion Chambers.

Suprdave

 

Thanks Dave, I pretty much knew they were.

 

ok so ive got two options.. I dont really want to use the B20 head.. Seems some people say it will work fine some dont.. from what I hear, the cams are different as well..

Ive found a few LS heads online and I have someone I want to buy from.. although its a 99 head.. it would be going on a 95 block.. Only thing I can think of off the top of my head is the PCV valve is located differently between the two heads.. Also he told me the OBD 1 heads have a sensor the OBD 2 heads dont.. but it can be drilled into the OBD 2.. anyone know what sensor this is?

lastly I still havent gotten the VA or leak down test done.. paying for a VA will be like 75$ bucks plus the leak down prolly 100 and thats 175.. I can get the new head for 100..

if u were me would u skip the leak down and VA and just buy a new head?

 

PCV valve is on the valve cover in some LSes, or on the intake manifold between the manifold and charcoal canister... Has nothing to do with the head.

The sensor does not matter. The '99 head will bolt directly on to your motor.

 

do a valve adjustment first. i reved out to 9999 according to my afc once and i thought my valves were done! but i did a valve adjust ment and ya know what?
it saved me quite a lot of money

 

werd, yeh i was just standing out in my garage looking at the head, thinking about everything im gonna have to do to swap the head and spending the money on VA is not sounding all that bad anymore.. I may be able to get a hook up well see..

 

Suprdave is right they are both 81mm, I have a B20 head sittin right here in my room and ive measured the combustion chamber width. Im not sure if the internals are any different, but im using that head on my sleeved b18b block for my turbo setup.

 

do the VA, if ur still concerned, get a LS head (try http://www.partsadventure.com)
and go from there. upgrade valvetrain, rods, pistons,etc........

good luck

 

Hmmm... I must be wrong about the B20 head then. You all seem convinced.

Dustin

 

but b20's have 84mm pistons?

 

the b20 head does indeed onlyy have 81mm combustion chamber. Its exact same head a ls casting wise.

 

They sure do.

 

does the b20 have more "quench" area then?

 

Thats exactly what I told you chris...

art

 

alright so heres the update:

took off the valve cover and found that one of the nuts on the rocker arms had come off and another one was loose.. put that back on and started to do a vavle adjustment just for kicks.. now I wish i had pictures to explain this but the things u tighten the vavles down into well most of em shake when u touch em.. there are a few that a fit snug..

i dont think I have any bent valves but something is definitly messed up..

 

Give mw a call, I have Sunday off....... I saw that guy who drives that black turbo integra when I was in the West End....I think his name is Stan. Do you remember him???

 

Stan, that name sounds familiar.

art