beyondstock

Ok so I traded for a 1996 acura integra wich was the worst thing I have ever done because everything the guy had said had been done to the car hasnt. The motor is a b18A1. It was supposed to have GSR pistons with ARP rod bolts acl bearings, .57 trim turbo crome tube and so forth. Over time the car started to smoke more and more. So I pulled a compression test reading 160 160 145 160. Cylinder 2 was showing signs of fluid on top of the piston when spark plug was removed. I assumed it was a blown head gasket because the car ran like a champ pulling hard. pulled the head and there is NO signs of the head gasket leaking.

A few things I found wrong was either an extreme amount of carbon built up on #2 cylinder exuast valve or its been melted and misshaped, all other valves look pretty normal with SLIGHT carbon build up. #2 piston is very very clean and the rest are more black with carbonation. cylinder 1 2 3 sho signs of scratchs on the cylinder walls but not enough to gran my nail....

Any way to check for cracked rings whithout taking the crank and pistons out??

I am going now to take pictures so you all can help me out give me 15 mins to load them up!!!!

HamiltonRex

you should have done a leakdown test before you pulled it apart....

AbitAvenger

rings/valves maybe

beyondstock

Here on the left you can see the cylinder that seems to be containing fluid

b20beast83

my guess is cracked ringlands

Ls_dx

iTrader: (5)

Might be junk piston rings or valve guide seals

Kahuna9889

I had similar symptoms on my h22a4 head. Ended up being the valves not sealing correctly. Couldn't see it but the machine shop found it.

beyondstock

I'm going to take the head to the machine shop to dech it I will have them compression test it while I'm at it. The weired thing is cylinder 2 had fluid (didnt look if was oil or antifreeze) but number 3 is low on compression.

I did a cylinder leak down test and I found a lot of air going into 2 and 3 cylinders and some out of exaust. I didnt understand why it was going from cylinder 1 to 2 to 3 but it was a lot of pressure loss.

The car never knocked started right up and ran awsome. I'm wondering if the head is **** due to the week b18a heads. And there is OBVIOUSLY a problem in number 2 cylinder. I really dont want to pull the motor, crack, pistons but if I have to I have to...

beyondstock

Also the guy said it had GSR pistons. On the top of the pistons its stamped PR4 is that and indication of a GSR? If I pull the crank is there a way to tell if it has race acl bearings or oem?

FactionR

pr4 is stock LS. sounds like he is full of poo. unless you can see it dont trust what people say. i had a simular story about a motor i got, when pulled it apart, it had type r pistons...

beyondstock

WOOOOOOWWWWW the dumb mothertrucker prolly doesnt even have the tune he said either. I've been boost on this motor for about 2 months now at 15 plds. I guess I'm just as dumb as he is for getting the car and trusting him!!

PR4 is stock B18A pistons?

beyondstock

I bet this guy blew the stock motor and the cheapest way to get it back together was swap a b18a and get obd1 harness conversion and boost it to get what money he had in it back...

Now I am stuck with a shity motor and I need to figure out what to do.... I have about
3K I can spend on building a motor. I have a K20a2 block crack timing gear and some other things that would equal the worthy things to keep on the B18A. However, its a little more expensive to do the swap in the integra verses buildign the b18a.

What would you all do? I want reliability more so than HP. I could go oem pistons and rods with arp bolts for added strength to keep cost down. Or go 81.5 pistons/rods to bore out the block and add strength and go with an aftermarket valvetrain setup. Basicly if you had a shity b18A1 motor and a half *** ebay turbo and probably a stock ecu for a b18a yet you had k20 parts for a good start on a build WHAT WOULD YOU DO CONSIDERING PRICE AND TIME!?!

FactionR

yes they are. 160-145 is not a huge difference. when smashed my first ringlands i got smoke from valve cover and went from 180 to 110. id say new HG, clean/freshen up the head and put it back together and tune!

Turbo-charged

the side skirts on those pistons probably look like hell.


#2 piston is very very clean and the rest are more black with carbonation

beyondstock

haha I know that bro! Look at the valves, #2 exhaust valve looks like shiat! I want the car to run right. If I get a new tune I'm going to go ahead and build the ****. Which leads me to my second question. The guy "said" it had a crome tune. Anyone know what the inside of a crome "chipped" ecu looks like? I need to take the face plate off to determine whats been done to it.

FactionR

It should look like this:




crome is just a computer program. you will not be able to tell by looking at your ecu what program was used to program the chip.

beyondstock

ok I was just needing to know where the location of the socket was. Its my understanding that this "socket" requires that a chip be burned and then attached in the socket? How is the a/f ratios perected if the chip is burned without the car dynoing or street tuning?

Still back to the building question. I'm leaning torwards forged internals and reworked head. I could get this done around or under 1.5k leaving me with some change on a tune and maybe a better turbo setup....

FactionR

You use a wideband o2 sensor to monitor your a/f and make changes in the fuel tables to adjust. unless you have a emulator or system like a hondata s300 that let you make changes on the fly you would in theroy have to burn a new chip with every change. do yourself a favor and go ahead and invest in quality engine management. like mentioned before id get an s300. ive had mine for over 3 years and love it.

as far as you bottom end, your going spend a solid 1k on parts alone. but thats going to get you no where without engine management.

beyondstock

understand... I use nistune on my 240sx and its on the fly and user friendly.. I have it street tuned myself. not that its great but managable. I'm searching for piston and rod combos on marketplace right now hoping to find a set for around 550. I can get the block stand and set up for about 200. and the head machined with a valve job for another 200. plus I'm going with a different spring and valve setup which I havent looking into yet.

I know this sound ricer but i'm wondering if I could get away with ARP rod bolts and arp head studs with new piston rings on stock rods and pistons with a good honing job with a fresh head sitting on top with a beffier spring setup running 9psi.... Like I said I'm not big on the power gains with this car

beyondstock

bump

SPOOLINmatt

pressure check head to eliminate that, and then look at rings or ring lands.

beyondstock

well I would say with the carbon build up on number 2 cylinder there is a problem with the head.... I would say I have a bad valve on number 2 and cracked ringland on 3

AbitAvenger

it would be fine as long as its TUNED/built correctly

2004es2

iTrader: (1)

Man your sleeves look pretty worn out. No visible crosshatch. But it sounds like a problem with your rings for sure.

HiProfile

I'd have to guess the rings are just worn out (based on the sleeve wear), and/or the intake valves on that cylinder have bad seals. The deposites are probably from excess oil burning, which is what that liquid appears to be.

There's a chance the ringlands are busted in that cylinder, but generally that REALLY drops the compression. Failing rings will allow oil in, but still give decent (but lower) compression.