boostedrust

So, I had my gsr swap in my 00 ex for about 2 weeks.. one night after driving spiritedly ..I awoke to a Subaru sounding gsr..did compression test..all cyl's were 203-210 except for cylinder one (closest to timing belt) Which tested 155psi. I put a little oil in the cyl. redid the test. 160psi.. So..

I had pretty much ruled out rings..But now that the head is off... None of the valves look bent or burnt..The head gasket looks intact... And you can still see the crosshatching in the cylinder walls..I Also under the advice of a honda guru.. was told to put the head on its "side".. and fill all the intake ports with water.. then clean. dry.. and do the exhaust ports also.. After 5 minutes on each side.. I saw no water leaks from the valves what so ever..Im stumped...But ive provided some pics to see if maybe a more trained eye or eyes on here.. will notice something I did not. I truly hope it is not the rings.. Cuz then im in it deep...Ty ahead of time.

So Ill get right to the only thing I could possibly say looked out of place..cyl 1...this is the low compression cyl does this look like significant enough to caugh a 70psi drop in cyl pressure? :::



there is a tiny.. idk.. "nick" on the edge of piston of cyl #1.: doesn't look like major damage at all.. its very very small and is only on the top of the piston surface::



Here is front and back of headgasket that came off it:





Here is the head, first pic is the whole head and all the valves... second is of cyl 1 up close.::





this is a top shot of the block with the head off:



and the surface on the driver side of the block:



lemme know what you guys think. and thank you!

boostedrust

Also, can the head be leak tested at a machine shop or could you suggest where i could bring it to know definitively?

Former User

The compression test should have been followed by a leak down test of cylinder 1.

shotoutacc0rd

Pour some oil in the bad cylinder and leave it for a little while. Does it drain down into the engine or does the piston & rings keep it in the cylinder?

are any of those marks on the cylinder wall bad enough that you can feel them like with your finger nail?

boostedrust

Leak down was done. I couldn't hear air leakng through exhaust. No bubbling in the coolant...I added oil after I did the compression test and redid it. Compression barely went up. So the machine shop where I took my head for a leak test.. thinks with such little damage to the cyl wall.. that something small may have gotten into the motor (with the tiny ding on the piston and he found a correlating mark by the valve in the head) The marks in the cylinder wall are barely visible and you can't really feel them unless you use your finger nail and even then its barely...machine shop will call me today. And I just put some oil on that piston. Thanks for the suggestions! Will update asap..

tony_2018

Looks like loose unknown particles getting flung around in the combustion chamber. Damn sucks, when you bought it did you fire it up to hear it?

jphoppe1

Check your head for warpage with a straight edge paying specific attention to areas around # 1 cylinder

Wouldn't hurt to check block as well.

boostedrust

okay! thanks for all the suggestions. I brought it to a good machine shop, and right away he saw damage to the seat on one of the valves above cyl 1...something must've got into the motor he speculated. At any rate.. he redid the seat.. resurfaced the head. (dont know how much, but he described it as a "just a little off the top") .. but I couldnt def tell it was resurfaced.. which i'm assuming is standard... and he rechecked the head for leaks.. and we are good 2 go!

Also, i left oil on top of cyl 1 piston..for 24 hours.. and none of it leaked down. So rings seem good also! finally, good news.. Now my question for you guys is.. he said run oem headgasket.. so I ordered one from acura.. will I be able to time the motor with it being resurfaced..?? and stock 3 layer HG? I did alot of searching but no definitive answer..the belt only had 5k miles on it so im reusing it.. stock cam/camgears, I left the belt on the motor and kind've slipped it off the cam gears..I have never had any luck getting the crank pulley off...So Can I do this.. with stock HG...belt still mostly on the motor..and just the hash marks? I read some heads need cam gears after resurfacing...? Idk I cant call him till monday to find out how much he took off..Any suggestions of prepping myself for this job? now that ive spent so much time, blood, sweat on this thing I dont want to mess it up putting it back together.. TY!

shotoutacc0rd

its probably like .004. I took .008 off my head plus it had already been previously milled so this POS is probably past the service limit BUT it seemed to time good

Former User

Exhaust or intake valve? I wonder why your leak down test missed a bad valve.

shotoutacc0rd

he didn't mention doing one. But yes he could've identified the problem exactly by doing a leak down test.

Former User

Look again.

tony_2018

There is a marker at the corners of the head, in the shape of a small circle. Those are used to gauge how much you can take off before you are no longer within spec of the helms manuals spec. He probably knew what he was doing but if you want to check than the helms manual has a guid for that.

tony_2018

You also need to make sure the blocks mating surface is clear of dirt and debri before putting down the new headgasket.

shotoutacc0rd

you're right, he did a non-pressurized leakdown test. I read that the other day I dont see why I didnt remember that. I never thought about doing it like that before, but idk man it didnt seem to show results.

frankygotboost

if it sound like a subaru are you sure that it not an igniton problem? If a spark plug didn't fire it sound like a subaru

boostedrust

No it wasnt.. to be honest I cant believe I didn't see why it was leaking... I pointed out in this pic the damage and you can clearly see where the metal is warped into the seat.. and it was intake valve, btw to answer above question..take a look at the pics.. The machine shop guy said something must've gotten into the intake!! Also, where is the circle to see if he took out too much? I mean all I told him was it was a Honda integra v-tec head. and hes been in business since the late 70's.. so i'm inclined to think this wasn't his first rodeo... But considering all that Since there was some material removed..You don't think Ill have any trouble getting the motor into time? Im aware of the steps.. and cant get the crank pulley off..so I left the timing belt just hanging there and slide it off the cams. So this wouldn't be a problem...

But Like I said.. I just wanted to say thank you guys.. HT has been invaluable to me during this learning process! This was my first, pulling of a d, swapping of the b.. disassemble and soon reassemble of a b series head.. and my first head gasket.. so please bare with me. But I just wanted to take a second and say thank you. And without any further rant or delay by me.. the pic i promise..you can clearly see where it was pressing into the seat... Also is this going to raise my compression slightly? ty again everyone!

boostedrust

Bumpage.

tony_2018

Check the corners of the head, you don't see an small circle?

turbohatch96y7

iTrader: (15)

Its a square tab on the head. On the very edges of the head. Once that tab is gone the head is done. I needed adjsutable cams after the 4th resurface. Ill take a pic when I get home.

I would def try and get that crank pulley off. You can buy or borrow the tool to hold the actual pulley as you loosen the bolt.

Also you should have checked your valve lash. I'm suprised the vet in here didn't mention it. If the valve lash is just a little too tight it'll keep the valve from closing and you'll end up with low compression.

You can do the belt without taking off the pulley. You will need a coat hanger or whatever you can find to pull up on the tensioner because the cover is in the way.

The timing has to be spot on. If its off half a tooth you will need cams or need to retard or advance either cam when installing the belt. Its a pain in the *** and takes lots of practice.

Take a pic of the bottom of the head and we can point out where the tabs are.

turbohatch96y7

iTrader: (15)

Its actually in the top right of the pic you posted you can barely see the lines.

slomofo

iTrader: (1)

Do you take the spring off to do a belt?

Ya know.... you can loosen the tensioner nut, push the tensioner down, and tighten the nut again, right? When you're all done, you loosen the nut and the belt tightens itself, then tighten the nut again.

turbohatch96y7

iTrader: (15)

yes on head that been resurfaced once or twice. not on a head or block that been resurfaced more than that, bro guy.

boostedrust

Okay... Ive tried getting the crank pulley off.. with no luck.. I will try again..But idk..Im just iffy on the whole how to get it in time thing...I mean set tdc..install head. with cams both pointing up to up? I mean i have someone I will be able to call for help if needed but he wont be there...He explained it over the phone.. about the marks.. lining them up. but he said with crank pulley off... but are there hash lines on the crank pulley too?..mines quite rusty down there.. motor was previous in a car that saw winter..I mean is it possible to set time with crank pulley still on? putting the head back together isnt as scarey as setting timing to me lol...the head I took apart and i know most parts will only fit in one place..

But this whole timing thing, uhg.. He also spoke about how motor only counter clockwise while belt is on. and hash marks must meet in center off the two cam gears..Ive searched/read quite a bit and saw some youtube vids. Hoping it will make more sense when its right infront of me

tony_2018

Yes you can set it with the crank pulley is still on AS LONG AS YOU HAVE THE LOWER TIMING BELT COVER ON. Without that lower timing belt cover you are screwed. All you need to do is line the mark on the crank pulley, the lonely mark that is farthest away from the other 3, with the mark on the timing belt cover.