CommanderZero

hey guys, ive been reading around and always found good info here, so thought id register. gut a question though. just bought myself a nice 94 coupe, but the guy i bought it from had it all riced out...im in the process on returning it to stock before i start doing my stuff to it. one of the things im changing it the muffler, its sounds like doodoo and vibrates the whole car from 1-2k rpm. its some kind of $20 ebay muffler or something, on the tip i can read out C-X or something like that. he had the piping from the resonator back replaced with 2 1/2, and everything from there up is stock. can i just weld in a OEM muffler from carquest or something and call it a day? the whole engine is stock so not so worried about performance myself. i plan on getting a WS2 when the time comes. oh and heres a video showing the vibration in side the car:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CNIPujYNp4

and as for the idle problem, the guy claims that its a vacuum leak, but it seems to be fuel/valve related....anyone can tell from this video? actually thought just yesterday the car started to overheat, and for some reason my rad fluid seems to keep going down...plus i can look in the resevior and see it blowing bubbles, and when i open the rad cap its kinda frothy with small bubbles...its really starting to make it seem like a head gasket. the car idles like a diesel engine with cams in it or something and when i press the gas it just bogs til i reach over 2.5k rpm and then the power just kicks back in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh-P6rhZE9g

ill post pictures of my ride soon...thanks!

4g4dcruisin

I cant view videos since im at work. But here is a quick summary of what i think the problem could be.

The muffler issue, go ahead and weld on a stock one, but i believe your motor mounts could be the blame for the heavy vibration. Low idle will also cause the car to shake a grip.

What does the car idle at? Number one culprits for strange idles are going to be the IACV and FITV, there are DIY's for cleaning those to valves somewhere here on HT, try the FAQ for the 92-2000 forum. Also make sure no vac lines are removed, torn, collapsed or whatever on the intake manifold. Adjust the dizzy to advance timing ONLY if its retarded already.

As for the bubbling overflow, safe to say its probably the headgasket. Could be faulty rad cap too. But either way, its compression escaping from the head/block and finding the nearest place to get into the atmosphere.

Lastly, do you have any CEL's, what about smoke coming from the tail pipe? You said you're eating coolant so im sure its burning off somewhere.

Former User

Most likely, the head gasket is blown.

CommanderZero

ive already cleaned the 2 valves. it seems that the problem only starts after the engine warms up a little. the longer i drive the car the worse it gets until it just starts spending most of its time bogging in the 600rpm area. the idle always bounces down instead of up...ive checked the motor mounts and they seem to be fine? i also get really horrible gas mileage, somewhere around 13-15 mpg? and it was bogging like this before, but since i used seafoam it seems to have gotten worse? maybe some carbon was the only thing holding in the headgasket? heres a updated video i just took today, the shaking is from the car, how it jerks from the bogging idle.

the engine light doesnt come on, and its not smoking anything out of the exhaust, but i did notice a weird smell getting out of the car, smelt like gas/radiator fluid? isnt that a symptom of head gasket problems?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSzQ-24o7Ds

CommanderZero

am i allowed to bump?

Jockone

Sound like you have a head gasket problem.
Try to find someone with a "block tester" which checks for combustion gasses in the coolant.If head gasket is bad that is where to start with your repairs,it may becausing many of your problems.