Corksil

Hey i have a b20v i built with b16 head.

I have no power whatsoever. i can't even back the car up a tiny tiny hill behind it.

would a bad headgasket cause a lack of power like this?

i have other symptoms of headgasket leak..

Red_Army

it causes a power loss. how bad idk i've never had it happen. but if its white smoke murky coolant or vice versa i'd take the head off again before going to far.

Jockone

Yes a bad head gasket will kill power.

92lxsleeper

of course it will. you lose compression thus u lose power.

ddd4114

You'll lose some power from a blown head gasket, but even if you have white smoke pouring out of the tailpipe, you'll be able to get up a hill without much trouble (speaking from experience).

Sounds like your timing is horribly wrong.

Corksil

what is to be expected compression ratings for a b20z2 block with b16a3 head on it? all stock b16a3 everything except the b20z2 block.

compression ratings? it's not a factory built motor >.< so i dunno what is good/bad.

i have 160psi on all 4 cylinders steady.

too low?

and the power loss is so bad i can't even move the car around.

this is in the radiator, i've flushed 6 times with water. white stuff keeps coming back. and after bringing the car to operating temperature (not above, no overheat) - there is audible bubbling in the reserve coolant tank.

white stuff, not brown. that's why i'm confused. it's not chocolate milk like i've seen in the past...


cap

92lxsleeper

a b20z with a b16 head should yield around 200psi i would assume. possibly higher.

ddd4114

Yeah, looks like you'll be replacing your head gasket in the near future. I'm just wondering what caused it.

FYI, it's nice to see that somebody can actually take clear pictures.

stateofjustin

A blown HG would not likely yield 0 or near 0 compression in all cylinders, I doubt even 2 of four. One functional cylinder (from a power standpoint) would be sufficient to move the car (though two would most likely be necessary for the engine to continue spinning). So if the motor is running smoothly but has NO power, I agree... timing is off. If it is running like a crack addict having a seisure... you may have both. The white looks like heavy emulsification (air being whipped into the coolant, combustion gases blowing into it). Does the coolant or water smell like gas? Are you getting clouds out of the tailpipe? Is there water in the engine oil? Did you flush the cooling system WITH the ENGINE DRAIN PLUG in or out? I'd flush it with continuous water for awhile, put in the drain ***** and refill 50/50, then run it to check condition. Before that you can run a compression test (rent a gauge from AutoZone or similar) and check for large variance.

And ditto on knowing where the 'Macro' function is on your camera, and how to use it!

Because of that I can see a brown tinge to the white foam in the neck of the radiator in the 11-2 o'clock position.

Corksil

spark plugs look perfect.

compression 160psi all four steady.

firing on all 4.

running smoothly, except for bog and no power.

headgasket may be fine, but oil plug in head may be leaking.

flushed 6 times with draincock out. twice with garden hose blasting water through.

coolant changed many times. white gunk returns every time.

bubbling in overflow tank when car warms up (does not overheat)

no coolant or bubbles in oil. oil looks fine.

no clouds of smoke or smell of coolant.

does not appear to be water in exhaust pipe.

ideas?

here's a vid of surging idle upon startup when cold (smooths out to 900rpm steady when warmed up)

slight vacuum leak around throttle body gasket, i can stop with finger. i suspect it's irrelevant it's so minor.

see i rev up to 3k rpm and burn clutch, still won't get up slight (very slight) hill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RFNThNfZrg

ideas?

1badteg

most def a blown gasket. doesnt have to be brown like it normally is when oil mixes with coolant. could be chamber pressure leaking, which would explain why its white. compression should be in the high 100's to low 200's for that setup. 160 should be fine if youre getting the same in all cylinders. if the cooling system isnt working properly then the sensors will take power from the car, causing the sluggish behavior youre describing. good luck.

stateofjustin

Yeah.. bubbling in the reserve tank is combustion gas getting out of the cylinders into the coolant, since your compression is the same across all cylinders, your gasket is possibly leaking equally from all cylinders. Your vacuum leak is in front of your MAP sensor, so it is not affecting anything... the MAP sees the pressure loss. That's why your idle is steady... if the pressure leak wasn't accounted for the idle would 'hunt'. I'm not sure about a 'limp' mode on the... WHOA! um.. your voltage should be 13-14 volts at the battery... not 12... did I see that right?

I see you said it hunts cold, but it would remain a constant if it didn't get factored in at some point. Still, unmeasured air does change the mixture... though not enough to rob you of all that power without the engine stalling out.

stateofjustin

Are you sure your clutch is system is working? inspected the hydraulics and verified it's not slipping?

JohnSFerr2387

PISTONS RINGS COULD BE DONE
TIMING NEEDS TO BE ADJUSTED
YOU GOTTA LAY OUT WHAT YOU DID TO THE MOTOR BECAUSE WE CANT JUST ASSUME ITS JUST THE HEAD GASKET

Corksil

got the b20 block from the wrecker. removed the oil pan, did not loosen any bearings, crank, journals nothing. did not remove anything from inside the block. the crank is as it was, bolted in, when the car rolled into the lot - "the car was running when it came to the lot" -- said the wrecker. 97k miles.

it had the head on it with no valve cover. it got rained on but he doused it in ATF and the head/paper in spark plug holes stopped the block from getting water inside.

it's on the first oil, break in oil, non-detergent SAE30, unweighted.

to reiterate i have not messed with anything crank/rods/pistons related.

used ARP headstuds, torqued to 84ft/lb w/sh!tty torque wrench. some may have come loose (i've heard of it before)

battery said 12.10 --- but the battery light on the dash was on and i know the battery was low from all the startings today. never let it run more than 5 minutes, but ran it atleast 5 minutes not to flood it. usually just up to temp then shutoff.

occurred to me after assembly - the oil plug in my head is a straight plug. it's not one of the pipe-plugs that are wedge shaped that get tighter as they go in. i teflon'd the fvck out of it and it seemed pretty tight but i will double check that if i pull the head for a new gasket.

any other ideas?

delsolo95

usually the battery light on the cluster means your alternator isnt charging the battery. plus you had the car running and it only showed 12 volts..its suppose to be 14 volts when engine is running.

is it me or does the motor sounds shitty? what does the coolant smell like? fuel? oil?

Corksil

bummmmp

stateofjustin

True that delsolo.. doesn't matter how many starts you had. You have an electrical issue. Your alternator may be bad, and your spark may be extremely weak as a result. That would limit your power under load... so it won't show up just revving. You have a BUNCH of issues, you need to handle the ones brought up before we can help you much more.

I also asked about the coolant smell, don't think I saw an answer. The motor is hard to hear well, there is a lot of intake noise in the engine bay masking the engine sound... and in the car it's damped by the firewall so it's hard to tell.

Corksil

i'll get the high quality mic out tomorrow. that was a shitty camera.

i smell no coolant in the exhaust. there is no water either. tomorrow i will smell the gunk in the radiator/tank and report what it smells like.

how do i test for the electrical issue..... ie weak spark and all that.

this car is my 9-5 right now, in 9 hours i'll be back in the shop. give me sh!te to try, i'll do eeeeeet.

dk=gsr

did you add an pcv valve???
seems to me like there was none???

Corksil

bummmmp

mik101

x2... how is the pcv system plumbed? PCV valve is in the head of a b20 and out of the back of the block on the vtec motors. I'm sure you noticed that when you were building it -- but that could be a contributing factor -- pulling full vacuum on the crankcase probably isn't a great idea. Unless you're using fittings on the back of the block you don't really have a full system either: clean air in -- blowby vapors out. I see the valvecover port is blocked that the clean air usually flows into.

The frothing in the rad could definitely be headgasket -- but it's a little odd for the compression to still read evenly if thats where the pressure into the coolant system is coming from. Does it blow out of the overflow when you hear the frothing going on?

I tend to agree about the motor being mis-timed / way off tune for it being so low on power -- with 160psi across the board and running on all 4 it should be able to move.

I feel your pain my man, I have a 97 del sol vtec and two b20s sitting here.

ddd4114

You probably have a small head gasket leak that is not enough to blow out tons of white smoke but is enough to pressurize the cooling system when the car is warm. That's what happened to mine before the gasket completely blew.

I still think your timing might be way off, based on the crappy response of the engine in your video. Did you check it with a timing light? Did you double check your mechanical timing?

As mentioned, your alternator isn't charging the battery, and that could be the reason for your lack of power. Charge the battery overnight, then try driving it. If your power loss is gone, then replace the alternator.

Get your PCV system fixed too.

Corksil

as for the pcv system. right not there is a line going from intake manifold to the valve cover. there is no pcv valve. when the motor is running, blowby gasses are sucked into the intake manifold, as you can see on that top tube running between the two. i have no "inlet" to allow fresh air in. please tell me i don't have to get those prelude fittings and buy a catch can and all that other sh!te....

today i will double check mechanical timing. i will take pix of the belt with all pulleys on tdc. i don't have a timing light.

i will put the charger on the battery and show you all a 14.4v while running.

anything else?

Corksil

everything vacuum and coolant lines are correct. iacv looks fine. fitv looks fine.

as for pcv system. the intake manifold neck (right on front of intake manifold that goes down through manifold to pcv and breather box) is plugged.

there are no ports on the block for a breather box, so that's it.

i/m plugged. soooo in other words, no pcv system whatsoever (unless you count the valve cover vent to intake tube before throttle body, which is oem.)

i want to get this pcv system figured out and fixed first. then i will check timing again, check battery/alternator. if still not running, i will change headgasket.