Derek128

Hi everyone

I have a 92 Integra LS with around 143,000Miles/230,000KMs. This is my budget DD/Autox (Scca H stock)/ Track day car. Did most of the stock class legal mods with 14" V710. My plan for this car was, stay in stock class, & find a set of 13x8 for trackday (Mission Raceway is a lower speed track).

Recently I found that it is low on power after a track day & it started burn oil @ high rpm.(popped a coolant hose & overheated @ last trackday)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRSYqnJx1Xs

Did both dry & wet compression test & the result was 190 190 140 190 low compression on cylinder #3. Added oil into cyl #3, & it went to 190psi.

I thought about doing a full rebuild but I don't think it worth the amount of money & the performance I'm getting. I did think about ls/vtec or b20/vtec, but I don't know if it would last for trackday & K-series is out of my budget. Now I'm leaning toward just re-ring the engine, but would like to know how long will it last.

Thank you


My last track day video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkBWawbWo08
1:26 with stupid HPS pad lol & dead old 15" V710......... no where close to the IP2(CACC) / ITA(SCCA) records
Since last trackday I have front DTC60 sitting around, installed a 22mm rear sway bar, & a half dead cylinder

dirty19

iTrader: (1)

Id say you have to open it up and look at the sleeves and condition of the engine before knowing if a re- ring is the right thing to do.
Replacing the oil seals in the head can't hurt either.

VTECIntegra9

i have b18 rings for sale cheaper than online new in box when you re-ring :-P

Agree w/ dirty, you sadly have to open it up and have it inspected to know. I was planning on doing the same and ended up having to bore and get new pistons. It all adds up quick so be prepared to replace more than you want to before you start the teardown.

niccer

I recently went through (actually, still in the process) a similar situation. My 250k D16 spun a bearing and developed bad rod knock at my last track day. The shop that's rebuilding the bottom end was originally going to re-ring it, but my cylinder walls had a bit of a lip on them and were just overall not in great shape.

They gave me the option of just doing the rings and hoping for the best or getting it bored and going with new pistons too. According to what the builder was saying, just re-ringing it would work and it would run, but it wouldn't have proper compression and wouldn't last nearly as long as doing it the "right way". I opted to pay the extra $200 for a bore, hone and new pistons for peace of mind while I'm on the track.

Keep in mind that my engine has/had over 100,000 more miles than yours, so chances are that your walls aren't as bad off as mine were.

known

iTrader: (1)

One of my old motors I blew up smoked, I took out the pistons and re-ringed because they were not properly installed by the previous owner. The smoking went away and it ran great.

I blew it up later and it had nothing to do with rings

Derek128

If I'm only need to Re ring, I'll replace the valve stem seals, cam seal? (maybe, I replaced them with OEM parts 8K KM ago, when I did the v-cover gasket kit/t-belt/water pump/cams/crank seal).

The only seal that I haven't replace yet is the rear main seal.

I know I might ended up doing a full rebuild...........

spAdam

iTrader: (1)

Seems like a hell of a good time to do a full rebuild, at least of the bottom end. Re-ringing without at least a proper hone is a waste of time imho, that fresh cross hatch is pretty critical to getting the new ones seated properly. By the time you get the motor out for tht you might as well do the rest of it.

BEFORE opening it up, what have you done diagnosis wise? You really should do compression and leak down. Do the leak down dry, and if it seems high (greater than 15% or so) pour some oil down the plug hole and try again. If the leak down decreases significantly its time to consider rings. If it doesn't change, look to the head, maybe a valve job is in order. If the dry leak down is not that bad, it might be time for valve guide seals and/or the guides themselves.

Derek128

Um........ did a compression and leak down test again.......
190,185,190(Slower),190psi. Leak down 20%ish . car is still driveable I guess

not sure why i got 140 last time for cylinder 3

rcracin13

You should be able to find a good, used, LS motor for $200. Just look around a little. Especially if someone has one in a car already running.

ScottBell

iTrader: (1)

I'm almost in the same boat. My motor drinks oil and has some pretty significant blow by.

With the mileage on the motor I know I am looking at pistons/rings/bearings. What should I budget for that job if I bring in the short block? parts do seem to get spendy, quick.

The head was supposedly redone by the previous owner and doesn't have that much time, so I'm thinking about leaving it alone.

spAdam

iTrader: (1)

You should start by pulling the motor apart and checking everything out. You may decide after looking at the bores or doing a light hone that it's in your best interest to go oversize. .25mm is only .010" and that gets honed out pretty quickly.

RSZero1

I just went through the same thing recently. My car had random puffs of black oily smoke, my rear end was a sooty mess.

I had the engine rebuilt by a mechanic that has done builds for me in the past - it needed new valve stems and rings.

Got the car back together, it drove fantastic, but then it was blowing white smoke under acceleration and started to get worse instead of clearing up.

Turned out I needed to hone, overbore and new pistons/rings. He offered to do the additional work for just the cost of the parts since it didnt work the first time.

I'm waiting to get the car back Saturday hopefully.

dirty19

iTrader: (1)

Classic example of not taking the time to just go through it all ,and finding out if you need to go further from the start. Sometimes the cheap and dirty lol i said dirty.. isnt the best way to go.
I contimplated this but decided to have the whole thing rebuilt.
Synergy Motorworks did a great job on mine!

Did you get the whole thing re-done?

spAdam

iTrader: (1)

Agreed... although sometimes it's not practical to do the whole thing, especially for the everyday person. Sometimes we would get older high mileage cars into the shop that ran fine with hardly any blow by until they broke a belt and bent a valve or something, requiring a freshen up on the valve job along with replacing parts. A lot of time things would be fine afterwards, but other times it seemed like the new found extra bit of compression was just enough to upset the balance of the old motor. Rings would seem to go quickly and the next thing you know they would be pushing out seals from the crankcase pressure. It was always a gamble, and the customer would always be warned of the possible outcome.

Keep in mind though, I'm talking average Joe's 89 200k CRX HF or Grandma's Accord here... not race cars. If I was to do any heavy work on any kind of performance or track car, I would obviously recommend doing it all at once no matter what.