damn

well actually its not dead yet. this morning on the way to work the motor started making a knocking noise. i have checked everything external and can't find the problem. the issue is somewhere in the motor. the first time i pulled the valve cover i just checked to see if any of the locknuts were loose. i didn't think to check for bad springs. i'll do that soon here. perhaps its a loose cap in the crankcase. perhaps its a bad oil pump (i have been having oil issues). i dont know. i'm just venting i guess.

anyway i had to get to work and get home. thats about 40 miles since this began. i dont know wtf it is yet but it looks like the motor is coming back out. the strange thing is, the driveability feels fine and powerful, but the idle is rough and harsh.

wish me luck, give me advice, say a prayer, whatever. you guys have helped me go from a stock Si to a little sleeper (well for about 1200 miles anyway). i'm sure we can get this thing running again, and even better than before. hell if i have to take it all apart again, i have the chance to add a sleeve/girdle, maybe a new valvetrain. **** maybe i should just get a b18 or b20 at this point. lol expletive. this sucks. oh well its only time and money. praise the lord anyway.

 

well it probly spun a bearing , what kind of oil problems have u been having? does the knock get worst as the car warms up, it could also be a slighty melted piston or cracked ring land the only way your really gonna find out is when you pull her apart i'll say a little prayer for you and your motor

 

the first oil problem i noticed was my first 2 oil changes, the filter was soaked with oil enough to be heavier than a new filter, but no oil poured out when i removed it from the block. none even dripped out.

second problem was i have no leaks, yet i'm losing oil like crazy so i think i may need to re-ring the pistons anyway. I still have a few things to test before i get to that conclusion.

third problem was code 22 vtec pressure valve - i would end up needing to add about a half quart every couple days. i mean i new i had some bugs to work out but damn.

 

" i would end up needing to add about a half quart every couple days." If the oil isn't running out from a leak, it's tear down time.

 

pain in the ***

well at least i have a chance to sleeve it now.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Gabus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If the oil isn't running out from a leak, it's tear down time.</TD></TR></TABLE>
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2quikmotorwerks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i'll say a little prayer for you and your motor</TD></TR></TABLE>

i'll say a lil prayer for your bank account too

it'll be fun though!

 

i put in 3 hours last night and my buddy and i put in 6 hours today. even with many 420 breaks, we still got the motor and tranny out with no problems.

the #2 and #3 exhaust valve seats are leaking oil so there's one issue. ok the other issue is fucked up. i got pics with a shitty camera phone but you can still kinda see how messed up this is.

the crank pulley's woodruff key got spun out and mangled the key, teh crank pulley splines and the crankshaft's heyhole. excuse the shitty pics but i think you can see how messed up it is.

here the pulley splines - you see that glare line where the splines should be, it's smoothed out.

the end of the crankshaft wher ethe keyhole is, is much wider now than the size the key is supposed to be.

the key has a huge chunk smashed out

 

that sucks hopefully you didnt spend much on that build.

 

How did you torque the crank pully bolt? Did you use a new bolt?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ( o )( o ) &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> even with many 420 breaks, we still got the motor and tranny out with no problems.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Maybe this is why you overtightened the pulley bolt the first time you assembled the motor causing your problems.

 

could be. but i'm very **** when it comes to torque specs, so while possible, it is unlikely. i torqued it with a torque wrench but i did use the original bolt, which seemed to be in fine shape. I did not realize that bolt should be replaced.

so - this is caused by OVERtightening the crank pulley bolt? i dont know how that could have happened, I did this myself with the motor on a stand in my kitchen, everything was all gravy.

oh well. its only time and money. a wise man once said, "if it has **** or tires, you're gonna have problems with it."

i'm gonna pull the head off tonight and maybe start disassembling the block.

 

Any chance the crank pulley moved alittle on the crank causing the piston and valves to be out of time a bit? That would explain the knocking because of the contact between piston and valves. You might need a new crank, pulley, and key but check your valves for damage also. Good luck and I wonder why this happened to you. Why would the key fudge up like that? Maybe someone knows the answer and could clue us in.

 

before i removed the pulley i double-checked that the timing belt and crank and cam gears were all still lined up. Yes. hopefully there was no valve-piston contact. i'll find out tonight when i pull the head.

i believe the oil consumption was due to the bad valve seats and the knocking noise was the crank pulley all out of whack. although, who knows, we may find more when we open her up.

and i will try to remember to get AA batteries for the digicam for much better pics.

 

i had the same prob with my ls/vtec my crank pully came off the first time chewed the woodruff key, so i torqued it and applyed loctite but it came off again,so the last time i bought a new crank pully from acura"the old one was much worse than yours i didnt fit on the crank anymore it was to big" with a bunch of torque and loctite the prob finally went away ,it caused no probs with my head,crank,internals at all

so GOOD LUCK with it

 

Ok I finally pulled the head.

on the #2 and #3 cylinders, where there should be a carbon build-up ring at the top of the cylinders, the exhaust port side of the cylinder is bare metal. the carbon ring only goes around the other 3/4ths of the cylinder. does that mean bad rings? or - since these are ctr pistons on stock rods *(which had to be shaved 1mm on each side to fit) do you think the shop did a sloppy shave job which MIGHT cause the pistons to travel with a slight shake? i dont know...

also - ALL 4 intake ports on the head are oily as hell, and 2 exhaust ports were oily. kinda hard to tell if it's the valve guides or just a lot of blow-by (remember this is my first build, i'm still learning here, so please enlighten me if yall have seen something like this before)

and one of these days i'll remember to buy batteries for the digicam so i can post a decent pic.....

 

it seems like you had SERIOUS issues with this motor, nothing sealed right, it rod knocks, etc.

Sleeving the block isnt going to solve the problem.

Heres my .02:

I would get a reputable machine shop to bore and hone your block. if your staying all motor make sure your ring gap is set 13-17 thousandths. plastigauge your bearings and make sure they are within the correct specs.

Make sure everything is TQed down properly per the Honda Service Manual. I would def look at getting the Seats and guides replaced on that head. PM DONF he can help you out in that area.

Good Luck