New years eve...a buddy of mine was racing a EG on the freeway...and he was in 4th gear at about 5k rpm & the rpm was not going any higher so then he shifted into 5th and his car suddenly decelerated and lost power. His car now makes a clicking sound like if it was a bent valve or something. Oil shot out were his head gasket is....im not exactly sure what happened so any opinions would be helpful here are some pics, keep in mind that this motor was spotless before this happened.









Motor is a D16A6 also....my friend got a obd1 conversion but he took it to a shop but he wants to make sure that he wasnt fucked over.....so if anyone can tell just from looking at the motor if it is obd1. Thanks

 

Looks like its obd-1 judging by the distributor plugs, which are grey in color, as well as the fact that its off a Z6. So yea, its obd-1.

The oil underneath the distributor is what we're looking at here right, and on the right side of the motor by the valve cover grommet? I say first inspect the dizzy by removing the cap and looking inside. Other than that, maybe head gasket failure?? Also pull the valve cover and take a look.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fourthgenhatchB17 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Looks like its obd-1 judging by the distributor plugs, which are grey in color, as well as the fact that its off a Z6. So yea, its obd-1.

The oil underneath the distributor is what we're looking at here right, and on the right side of the motor by the valve cover grommet? I say first inspect the dizzy by removing the cap and looking inside. Other than that, maybe head gasket failure?? Also pull the valve cover and take a look.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It is a mini-me swap. Most likley a z6 head on the a6 block. I would definatley look for cracks. Try to pinpoint WHERE the oil came from.

 

Mini me for sure...

Something to add...the oil coming out of the groomet would indicate to me that pressure built up inside the head and blew it out there. Maybe pull off your intake elbow and see if any oil got sucked into the TB via the valve cover breather hose.

That same pressure could have blown the dizzy o-ring too, which would make sense of all the oil underneath that area.

 

I will take off the valve cover and see if i can see anything....but can anyone explain the clicking/knocking sound.....gets louder as the car accelerates....the car still runs but has less power and makes a loud clicking sound.

 

Is it just me, or is it getting more common now for people to post the symptoms of their problems, take our suggestions - and never look past their hood?

Doing a simple compression & leak-down test will help narrow the list down considerable, MUCH more so than people here guessing at all you describe as a loss of power and some noises.

 

i took off the intake and there is oil in the hose, i looked into the IM and there is oil build up...and sorry u dont approve of my post, but if i need help imma ask for it, u have every right to criticize but im going to continue focusing the problem, since u already know what u would do if this happened to you....but this is new to me and i if ima going to do anything i want to make sure that i know what im doing instead of guessing, so i am going to take suggestions and any helpful opinions.

 

What I'm saying is that we can't find the problem for you. I'm not really criticizing you for your actions or lack of, I'm just saying you can find the problem much easier by doing few things to look for the most common problems like spun bearings, bent valve, blown HG, broken lifter, bad rings, etc. Easy things like checking your oil for particles, dropping the oil pan, and doing comp/leakdown tests can tell you quite a bit.

Anyways, good luck - hope its an easy fix. I know how lingering problems can suck.


btw - I'll add to the concensus that it's a mini-me vtec swap. Z6 head ('92-'93), 7 wire dizzy (obd1 compatible), 4-wire o2 sensor.

 

those things u mentioned i have never done before, but i can find someone that knows how to....but all those things to do and check for i will keep in mind and have it done....thanks for the suggestions...and i hope my friend doesnt need a new long block...i have to go to work now and i will check and see where the oil is coming from...im off tomorrow so ill have time to do something...but any further help would be great. thanks

 

yikes

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fourthgenhatchB17 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Mini me for sure...

Something to add...the oil coming out of the groomet would indicate to me that pressure built up inside the head and blew it out there. Maybe pull off your intake elbow and see if any oil got sucked into the TB via the valve cover breather hose.

That same pressure could have blown the dizzy o-ring too, which would make sense of all the oil underneath that area.</TD></TR></TABLE>

he has a point, i however also noticed the valve cover grommet pictured up close looks as tho its not tightened down, in which case it could've leaked enough out that the head was starved of oil

 

take off the oil filler cap and look inside of it. if you see anything resembling chocolate milk, then the headgasket is blown. check the oil level inside the engine. from the sounds of it you may have also spun a bearing from starvation.

I would tell your friend not to drive the car anymore as he could be doing serious damage to the engine. Also, get on that compression test asap.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MonkeyMagic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

he has a point, i however also noticed the valve cover grommet pictured up close looks as tho its not tightened down, in which case it could've leaked enough out that the head was starved of oil</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yea i noticed the same...

But i doubt the head was starved of oil b/c of that. Ive known a few guys run without a grommet here and there (b/c they've snapped the bolt or stud) and all u get out of the hole is fumes...it acted as a breather vent.

 

anyone know how much a compression tester is? i also removed the valve cover...i couldnt really notice any damage or anything out of place...the oil is really dark and gunky....ill take a picture of the head as it is right now...and whenevr i get a compression tester ill post the results. thanks for the help.

 

BTW...i always heard about people that spun bearings....but i never knew how it happens and what it does when it happens...anyone fil me in?

 

pressure test the top, dismantle it and check the gaskets. The clicking sound may be valves dry of oil.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RaCk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">pressure test the top, dismantle it and check the gaskets. The clicking sound may be valves dry of oil. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

sounds like spun rod bearing to me mine did the same thing it felt slow in 3rd i shifted to 4th and it wouldnt accelerate made same ticking noise coming from the head too found out i spun #2 and #3 bearings.

 

yea i think my friend spun a bearing, which would involve the motor to be rebuilt or replace right?, i think he is going to get a dohc zc long block from HMO...if my friend spun a bearing, would it have caused any damage to the head?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CheechJDM &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yea i think my friend spun a bearing, which would involve the motor to be rebuilt or replace right?, i think he is going to get a dohc zc long block from HMO...if my friend spun a bearing, would it have caused any damage to the head?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The head is usually still useable.

 

you can spin a bearing without any oil being evident, in fact a spun bearing doesnt really explain the oil at all.

oh yeah and the machining to fix a crank and replace bearings is usually more than a motor. My 01 miata was $800 in machining alone (then add new parts) and a used long block was $500

 

If I had to guess, I would say you have bad rings and quite possibly a messed up piston.

The oil coming out of the gromet and everywhere else leads me to belive that excessive blow by is over presurizing your crank case pushing the oil out.

That is just a wild guess, I would do a compression/leak test before I ran the motor again. No point in doing more damage to the engine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TrueNorthStar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

That is just a wild guess, I would do a compression/leak test before I ran the motor again. No point in doing more damage to the engine.</TD></TR></TABLE>

the car is parked in my garage....imma try to do the test this weekend, thanks for all the suggestions

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TrueNorthStar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The oil coming out of the gromet and everywhere else leads me to belive that excessive blow by is over presurizing your crank case pushing the oil out.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Check your PCV valve, if its not ticking it would help lean to crankcase pressure buildup. Dont know if it can be enough to push oil past your valve guides etc to cause the bog though...

 

Same thing happened to me. Bent exhaust valves. Improper timing.