Just finished putting in a H23A3 from HMO and it will not start. Proceeded to test for fuel and spark, all good. Also had starter tested. However, when I had the spark plug grounded on the exhaust manifold heat shield, a mix of water & fuel was shooting out of cylinder 1. Quite a bit of it too. Now, back when I first got the motor to my house, I removed the oil pan drain bolt and not a single drop of anything fell. Hawzke changed the timing belt & water pump for me and the head looked absolutely brand new. Removed the oil cooler and replaced the seal, nothing. I'm not too familiar with how motors actually operate, but I saw no signs of water at all. Also, reason being I ordered a long block, instead of rebuilding my old motor.

Back to trying to start the car - I then removed the 3 other spark plugs and cranked the car, and to my astonishment, all 4 cylinders were shooting out water; a lot. During the weekend I was swapping the motor, I had the HMO motor sitting on a pallet with a plastic tarp on it outside waiting to be dropped in... just one night. Spark plugs were not in, however, the plug wires were in each cylinder to prevent any debris from falling in. That whole weekend was full of on & off rain and that is the only explanation I could think of how water ended up in my motor (but I had it covered), in fact, I'm not even certain it rained that night... unless HMO stores all these motors outside in the rain, which I highly doubt.

Anyways, I kept cranking the car until a little mist of fluid to no fluid was shooting out the cylinders. Alright, cool, figured I'd let the sun do it's work and dry the rest. Went back outside an hour & a half later to put the plugs back in and start her up. Whhiiiiiiirrrr... whhiiiiirrrrrrr. Just kept cranking. ****. Decided to pull that number 1 cylinder plug and wouldn't you know it, water/fuel is still spitting out. Not as much as before, but all cylinders still have water in it. What the hell!? Oil on the dipstick is fine, looks a little thin to me, but this is my first experience using 5W-30, instead of 10W-30. What should I do? Is my motor completely screwed? I've had the motor a little over a month now and HMO would not be able to do anything about it, as the 30 day guarantee has ended. Even if the guarantee wasn't over, it would still be too much of a pain to have the motor pulled out, shipped back to HMO & await for a replacement.

Any suggestions?

Edit:
Replaced parts:
- Distributor cap & rotor
- spark plugs
- valve cover gasket
- oil cooler gasket
- intake manifold & exhaust manifold gasket, TB gasket
- Timing belt & water pump
- Fidanza 8lbs flywheel and Exedy OEM clutch kit


Modified by saikou at 5:08 PM 7/4/2007

 

do a compression test-

and how do you know its water? is there that much being pushed out? A slight mist or even some drops of fuel can be expected if something else is wrong-

 

It was hard to smell the fuel, because it had been diluted because of all the water. I can smell more fuel now.

 

I still say let it dry overnight and try again after that

Though you cranked it until mist came out, it could still have had water left in there that settled once you stopped cranking it...

 

I'm going to let it sit the rest of tonight, tomorrow and get back at it Friday afternoon. Drain the oil and try and start her up. I pray its alright.

 

So what's your udate on it right now?

 

After I got off work, I cranked the motor with the plugs out to see if any water was still present after sitting all night and day - good news, just a small mist was visible. I poured a small amount of Marvel Mystery Oil in each cylinder and rotated the crank by hand. I'm going to let it sit over night again.

 

you could always whip out some extra long q-tips and get to swabbin

good luck with it mang

 

do you have an air compressor? just get an air nozzle and blow air down in there that will take it right out, if not, get a vacume hose and suck it out, it might tastebad but it wont hurt you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by preludestud11 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do you have an air compressor? just get an air nozzle and blow air down in there that will take it right out, if not, get a vacume hose and suck it out, it might tastebad but it wont hurt you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Oh man, I wish I had an air compressor. The car is sitting outside my window in the drive way. Letting nature work its magic.

Thanks mgags7!

 

yeah lol air compressor ftw. ive used it b4 to get debris out of not so good spots b4

 

Drained oil (no water) and refilled with new oil. Put the plugs back in and tried to start her, just kept cranking. So, I decided to make sure timing was still correct and went ahead and took the valve cover off and rotated the crank to Top Dead Center. Both gears are pointing UP and aligned and the mark on my Fidanza flywheel is dead on. Slapped the distributor back on and tried again... still cranking. Pulled the plug out of cylinder 1 and wouldn't you guess it, water is still shooting out. Haven't replaced the plugs yet, is there a chance their fouled due to the water?

 

maybe, i know when i hydrolocked and tried to use the same plugs, it was a no go.

 

You seriously need to do a compression and cylinder leakage test. Did u use water or 50/50 anitfreeze in the cooling system? You may have a bad Head gasket and a cylinder needs at least 80 psi of compression to fire. The water defiantly should have been all gone by now I think you could have another serious engine issue. Good luck though.

 

Yo saikou on a different note were you able to use your original ECU and wiring harness? The only reason I ask is cuz it seems as if your swap is the only one of it's kind(H23A3).
Thanks.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lude of pre 2.3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You seriously need to do a compression and cylinder leakage test. Did u use water or 50/50 anitfreeze in the cooling system? You may have a bad Head gasket and a cylinder needs at least 80 psi of compression to fire. The water defiantly should have been all gone by now I think you could have another serious engine issue. Good luck though. </TD></TR></TABLE>

So far, I have only filled the radiator with distilled water. I'm going to purchase a compression tester tomorrow and check it out. HMO does a compression test & leak down test before they send their motors off, so I hope it's fine.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xxmastermindxx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">maybe, i know when i hydrolocked and tried to use the same plugs, it was a no go. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I went out and bought some new NGKs. Going to put them in if the compression test turns out good.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nemesis25 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yo saikou on a different note were you able to use your original ECU and wiring harness? The only reason I ask is cuz it seems as if your swap is the only one of it's kind(H23A3).
Thanks. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, I used my original wiring harness and ECU. Plenty of people have received H23A3s from hmotorsonline.

 

I had the wrong plug wires on my car (person replaced them right before I bought it) and I went to clean up some, sprayed degreaser and rinsed the engine bay 3 times, went to start it up to get the oil warm to change it and it was misfiring BAD, my car was shaking around like someone riding a damn bull or something. Turned it off, got out the air compressor and wet/dry vac and basically blew the air down in it at an angle (to leave room for the water, etc. to come back up) and sucked it up with the vaccum. I'd repeat that as much as necessary, that's THE easiest way to get it out IMO. Good luck.

 

Mine wouldn't start because I had the slightest amount of moisture in the distributor cap...

 

Would the water in the cylinders affect the reading of the compression tester?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by saikou &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Would the water in the cylinders affect the reading of the compression tester?</TD></TR></TABLE>

probably would since water doesn't compress....

 

Yup, couldn't get a reading on the compression tester. But perhaps I'm doing it incorrectly.

I have the injectors disconnected and am turning the car over and there are slight shots of mist coming out of each cylinder. In this video, mine shot out more and faster - however, that's when I first discovered there was water in the cylinders.
http://video.google.com/videop...47982

Still haven't gotten it to fire. Shouldn't it still attempt to fire if there is water in the cylinders? Also, I am using the alternator that came with the long block, but that shouldn't cause a no start.

Edit:
I'm beginning to think I don't have spark. I pulled the plugs after trying to start it again and they smelt like fuel, so I'm definitely getting enough fuel. I am pretty sure most, if not all the water has been pretty much evaporated due to the heat here in TX, that and repeated cranking of the motor to spit it out.


Modified by saikou at 2:53 PM 7/7/2007

 

have a professional do the compression test on it.

 

Good news - got the car to start, yes! Needed to take the pin out of the distributor shaft and rotate the top of it 180 degrees. Started right up.

Bad news:




Car started smoking where the timing belt is, smelled like rubber burning. ****, what causes this to happen? I could also slide the belt side to side on top of the gears with my hands. Also ended up over heating and I turned it off immediately.

 

i dont know about the timing belt, it might be installed wrong especially if you smell rubber burning...

as for the overheating, whenever i flush/refill my cooling system, or when i've replaced my radiator, the temp gauge has always been in the red right away and there is always smoke that smells like coolant coming off of it, it stops once its fully bled. dont know if thats what you're experiencing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xxmastermindxx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i dont know about the timing belt, it might be installed wrong especially if you smell rubber burning...

as for the overheating, whenever i flush/refill my cooling system, or when i've replaced my radiator, the temp gauge has always been in the red right away and there is always smoke that smells like coolant coming off of it, it stops once its fully bled. dont know if thats what you're experiencing.</TD></TR></TABLE>

My guess is, we didn't tension it correctly. Because I do not think you should be able to slide it on the gears side to side like I can. If you look at the belt, the right half of it has the most amount of wear. I think I lucked out and it didn't walk all the way off. Anyone agree?

As for the overheating, I think there is just a massive amount of air since the motor was completely dry. Just need to bleed it correctly.