Car has been meticulously maintained and runs like it has 100k on it. No issues but i baby it and hardly ever take it past 6k. I was replacing the stock exhaust manifold since it had a couple small cracks, and i decided to take some pics of the Exhaust Valves and see how they look after so many miles. Please let me know what you guys think from these pics.

The first 3 pics are from Cylinder 1,2 or 4
The last 3 pics are from Cylinder #3

 

Bump for curiousity.

 

I have started researching Seafoam and curious if this product would help in my case. I have read 1 review that worry's me and it said something like the carbon build up may be helping, if the piston rings are worn down. So compression may be lost after using seaform?????

Looking for advice since i am far from an expert when it comes to internals of an Engine

 

I figured a lot of people may be interested to see how a B16A2 holds up after so many miles, but it has been stock since it left the dealership back in 2000

 

Your motor is running lean. Check your fuel system!

 

that looks more like build up of carbon from burning oil from leaking valve seals.

 

WOW lots of miles

 

Defiantly appears to be a lean condition for 1 2 and 4. As far as 3 accept the fact that ur engine is sartiing to show signs of aging. That is build up of un burned hydrocarbons as in fuel or oil. Looks like its time for the head to be serviced as well as a new headgasket. All that build up would cause those valves to not seat right and can lead to other problems

 

It does look like a fuel mixture problem, but also keep in mind, even the mighty vtec engines do wear and get build up over the years and usage

 

see if you beat on it it would be less likely to get carbon build up. do you always get you gas at the same spot ? maybe try a big name station for awhile see if that helps some pic's of the spark plugs would help also.

 

I just bought the car a week ago and the exhaust manifold was cracked when i got it. I have no idea how long it was cracked for, or if that even matters. I always thought the CEL would come on if the ECU detected lean conditions??

Note:I mentioned early that the car is stock, its not completely 100% stock it does have an AEM CAI. I don't know when it was put on the car but the filter was very dirty, may have never been cleaned.

I will pull the spark plugs today and post some pics. Hopefully the spark plugs will show something so i know where i should begin.

Pics of the Exhaust Manifold below.

 

Pics of Spark Plugs in the following order
-All Plugs
-All Plugs
-Cylinder #1
-Cylinder #1
-Cylinder #2
-Cylinder #2
-Cylinder #3
-Cylinder #3
-Cylinder #3
-Cylinder #4


Please let me know what you all think, and i should get some new plugs from the look of Cylinder #3 and maybe check the new plugs twice a week and see whats going on. What plugs are recommended for a stock B16A2 ?

 

2nd pic of Cylinder #4

 

I am picking up a new AEM Digital Wideband tomorrow off craigslist for the S2000 but going to use it in the SI temporarily to see how lean i am running.

 

looks like ash build up on cly # 3 from burning oil could be bad rings , valve seals etc the colour of the other 3 doesn't look to bad but the all look worn .

 

I bought new plugs, and will check them a couple times a week. Tomorrow ill have that AEM Gauge hooked up and will have a true reading of my air/fuel mix.

 

Bingo!

 

If that was my motor, I wouldn't Seafoam it!

It looks like you're burning a little oil in cylinder #3, but it's not excessive. And, your motor is doing a good job of burning it off. It's just producing a lot of ash.

Actually, that plug looks like it came out of a typical 2-stroke dirt bike. LoL!

No telling what the cause of the problem is, but if you Seafoam your engine, you WILL break a lot of ash loose...

Personally, I'd just keep doing regular maintenance until it starts smoking and/or fouling plugs.

I've got 155k on my B16A2, so I'm not too far behind you...

 

Would it still be bad if he just seafoamed through the intake mani and gas tank just not the crank case...would that even help a condition like this?

Would the intake mani seafoaming have negative effects on the rings/possible carbon holding them together?

 

seafoam is not gonna take care of the problem in cyl3. that build up is to heavy for a chemical to wipe clean. this engine needs work.