The motor: b20b with gsr head
10k miles since assembled
blueprinted with mostly stock internals + block guard, skunk2 cams, supertech springs.
head and block resurfaced with all new gaskets, water and oil pump

the symptoms: compression test - 170,170,170,150 <-- #4 cyl
white sludge in catch can only
semi large oil leak under vtec solenoid where block/head meet
while car was idling i blocked off all crank case ventilation which made the car smoke a lot (looked like burning oil?)

the history: I did a compression check months ago when it was n/a and it read the same numbers. I ignored it since the car showed no problematic signs. The leak under the dizzy used to be minor until the car was boosted and tuned last week. Car runs great but after a pull or 2 there is loads of oil down the front of the tranny.

Im pulling the head this weekend so ill find out soon what the problem is and update this thread but i wanted to see if you guys had any ideas. im sure i've forgot to mention something but i bet you'll remind me if i did.

EDIT: 1. sludge in the catch can is NORMAL.
2. oil was leaking from the seals NOT the head gasket (should have believed the 4000 threads on it already)
3. i over reacted

 

Clean it up and locate where the oil is actually coming from. Pulling the head off doesn't do any good if you can't visually verify or pin point where the leak is coming from.

 

I'm pretty sure blocking off the block ventilation wasn't a good idea, especially on a boosted setup. That pressure needs to go somewhere.

 

are all the gaskets on that side good? distributor o-ring, vtec solenoid gasket, cam plug?

the lack of ventilation would cause you to push more oil through gasket surfaces.

 

the motor has been cleaned up thoroughly multiple times then driven to pin point the leak. all the gaskets on that side were replaced with new oem gaskets (o-ring, vtec solenoid and cam cap). I plugged the hole only as a test at idle for a few seconds to see if it would smoke, it was a friends idea.

 

Did some quick research and saw that sludge in the catch can in actually normal since its vented (condensation). The oil leak and low compression numbers still bug me.

 

im going to rtv the dizzy o ring and cam cap when i get home to see if that helps the leaking at all.

For the low compression.....could the one cylinders rings never seated? since i never did a compression test until months after the motor was built, could this be the case? this is my first built motor.

 

There is a seal inside the dizzy that likes to leak. Can't buy it from Honda or any other auto parts store. Need to find one online. And NO I don't have a part number or website for you to look at. Google will help with that.

Have you done a cyl leak down test to see why #4 is acting up? FYI a leak down and compression test are two different tests.

 

So i RTV'd the dizzy o ring when i got home and that took care of 50% of the leak. I folded up a blue shop towel and put it under the vtec solenoid and drove it around to see if it could soak up an oil from whatever source its leaking from. Looks like it was dripping down from above so its NOT the headgasket. I guess i was in denial that those seals would leak since they were all new. Its hard to see any leaks until the oil puddles on the tranny.

I did a wet compression test on the #4 cylinder and it shot up to 190ish. Did a leak down test and air was escaping out of the catch can. Not sure how the rings went bad/didnt seat but since there is no smoke/sputtering/problems at all im going to leave the head on, fix the leak and do rings later down the road.

EDIT: any tips on getting rings to seat??