Ok, heres the deal. I recently got my type R engine built. Ported B18C5 head, Toda 82mm pistons, Toda B cams, Toda timing belt, Toda valve springs, Toda cam gears. I'm about 800 miles into break-in, and when I'm idling in a parking lot one day, my car just dies and shuts off.

We open up the head, and this is what we find:



The head is busted, so is one of the pistons. Any ideas how a valve can break like that? The garage guys say they've never seen a valve break up like that. All the other valves are in good condition.

Also, the garage guys say they have a B18 non type R head they could use in my car. I'm not sure which it is, but they say it has higher compression, and the intake manifold fits downward on it, so they'd have to modify my intake manifold. Any idea which head this is?

 

It looks like the valve dropped. Either you had a retainer fail, or the retainer was not installed properly and popped off. Once the piston hits the valve, it is all over. You should have seen my motor when a stock retainer split at 6,000 rpm

And it sounds like the garage may be talking about a GSR head.

 

Thanks b19

So the failed retainer is what caused the valve to break so cleanly at the small section? I was under the impression that valves almost always break at the valve head?

Should I be looking to get another type R head? the garage guys claim that after porting and polishing the head they have (JDM GSR?) it will be stronger with higher compression. Are they bs-ing me? wont the valves in that head be weaker?


Modified by dc800 at 3:49 PM 1/31/2004

 

A GSR head is arguably better than an ITR head, and it will up your compression by 0.2. Depends on who you talk to as to which head is better.

 

B19 Thanks for the info.

Any idea how much a GSR head (JDM) goes for?

Dont wanna get ripped off. The garage claims this was a freak accident and will just give me discount on labor, I still gotta pay for parts

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dc800 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Any idea how much a GSR head (JDM) goes for?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Anywhere from $300-$800. depends on condition of the head and how bad the seller needs money. Really sorry to hear about your misfortune

 

I had a valve break cleanly in 2 places at 20 mph just barely on the gas. Most japanese import builders don't bother with magnafluxing parts which may or may not have picked up something like these valves having issues. Older European cars almost always have their parts magnafluxed when they're torn down, but it's expensive, and you have to figure if it's worth the cost.

Warren

 

 

either your retainer failed, or your timing belt jumped. I had a retainer take a **** on me at 7000 rpms. They were titanium retainers (JUN) , I had JUN IIIs and my engine looked like Baghdad after three bunker busters.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jelly Bean &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">either your retainer failed, or your timing belt jumped. I had a retainer take a **** on me at 7000 rpms. They were titanium retainers (JUN) , I had JUN IIIs and my engine looked like Baghdad after three bunker busters.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's a big negative in my case. No busted retainers (stock). No busted keepers.

Warren

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dc800 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ok, heres the deal. I recently got my type R engine built. Ported B18C5 head, Toda 82mm pistons, Toda B cams, Toda timing belt, Toda valve springs, Toda cam gears. I'm about 800 miles into break-in, and when I'm idling in a parking lot one day, my car just dies and shuts off.

We open up the head, and this is what we find:



The head is busted, so is one of the pistons. Any ideas how a valve can break like that? The garage guys say they've never seen a valve break up like that. All the other valves are in good condition.

Also, the garage guys say they have a B18 non type R head they could use in my car. I'm not sure which it is, but they say it has higher compression, and the intake manifold fits downward on it, so they'd have to modify my intake manifold. Any idea which head this is?</TD></TR></TABLE>

so scary... i am saving money for my toda B cam and valve spring, and now i changed my mind. should be stay in the stock if you don't want anything bad happen.... just my thought

 

SOL-R u might want to trade your car for a volvo if u're so scared
call yourself VOL-R

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cann &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">SOL-R u might want to trade your car for a volvo if u're so scared
call yourself VOL-R</TD></TR></TABLE>

If he does he can get a real Volvo R. The S60R. And it's boosted

-Dave, who'd pimp a S60R over an ITR.

 

When did you last do a valveadjustment? The valvelashes should be checked quite frequently when getting a new valvetrain and cams... ?

Anyways - Im really sorry to hear about your accident. If a good tuner did the install and the pre and post tuning, you'd think they take some kind of responsibility for it? I mean - broken valves and failing retainers isnt really a new phenomena - is it?

Doing the same upgrade soon, scared shitless of ending up like you. Maybe I should stay stock.. scary.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jelly Bean &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">either your retainer failed, or your timing belt jumped. I had a retainer take a **** on me at 7000 rpms. They were titanium retainers (JUN) , I had JUN IIIs and my engine looked like Baghdad after three bunker busters.</TD></TR></TABLE>


I doubt it.
Most likely it was cracked and broke at the small section near the top first.

Think about it, a failed retainer would be easy to spot and timing belt jumps are unlikely.