On the way home from a party tonight, I was on the freeway (it was totally empty mind you), and decided to have a little fun with my car so I downshift into third. I reach 8000 RPMS and go to shift into fourth, and when I let the clutch out, I see my tach jump past 9k, probably to 9.5k. I immediately punch the clutch in (the meter on the tach looked like I revved up that high and let off the gas). The car seemingly still drives fine. However, at idle, I can feel the whole car vibrate in time with little backfires from my exhaust (Tanabe RM, so that's why I could hear it). There's a nearly steady idle (I might be imagining it, but it looks like slight fluctuations if focused on) at the RPM is used to be at, but it sounds more rough. When I blip the throttle, it sounds a little bubbly, like a WRX with an aftermarket exhaust. A couple friends of mine that know more about cars than I do think it could mean that my timing is messed up. It doesn't sound like there is any ticking coming from the engine, but I will try to find a way to upload some sound clips. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance.

PS:
I did a search, and a lot of people were flaming the thread authors for missing a gear, so please don't call me an idiot for doing this. I've never had anything remotely like this happen to me...3rd to 4th is probably the easiest thing to do because it's simply straight back. I don't know how this happened, but accidents happen I guess

 

sounds like you bent some vavles

 

is right... is it okay to drive on? I don't have money and I'm guessing if I did bend some valves, then I'm gonna need a new valvetrain, something I can't afford right now. If it's okay to drive on, is there anything I should or shouldn't do? The car still seems to pull (tried it in second gear), but I can't tell if it's slower or not. I'd appreciate any advice/input.

Wow what a shitty way to start off the new year.

 

You sholdnt have to replace your whole vavle train, just the valves that are bent. Hopefully you only bent a couple and can get them replaced at the acura dealership. But I have no idea how much the stealership will charge you for labor.

hope everything works out for you

I dont think it is wise to drive on it, cause if a valve is bent it could break off at any time and cause serious damage to the pistons and the head. Just try to get it fixed asap.


Modified by Toda Built at 7:18 AM 1/3/2004

 

if the valves are bent, you will most likely notice a loss in power, do a compression check and a leak down test to see if you floated a valve.

Oh, do a valve lash adjustment, that might actually fix things up, assuming things got out of spec.

 

OverRev, look for tranny juice

 

did the same exact thing about 6 months ago.. turned out i bent a few valves so i just built my head.... if u dont have money id say the labor alone will be around 600$ and the valves are gunna be like 10$ each or so.... but dont drive on it cuz then u could make things even worse

 

oh man... lol

happens to the best of us.

 

Hey man just thought I'd give you a heads up since I noticed that you live around in the same area as me.Do NOT go to Japanese Engines in Mountlake Terrace,they do a half assed job.I bent some valves a year ago and it progressively got worse and worse over time,get it taken care of right away.

 

Thanks for the input so far guys. I don't have the tools or know-how to do anything needed to fix the problem, so I'm guessing I'm going to have to take it somewhere. My family has a trustworthy mechanic that we go to, but I'm not sure how good he is with this stuff. There's also the option of going to the dealer, but they are not only more expensive, but really shady as well. What else my be wrong with my car?

...crap I start winter quarter on Monday and need my car to travel...

 

bump for my poor B18C

 

bring it to a place , or ask some friends to do a compression and leak down test , if they are bad i think bad is like if they are not within like 10 or so from eachother , then get someone to check your valves with the tool and adjust them iff off , i did the same thing one time man its ok, just try and fix it ASAP

good luck with everything , and if you do HAVE to drive the GSR dont beat on it , drive slow and shift low

 

My ex G/F did the same thing to my GSR. I totally lucked out, all it did was detonate the clutch into a million peices. The engine came away fine. It is definately a valve problem. That is a textbook description of a slightly bent valve. here is another test that you can do. Take it out and while you are driving, gear down like when you are comming to a stop. Listen to the engine and see if it sounds more normal.

The cheapest way to do this is to go buy a Haynes manual. Get the tools you need (you can rent them), pull the head yourself, and take it to the machine shop of your choice. It will cost about $500 to get the head resurfaced and get the valves replaced, then re-install it youself. It honestly is not all that hard.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jacobyb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Take it out and while you are driving, gear down like when you are comming to a stop. Listen to the engine and see if it sounds more normal.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

what would make it sound abnormal ??

like what would it sound like or whatever

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jacobyb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
The cheapest way to do this is to go buy a Haynes manual. Get the tools you need (you can rent them), pull the head yourself, and take it to the machine shop of your choice. It will cost about $500 to get the head resurfaced and get the valves replaced, then re-install it youself. It honestly is not all that hard. </TD></TR></TABLE>

How long does something like that take? I start school tomorrow and won't have a lot of time on my hands until the end of winter quarter. If I did some of the labor myself, and it was still $500+ like you're suggesting, then how much should I expect to pay at a shop/the dealership? I'd love to do this myself but it happened at a really bad time.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by E B K &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey man just thought I'd give you a heads up since I noticed that you live around in the same area as me.Do NOT go to Japanese Engines in Mountlake Terrace,they do a half assed job.I bent some valves a year ago and it progressively got worse and worse over time,get it taken care of right away.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Any suggestions on where to take it then?

 

well if u bring it to a place its gunna take a while to get back anyway... cuz they have other projects there workin on so it could take a week to get back... FYI: dont bring it to a dealer... tooo expensive, and ur right they are shady as ****...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1hotintegra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well if u bring it to a place its gunna take a while to get back anyway... cuz they have other projects there workin on so it could take a week to get back... FYI: dont bring it to a dealer... tooo expensive, and ur right they are shady as ****...</TD></TR></TABLE>

we're not shady at the dealership you just gotta know something about cars, and possibly know the service people if you're very doubtful. i don't think anyone else would have more experiences with hondas than the people at the dealership.

alfaay, you can bring it down to renton honda if you're very doubtful of other dealerships. if you wanna give me an IM, i can give you the number to schedule an appointment and the hours i work if you'd like to get my personal opinion. we have both a day crew and a night crew. renton honda service closes at 11pm. i hate the late hours, but it's more convient for customers. i start winter quarter at bcc monday too. and not having a car sucks. but gotta make it to school and work somehow. i suggest you starting with compression test.

 

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

we're not shady at the dealership you just gotta know something about cars, and possibly know the service people if you're very doubtful. i don't think anyone else would have more experiences with hondas than the people at the dealership.

alfaay, you can bring it down to renton honda if you're very doubtful of other dealerships. if you wanna give me an IM, i can give you the number to schedule an appointment and the hours i work if you'd like to get my personal opinion. we have both a day crew and a night crew. renton honda service closes at 11pm. i hate the late hours, but it's more convient for customers. i start winter quarter at bcc monday too. and not having a car sucks. but gotta make it to school and work somehow. i suggest you starting with compression test.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, dealerships aren't too bad. I wouldn't trust the South Center Acura, they tried to rip me off. I Go to Bellevue Acura for all my service. so Yee, how bout them HONDA Racing Gloves?

 

Whoa man that hurts good luck with that...and hopefully you only bent a few valves

 

I guess dealers aren't that bad, but they are expensive. I had a bad experience at Acura of Bellevue (Washingon) earlier this year.

If all my car needed was a valve adjustment, would it have the same symptoms as having bent valves? In the worst case (bent valves, etc.), would it be ideal to just upgrade my valves? I guess I'm worried because I anticipate a pretty costly repair...

 

when i bent my valves, my car wouldnt even start. i seriously dont think you bent valves. most likely timing was affected or some valves got out of spec.

 

you my have just jumped a tooth on the cam gears, when my vavles were bent the car started up, it had to be jump started though, but i bent eight maybe u just bent one , or maybe u should reset ur ecu cuz ur engine was just iin shock ? (limp mode)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alfaaay &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I guess dealers aren't that bad, but they are expensive. I had a bad experience at Acura of Bellevue (Washingon) earlier this year.

If all my car needed was a valve adjustment, would it have the same symptoms as having bent valves? In the worst case (bent valves, etc.), would it be ideal to just upgrade my valves? I guess I'm worried because I anticipate a pretty costly repair...</TD></TR></TABLE>

That sucks... you'll have to fix this prob. soon cause you definately cant' be driving around like that at all.. Just do what you can now, try asking the parents for borrowing a car, and you might as well plan on having a project since you are already rebuilding the head. Thats what I did. I just went the extra mile and took my head to importbuilders.com and they did the rest.

 

I did something simular in a b18a1. I was chasing a 911 at a HPDE, I went for 4th and it didn't engage, went for it again and got second. My safc recorded a peak rpm of 9011rpm.
I got very lucky, considering I've got crower 403's with stock 13 year old valve springs, I had zero damage to the engine or tranny.
I'd check valve lash, and valve timing and see if that might be a possible source of the exhaust noise.
Is the valve train chattering or making noise?
Also are you sure that is actually backfiring and not just missing.



Modified by Stubbs at 9:46 PM 1/4/2004