2G Blown Head Gasket or somthing else??

[TSIFWD19]

Ok...I'm about to write a saga...but please bear with me, as you are going to see, my luck has not been too good....Here's my story....I had just finished swapping engines, bought another one off ebay, this one with about 120k on it.

On first start...the engine runs, but almost immediately, the a/c belt snaps and the alternator belt comes off the pulley and gets jammed in the pulleys, evidently I had my belts too tight...so I fixed that problem and started it up again....everything seems to be running ok, the lifters sound pretty noisy and I notice the water pump pulley is wobbling a bit. I try spraying a little lubricant on the belt/pulley and interestingly it seems to straightened out, but only momentarily and then it's back to wobbling abit...then it seems to run true again....wierd. This is also on a new water pump.

Anyway, the lifters seem to be quieting down...I hadn't topped off the coolant and noticed the temp gauge rising to H, so I shut it down....let it cool a bit and put more coolant in. Starting it up again, everything is fine (except the off and on wobble of the water pump pully)....but the lifters are once again noisy. At low idle, I notice the oil preasure seems low (below half way), so I checked the dip stick and it seemed like it need another quart (had only put in 4-quarts). I add another quart and started it back up, let it run for another 5-10 min, when I noticed that one of the cam gears was now starting to wobble pretty bad, before I could say shut it down, the engine just suddenly died.

Seems that although I had tourqued both cam gears to spec, after changing the timing belt, the bolt had loosened enough to allow the belt to edge off the cam gear, just enough to make contact with the plastic housing....the belt never came off, or jumped timing, just walked off the edge of the cam gear ever so slightly.

I am able to retourque the cam gears (both). The timing belt is back in center postion, I recheck my timing marks to make certain everything still lines up....with the cam gear timing marks aligned horizontally, the crank pulley mark aligns with the T on the plastic case....everything seems fine, so I try to restart....nothing....try again....nothing.....engine turns over, but does not seem to be firing....what the heck?...

Now I start wondering...what caused the engine to shut off in the first place? Cam sensor? Fuel shut-off? What? I chase the fuel, seems to be getting fuel....I check the plugs...seems to be getting spark...but the engine won't start at all.

I decide to run a compression check....now keep in mind, when the engine was running, albeit for less than 15 mins, it seemed to run pretty decent. I run a compression check and I am getting around 70 on 4, 0 on 3 and 2, and 120 on 1

When the engine ran, it did not smoke really, but I never got much of a chance to really open up the throttle hard. It barely ran long enough to get hot, but did get to H on the gauge at one point....could it have really blown a head gasket? If so, why would all my cylinder readings be so terrible? I can see a blow out between 2 and 3 for example...Any chance I have valve issues?...Any ideas what to try next? If you have read this far...I am hopeful you will be able to provide me with some suggesitons, thanks in advance for your help!

 

[silver bullit]

Why buy a motor off ebay and just slap it in the car did you check it and do a complete check before install? Are you pully bent or not bolted on to torque spec? Did you do the timming belt correct and lined it up on all the cams/gears and did you crank the motor a few to build oil pressure? Are you getting spark at the end of your spark wire and plugs?

 

[silver bullit]

What does the pistons look like when you take the spark plugs out?

 

[TSIFWD19]

I checked the motor over before installing it....pulled off the pan, checked out the bearings, everything looked good. Changed the timing belt and the counter balance belt along with the water pump...verified all timing marks....engine started and ran pretty well at first.

When I look at the tops of the pistons now, they look black with moisture (from fuel I presume)...I definitly get spark at the electrode of the spark plug...

 

[silver bullit]

Is your starter spinning the motor/flywheel? Did you stick you finger in thier to check to see if it was fuel and not oil or coolant? Are you all of your plugs firing. Does the motor spinn or make funny noises? Do you have milky oil or oil in the radiator cap when it is removed.