Did a compression test....

[3dimentia]

I know it isn't quite to service limit yet but I was saddened to see the numbers....

150, 150, 130, 140

The car smokes after i give it a romp but only for a minute or so. After the car has warmed up completely I get no smoke at all, so I'm kinda hoping it is just valve seals, as that will be cheaper on my wallet than rings. MAN! Good thing I only paid 400 buckaroos for the GSX.

I know, I know....I need to do a leakdown test, but do you think it should still be driveable this way for a while?

Thanks

 

[94nonturboGS]

It's still driveable yeah but it wouldn't hurt to tear it down now and rebuild before more things go wrong with it

 

[3dimentia]

Great, that is all I need..... How much for a typical 1G rebuild? I've rebuilt GM motors, so I know the gist of it, but seems like these are quite a bit more $$$ considering lack of interchangeable parts.

I am not looking for anything crazy in the range of power with this car, 325-400 AWHP some day would suffice, so could I stick with stock-ish rebuild parts? I know from reading the stock bottom ends are pretty stout on these cars...

Thanks

 

[rush2252]

Heres a fast way to calculate a stock rebuild on the bottom end which are capable of your hp goal. Go to ebay and search for the parts. Then figure in the cost times 1.5 and you will have a ballpark figure on the parts. Ive found you can find good quality parts on ebay especially on older cars its common for places to liquidate their stock and to find some good deals if you just look and know what to look for. If you leary about ebay just throw in the 1.5 on top of the total subtract the shipping costs and order the parts from a machine shop or local parts house. Last time I checked you can still get rings/bearings etc through NAPA Oreillys etc.

If you want Beck Arnely parts PM me I happen to have an older catalog and I can provide the parts for pistons/rods/oil pumps etc IF it lists them and you can find a wholesaler or dealer.

Kolby

and yes the bottom ends are beast. I happen to know a car pushing 580whp its a 1g awd. Stock bottom end fully built head etc.

 

[3dimentia]

Thanks for the quick reply Rush. I have been eyeing the partsdinosaur site for prices. They are great prices, i just want to be sure that the parts will be ok. I know Mitsu and every other car company out there sublets their work to other houses, and apparently ITM is one of them.

Anyway, thank you very much for the info. Now I just need to figure out what all I need to replace if I go that route.

My list so far:

pistons, rings stock compression .020 over (Will be necessary probably, ya?)
Rod Bearings Set
Main Bearings Set (Can these by std size?)
Balance Shaft Eliminator Kit
Brass Freeze Plugs
Timing Kit (belts, water pump etc)
Full Gasket Set
ARP head studs

I just don't have a lot of money. I have two kids and a stay at home wife that need my support I have heard machine work is pretty reasonable in price, so hopefully all of this in total wouldn't be prohibitively expensive.....I want my car!

Anyway, again thanks for the info!

 

[Boost92awd]

Have you tried a wet compression test? For all you know the bottom end is still fine.

 

[3dimentia]

No, I have not had the time yet. I am simply preparing in case it is the bottom end. I like to know how much things are going to be if they hit me, know what I mean? Thanks for the input!

 

[94awdcoupe]

those numbers arent too bad. not worth rebuilding yet. still has life. oil could be coming from turbo. turbo will smoke more under boost when wheels are loose. more oil pressure. valve guide seals will smoke after 10-20 minute idle.

 

[3dimentia]

those numbers arent too bad. not worth rebuilding yet. still has life. oil could be coming from turbo. turbo will smoke more under boost when wheels are loose. more oil pressure. valve guide seals will smoke after 10-20 minute idle.


Hey.

The turbo doesn't seem to be the culprit here. It has spec shaft play ( been rebuilt recently ) and is clean on the inlet. I haven't checked the hotside mainly because I don't want to tear into it at the moment. It only smokes for a minute, and only after it has warmed up some but it is a lot of smoke. After I take it out and drive it, all of the smoke goes away, and doesn't come back unless I let it cool off, then start all over again. I dropped a single drop of oil on a hot manifold the other day and I was amazed to see how long and how much it smoked from a single drop of oil, so im guessing its cumulative from a bad seal or something. Maybe I'm just hopeful it isn't the rings

I'll hopefully be able to do a wet test soon and let you know what the results are.

Thanks!

 

[94awdcoupe]

That sounds like oil dripping off guides while it is sitting. gets sucked in on start up. you can relax, its not piston rings.

 

[tkelly27]

One cylinder is 20psi off the other two, and the other adjacent one is 10psi off. Something is wrong. Service limit is 121, but with a max difference of 14psi between any two cylinders. That you have two adjacent cylinders with low comp should also tell you something is amiss.

How to do a Compression Test

You can drive it, yes. I drove with a blown head gasket for months, just kept adding water. I think it eventually wiped out my bearings from putting water into the oil though. If it's a valve being burnt, they can just break off and you'll be needing a new head and potentially new valves, instead of just a new valve. Figure out what it is, and see if you can justify putting off fixing it.

I like PD for anything more than gaskets, and ebay for gaskets. It's not significantly more expensive than a GM, the 4g engines and their brothers and sisters were in lots of cars. When I need parts for my car I go straight to the hyundai section of the junkyard

That I know of, valve stem seals/valve guides won't cause a loss in compression. They can smoke like that, but it can also be smoking while you don't notice it. I didn't notice the smoke from my car at all until the DEQ pointed it out.

 

[3dimentia]

One cylinder is 20psi off the other two, and the other adjacent one is 10psi off. Something is wrong. Service limit is 121, but with a max difference of 14psi between any two cylinders. That you have two adjacent cylinders with low comp should also tell you something is amiss.

Are you referring to head gasket? Its possible I suppose, but I haven't seen any bubbling in the coolant filler neck when the car is running, and the oil looks nice and oily.

 

[94awdcoupe]

Are you referring to head gasket? Its possible I suppose, but I haven't seen any bubbling in the coolant filler neck when the car is running, and the oil looks nice and oily.

Actually when pressure goes low on two adjacent cylinders it could be gasket fading in between those two cylinders.

 

[3dimentia]

Hadn't thought of that.....I wonder how likely that is. Thanks for the input!