Mean Green
09-25-2010, 07:41 AM
Some have been following my thread about diagnosing a very random misfire (http://www.3sgto.org/showthread.php?857-It-s-been-a-while-and-I-really-need-this-fixed.). The past few days have been hectic to say the least. Let me give you guys a run down on the past 24 hours:
I did a compression test on my NEW engine and found cylinder 3 was dead.
I called around and lined up a new front head just in case it was valve related.
I went ahead and went to autozone and ordered a new head gasket and new VSS for the new head and on the way my Eclipse overheated significantly...it blew the radiator cap off. I limped it back home, 2 miles, fixed the cap and topped the fluid back off.
I went back to autozone because I forgot D batteries for my mag light...on the way there the Eclipse's headlights just quit working. I had to hold the lever back to keep the brights on so I could see...WTF...
I finally got home and ran multiple tests on the engine including a food coloring / gas mixture. I filled all cylinders with their own color food coloring and gas. Only cylinder 3 leaked, red. It did not leak into the oil pan though I did get a damn melting pot of colors come out of the oil pan but was about 1/4 cup of colored gas in 2 hours time. I had to refill, refill some more, and fill again cylinder 3. I eventually ran out of red food coloring and gas for that matter.
I managed to determine that is was the exhaust valve/s in cylinder 3 that was the cause of the compression loss but I couldn't explain why....so I pulled the head off...you guys would not believe what I found...OMFG I wanted to scream and believe me, I will tearing a machine shop a new ass granted I cannot believe I didn't notice it.
The exhaust valves had this shit on them:
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m74/nismo200r/Picture015-1.jpg
It's a hard, ceramic type substance that does not seem to catch fire...even with a torch on it...it was stuck around the exhaust valves of cylinder 3 on the inside of the exhaust runner, which would explain why I didn't notice it. It took the power of god to get it removed from the valve.
Needless to say, it only took me 1 hour and 35minutes to completely remove the front head...I timed myself...lol...and I did not take any short cuts. One 12 pack of cokes later and now I am just waiting on Autozone to call me saying that they have my headgasket in...I am going to try to fix the valves in this head so I can get it back together today, hopefully before noon.
Edit:
You know your motor is clean when you don't wear gloves to take the head off and the only oil / dirt / water / grime you get on your hands is from the garage floor...and from when I dropped the water hose on the nozzle and that bitch exploded...totally soaked me.
I did a compression test on my NEW engine and found cylinder 3 was dead.
I called around and lined up a new front head just in case it was valve related.
I went ahead and went to autozone and ordered a new head gasket and new VSS for the new head and on the way my Eclipse overheated significantly...it blew the radiator cap off. I limped it back home, 2 miles, fixed the cap and topped the fluid back off.
I went back to autozone because I forgot D batteries for my mag light...on the way there the Eclipse's headlights just quit working. I had to hold the lever back to keep the brights on so I could see...WTF...
I finally got home and ran multiple tests on the engine including a food coloring / gas mixture. I filled all cylinders with their own color food coloring and gas. Only cylinder 3 leaked, red. It did not leak into the oil pan though I did get a damn melting pot of colors come out of the oil pan but was about 1/4 cup of colored gas in 2 hours time. I had to refill, refill some more, and fill again cylinder 3. I eventually ran out of red food coloring and gas for that matter.
I managed to determine that is was the exhaust valve/s in cylinder 3 that was the cause of the compression loss but I couldn't explain why....so I pulled the head off...you guys would not believe what I found...OMFG I wanted to scream and believe me, I will tearing a machine shop a new ass granted I cannot believe I didn't notice it.
The exhaust valves had this shit on them:
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m74/nismo200r/Picture015-1.jpg
It's a hard, ceramic type substance that does not seem to catch fire...even with a torch on it...it was stuck around the exhaust valves of cylinder 3 on the inside of the exhaust runner, which would explain why I didn't notice it. It took the power of god to get it removed from the valve.
Needless to say, it only took me 1 hour and 35minutes to completely remove the front head...I timed myself...lol...and I did not take any short cuts. One 12 pack of cokes later and now I am just waiting on Autozone to call me saying that they have my headgasket in...I am going to try to fix the valves in this head so I can get it back together today, hopefully before noon.
Edit:
You know your motor is clean when you don't wear gloves to take the head off and the only oil / dirt / water / grime you get on your hands is from the garage floor...and from when I dropped the water hose on the nozzle and that bitch exploded...totally soaked me.