Curious Observation.....

[PearlDrummer00]

Ok so was under the hood one day and noticed me bolts for my exhaust mani were loose. SO i tighten them and noticed the stud itself is coming out. So i thought yea thier stripped....but ive never took them out before. Therefore meaning ive never put them back in either. So i took them out (all 3 at the top) and took a look at them....well they werent stripped there was alluminuim WRAPPED around the threads of the stud! like a coil! so it seems like the head got so hot the aluminuim melted or something. anyway i got it fixed with some heli coils but what in the world would cause such a problem.


Lets say heat was the problem. the ONLY explanation i got for that is i was checking my timing one day with a timing light and noticed i got could turn the dizzy all the way EITHER way and couldnt find 0 degrees. PLUS the car would only run right ALL the way davance on the dizzy. could being really advanced create to much heat? if so why would my car run VERY shitty if it wasntadvanced alot?

[Oldblueaccord]

In short there stripped.

That alum. you saw in the threads of the studs are the threads. :thumbdn:


wp

[88Accord-DX]

Yes, preignition will happen if you advance the timing to far, causing lots of carbon deposites forming in the combustion cambers over time. AKA- when an overheated surface in the combustion chamber ignites the air fuel mixture. Termed 'surface ignition', a hot spot (overheated bit of carbon, sharp metal edge, hot exhaust valve) causes the mixture to burn prematurely.

Second question is hard to answer if you don't know the timing adjustment from the get go.

[PearlDrummer00]

ya i dont understand how my car runs absoluttly perfect with my dizzy all the way advanced. Seriuosly theres no ping at all AND it pulls like no other.

[88Accord-DX]

Might be some play in the dizzy to cam junction, never know on these old cars.

[Oldblueaccord]

Well with high octane fuel you can run quite a bit of timing. Im running about 2 gallons of E-85 (105 octane) and get no ping with 87 octane fuel atm. I dont know if I could go full advance but its up there.

If your not getting any ping your prolly ok.

I;d say the bolts got loose and that was it or when you turned them out the were galled together. Aluminum and steel do not like each other.


wp

[PearlDrummer00]

yea maybe. i do notice something else odd that i THOUGHT had todo with my timing. When i get high in the rpms CLOSE to redline i hear what sounds like valve overlap. Granted ive never heard what valve over lap sounds like but thats what i immediatly thought of. its like a real loud vtec noise. But i could just be paranoid, cuz my valves are adjusted to Intake .006 and Exhaust .010. I also did notice under the hood of our cars the valve adjustment is WAY off from what 3 geez says lol

[2oodoor]

hey havnt heard from you in a while
you may have timing belt one tooth off or so , that is the reason you are running the dist. so far . Remeber there is cam to crank timing and then there is ign timing , two to be concerned with.
It kind of sounds like you have too much advance "valves overlapping" never sounds like a good thing to say:) What kind of plugs are you using? You may be preigniting there.

The melted stuff you say could have been a little anit seize compound somebody used on the studs. Also with steel studs will pull the whole thread of alum it is bolted to, out clean sometimes.

I adjusted my valves at .008 and .011 and still sounded a little loose, but it is my understanding that a little loose is good on the A20 and earlier Honda engines.

[PearlDrummer00]

well i do know for sure that my timing belt is loose ....but my tensioner is ALL the way tighten. WHich tell me its a shitty timing belt,,,,lol i did get it from a topline kit so...maybe my cam to crank timing is off?? how would i check/correct it? Then should I redo my ignition timeing?

[lostforawhile]

that aluminum is the threads cut into the hole,thats what stripped means. when you make threads,you have to drill to a certain size hole for a certain size thread. the tap cuts into the sides of the drilled hole, to a certain percentage over the original size hole. when you strip a hole,you rip those cut threads out of the hole,leaving a hole thats too big for new threads. the aluminum on the studs is actually the threads. if you look at the section on here for post links,on machining,etc. i put up a link to a tap and die chart. this shows the relationship of hole size to thread size,and what size hole to drill for a certain size thread. for a note,on the exaust studs, it can be difficult to find the correct metric helicoil and studs. you can drill and helicoil for standard 5/16-18 automotive studs,they will still fit through the hole on the exaust manifold,and you have more options such as ARP studs,also the ARP locking studs for headers are available in standard 5/16-18. a standard 5/16-18 automotive studs will have that thread on the engine end,and the other end for the bolt usually has 5/16-24 fine thread for the nuts.

[2oodoor]

well i do know for sure that my timing belt is loose ....but my tensioner is ALL the way tighten. WHich tell me its a shitty timing belt,,,,lol i did get it from a topline kit so...maybe my cam to crank timing is off?? how would i check/correct it? Then should I redo my ignition timeing?
how loose is loose?
is it so loose you can easily slid the belt off? True if the belt is worn or oil soaked it will stretch but if you are way loose there something else going on.
Most likely though the tensioner and spring assy needs refreshed. Or the tension is in a bind slightly and not letting it spring tight.
Yes you always need to redo ignition timing anytime you mess with the cam timing/belt

[PearlDrummer00]

uhm its FAIRLY loose with enough force it can be pushed off the gear...but ive tried and its hard lol...BUT when i rev the motor and watch it, its got TONS of play.....Ive already replaced my tensioner pulley just a few months ago....but lets say i wanted to correct the cam/crank timing from whatever its at now....how would i do that? i might just need to exact it some or something.