Half the issues solved!

[ZeroLux]

Well, I think I saved a boatload of cash today. Went dizzy shopping yesterday afternoon, best I could find was $450-something from CarQuest for a remanned unit. Poo that. Hit up the local boneyard this morning, found an 89 that matched mine that had just been put out, had a recently remanned dizzy in it. Ganked. $30 later, and the car is running WORLDS better... still getting a chatter under load up hills, it kicks in sooner than before but is a lighter sound than it used to be.

Decided to check some other stuff. We'll start with valve adjustment. Well, mine were about double the clearance the stock tolerance should have been, fixed that, quieter engine at idle now. Sweet. Did the compression check finally and got not so happy results, wondering what the source of this might be: from pass. side to driver's side: 180-160-90-90 :eek: any idea what the heck could have gone on there? Being that they are equal I am inclined to think the head gasket between the chambers is broken. I had the plugs out of each cyl when I did the test and those were the only two to come up exactly the same. Gonna check it for leak down tomorrow and see if my rings are the culprit.

In other news, I got a good lead on an early 90's Integra LS B18 today that I am considering getting. Complete engine, has intake, head is recently rebuilt, guy quit using it because the rings were shot. Engine is partially apart (head is off block), thinking I can do a bottom end rebuild and get it back up to spec and toss it in the Accord. I have tons of questions on that so if anyone wants to pitch in I'd be very grateful. What parts can mix and match on there? It looked like the B18 (non vtec) head supports the TEC 3-bolt dizzy I just got which is a plus I suppose.

The LX-i I found in the junker today was a 5-spd, not sure why it was there, but I am debating going back in the morning and getting all the conversion parts to swap my ATX out for the MTX when/if I drop the B18 in, taking it from an A20 ATX to a B18 MTX. I figured it would be easier to bolt everything up then drop it in at an angle and go from there.

What parts from the MTX LX-i would I need to grab to make this happen? I know: trans, linkage, shifter, pedals, and other basic obvious parts, do I need both axles and the ECU too? (I had thought about getting the ECU anyway, from what I understand it has nothing to do with the trans type)

I figure I could spend some more time out there and see if I can locate the rear disc brake assembly's from an SE-i or an Integra and have the makings of a pretty decent 3g.

Zero

[Pico]

the axle on the passenger side is different on a m/t if I remember right, I know I had to switch one of mine out when I did my swap.I drove around awhile with the A/T ecu with no problems so you can keep your ecu.

[Hauntd ca3]

if you got 90 between two cylinders, a headgasket would be the suspect but a leak down justto be sure.
just leave the plug out in the cylinder beside the other low one and you'll hear the air escaping

[ZeroLux]

I had all plugs out when I did the comp check so I'd suspect if there was a break in the gasket between the chambers I would not hear much on account of a second piston moving up and down and nothing to stop the airflow through that hole. What I should do however is leave the second plug IN and see if anything changes on the other. Then again I don't think that'd help much either considering the timings are different between the two so I'll need to check to see what stage of the combustion both cylinders are at before I comp test again.

Zero

[Hauntd ca3]

yeah they like 540 dgress apart in the firing order
a leak down will tell you more than but with numbers like that you can be preety sure its a head gasket

[ZeroLux]

Would the head gasket be causing pinging? That's the part that gets me. I'm probably wrong but what are the chances one cylinder is feeding into the other at the wrong times, causing the hot exhaust gasses that were just burned to be prematurely igniting the fresh gas in the other chamber too early? That's the best I could come up with on that idea. It still 'rattles' like an old diesel after extended driving. Also going to be hitting up the junkyard tomorrow to yank an ECU from another 3g since It's been recommended to me a few times now that my computer might be part of the issue.

Zero

[Hauntd ca3]

yeah a head gasket could cause that since i thik number 2 would be on exhaust stroke while number one is on intake stroke.
with those comps an ecu swap wont do a thing apart from waste money.
as said earlier, the comp test suggests the hg is blown between cylinders 1 and 2.
have you done that leak down yet?
could also take off one of the injector plugs and take the plug outta that cyilnder,if you get gas coming outta that cylinder,it will be the hg

[ZeroLux]

Have not done the leakdown test just yet, I'll probably get to that tomorrow sometime. I disabled the injectors when I ran the comp test initially just to be sure it would not wind up washing the walls and causing more issues later on.

[Hauntd ca3]

dont think that you'd wash the oil off the bores just doin a comp test.
do the leak down before you do anything else.
do the mechanical stuff first and you know where you stand with your motor
then worry bout the ecu

[cygnus x-1]

Since the firing order is 1-3-4- 2-1 -3-4-2, when 2 is on the power stroke 1 will be on the compression stroke. If the #2 flame could propagate through the leak it might ignite the mixture in #1 as it's compressing, which would be bad. The comp test does suggest a head leak between #1 and #2 cylinders.

C|

[ZeroLux]

It's actually cylinders 3 and 4 that have the issue. That is, if I am looking at it right. It's the two driver's side cylinders that are doing it. When looking at the engine bay from the front with the hood up, from pass. side to driver's side: 180-160-90-90. Or do I have that backwards and 1 is on the driver's side?

Yeah I know the ECU wont change much right now, I actually wanted to pick it up mainly because it has been the ONLY one that matches my car I've seen in the JY yet, figured it would not hurt to have around for $25.

Doing leakdown this afternoon, hopefully I'll know more after that.

Thanks everyone.

Zero

[Nafs Asdf]

It's actually cylinders 3 and 4 that have the issue. That is, if I am looking at it right. It's the two driver's side cylinders that are doing it. When looking at the engine bay from the front with the hood up, from pass. side to driver's side: 180-160-90-90. Or do I have that backwards and 1 is on the driver's side?

Yeah I know the ECU wont change much right now, I actually wanted to pick it up mainly because it has been the ONLY one that matches my car I've seen in the JY yet, figured it would not hurt to have around for $25.

Doing leakdown this afternoon, hopefully I'll know more after that.

Thanks everyone.

Zero

Yea, you got it backwards or maybe it's just that our engine's are backwards ;)
Number 1 cyl is on the drivers side (on a LHD car)

[ZeroLux]

Yea, you got it backwards or maybe it's just that our engine's are backwards ;)
Number 1 cyl is on the drivers side (on a LHD car)

Funny, I was always told my other car was the one that had it backwards, with the intake in front and the exhaust in the back (which, i dunno, seems pretty natural to me i guess). :) I guess I am just used to working on my old Dodge more than anything else and I've just gotten used to how it's configured. Either way, thanks for the correction, I'll have to remember that when I am working on it, might save me a lot of grief in the future.

Zero