Car works on 3 cilynder

[Teratani]

Guys I can't take it...this car is going be a very pain in the ass....

Now car goes on 3 cilynder. I don't know what'ts going on. Exactly cylinder number 2 doesn't work at all. I've checked spark plug and was OK, anyway I change it but not working. I' ve change spark plug cable but not working...any idea? Distributor gone? or maybe valves?

I'm going to give death on this car....

[russiankid]

Distributor cap. Theres a good chance that the prong for cylinder two is either shot or completely fell off.

[Teratani]

I thought it as well but I make a spark test...At idle I make touch spark plug cable on the upper pin of spark plug and I hear a clicking sound...should be spark sound, so there is current from distributor. I don't know if enough for working cylinder N.2

I'm definitely sad cause I think is something related to valves...
This is the stor:. my dad drove this morning car, and for him car went more fast then usual, more responsive. He say as press acc pedal car accelerated very fast. Smoke was very lower then normal ( see my engine burning thread). At certain point he hear a crack sound and car went to 3 cylinder....

Now this is situation:

-car start more quickly then before
-car smoke very lower then before
-idle is 2-300 rpm higher then before
-car doesn't leak oil anymore from "blow by case" hose

-the sad news.... car goes on 3 cylinder.


I very suspect valves, because some of u guys told me guide valves and seal worn out (white/blue smoke cause)...but I don't thought this is going to happends......

[MessyHonda]

have you tired adjusting your vales?

[Teratani]

have you tired adjusting your vales?

Honda delaer make it about 1 month ago......could they make wrong work??

[Oldblueaccord]

You can pull the valve cover and look at the rocker arms and the valve tips to see whats up. It could be a broken valve spring. From what you have been telling us it does sound like a valve got stuck in its guide for a second when the motor was running and now the valve is bent. Once the head of the valve is bent it does not seat correctly and you have low or 0 compression.

You can pull that spark plug and put your finger over the hole to see if it has compression when the motor turns over. There is a tools also that is called a "Compression tester" that usues a guage to give you a reading in PSI.


wp

[Teratani]

You can pull the valve cover and look at the rocker arms and the valve tips to see whats up. It could be a broken valve spring. From what you have been telling us it does sound like a valve got stuck in its guide for a second when the motor was running and now the valve is bent. Once the head of the valve is bent it does not seat correctly and you have low or 0 compression.

You can pull that spark plug and put your finger over the hole to see if it has compression when the motor turns over. There is a tools also that is called a "Compression tester" that usues a guage to give you a reading in PSI.


wp

Ok. Tomorrow I'll give it a try!

[Teratani]

Ok, Here some news.

-I pull out valve cover and apparentely nothing is bad, but I'm not a expert....
-I perform "home made" compression test: pull out spark plug and put finger inside then turn over engine: there is a good pressure of air trhough hole so...this should mean there is compression?
-The spark plug now is WET and dark while yesterday was completely DRY....

Then my next step...I want change all spark plug with a good ones...

Any tips?

If valves are ok I'll make a party tonight

[Teratani]

With a fresh new spark plug cylinder N.2 give a small contribute, cause if I disconnect spark plug cable idle drop a little. After few 30 seconds-1 minute, car run more rough and if I disconnect spark plug cable nothing happens, so car very turn on 3 cylinders again....at this point checking spark plug and this is completely WET but not dirty....

Tomorrow I'll take car on a mechanic...
But I think to put this car on death, cause I suspect a not easy trouble....

[Dr_Snooz]

What does the "WET" smell like?

[Teratani]

What does the "WET" smell like?

mmm it doesn't really smell like something. I don't know if was oil or gas...
The sure is go to dry fast, just blow it 2-3 times and spark plug become dry again. I think (hope) was gas even spark plug was not dark, it remains clear: wet but still clear not dirty-dark.

[itzdave]

sounds like ur not getting spark

[1ajs]

if the body is not rusted find another motor and swap it save yea loads of money vs buying a new car...

thats if the motor is screwed... but aww have you don't compression tests?

[Teratani]

I took car on the mechanic. He say spark is OK, He checked distributor and stuff. Compression test is OK, so he say valves are OK.

Now this issue is a mistery... I run car fore some miles, if I pass 3000rpm car goes on 4 cylinder......and if I've check spark plu is DRY and well colored. Otherwise If I still on idle or under 2500 rpm about, car goes on 3 cylinder and spark going to be WET.....

Mechanic say, maybe gas not arrive very well on that cylinder or air infiltration trough IN mainfold....

[1ajs]

bad injector?

[Teratani]

It's a carburator A18A JDM...maybe should I post in CARB section?

[Oldblueaccord]

I took car on the mechanic. He say spark is OK, He checked distributor and stuff. Compression test is OK, so he say valves are OK.

Now this issue is a mistery... I run car fore some miles, if I pass 3000rpm car goes on 4 cylinder......and if I've check spark plu is DRY and well colored. Otherwise If I still on idle or under 2500 rpm about, car goes on 3 cylinder and spark going to be WET.....

Mechanic say, maybe gas not arrive very well on that cylinder or air infiltration trough IN mainfold....

Compression test was good? do you have the number he gave you? A good number would be 150 psi or something close to that. If the compression is good then that is a good thing it means the motor is OK.

What do your other spark plugs look like? You might want to swap the plugs around to prove that it is just not a defective plug.

This is a guess but you still need to check your PVC valve or find it. If it is closeset to the number 2 intake runner it might be the problem.


wp

[Teratani]

Compression test was good? do you have the number he gave you? A good number would be 150 psi or something close to that. If the compression is good then that is a good thing it means the motor is OK.

What do your other spark plugs look like? You might want to swap the plugs around to prove that it is just not a defective plug.

This is a guess but you still need to check your PVC valve or find it. If it is closeset to the number 2 intake runner it might be the problem.


wp

Oh man! U gave me a nice tip and remember me something very important too!! A little blu smoke come out from blow by case, I can't remember this before!

Also I've found PVC valve and is on the intake mainfold, just above N.2 cylinder, easy to reach. I'll post u a picture. you'll notice there's a "U" hose, the left side of this hose, there is PVC valve (violet mark on picture, is on air suction valve, but behind this there is PVC) and just above N.2 cylinder (green mark on picture, the one on the bottom of picture )...The view of PCV is cover by air suction valve, so u'll view only right side of "U" hose (green mark on picture)

...and yes I've checked now number on spark plug cable and is 3 not 2 so I must correct me, it's not N.2 cylinder but N.3 cylinder doesn't works, bottom green mark on picture, and thi is the nearest cylinder to PVC just above it....

Here picture



ZOOM:

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/7...m0663rcpw6.jpg


Could be this the problem?

For spark plug question: Yes I've already swapped and changed in any combination spark plug and is the same. I' ve change spark plug cable from a D16 and it's the same.

[2oodoor]

How is the distributor cap and rotor button?
Have a look inside the distributor under the cap and make sure there is not a lot of oil in there, should be no oil actually.
When you took the valve cover off, did you see if the number 3 (2 intake valves, one exhaust valve per cyl.) rocker action looked normal? that and a real compression test would rule out a broken or bad cam.
And the pvc system should be examined anyway regardless if that is the problem.

I wonder what that crack sound was you father heard?

[Teratani]

How is the distributor cap and rotor button?
Have a look inside the distributor under the cap and make sure there is not a lot of oil in there, should be no oil actually.
When you took the valve cover off, did you see if the number 3 (2 intake valves, one exhaust valve per cyl.) rocker action looked normal? that and a real compression test would rule out a broken or bad cam.
And the pvc system should be examined anyway regardless if that is the problem.

I wonder what that crack sound was you father heard?

Mechainc checked distribuor: pull out distributor cap and check anything (it takes about 10-15 minutes), and he says all ok. i don't know about oil. Compression test with specific tool was OK

I'v tried 2 mechanic and both says all ok, most probably a mainfold problem. Anyway I don't know if trust them....Tomorrow I'll ask one of them compression psi number and yes I'll tell them about pvc.

When I pull out valve cover all seems ok, apparentely nothing strange...

[Teratani]

So this is the sad news. Mechanic says is blown head gasket beetwen N.3 and N.4 cylinder cause when car is warm he say N.4 cylinder doesn't works as well N.3.......

I tell u the truth....I don't trust him. But I don't know what should I do....

Adding where I'll find a head gasket complete set??? It's an A18A, I know there's 2nd gen. Prelude has a A18A as well but it's might be different.....

[Civic Accord Honda]

"only read frist post" fuel injector maybe? or dizzy cap?

[russiankid]

"only read frist post" fuel injector maybe? or dizzy cap?

He has a carb.

[A18A]

head gaskets are the same between a18a & a20a so you'll be sweet

[Dr_Snooz]

Okay Teratani, you're not giving us much here. You say the compression is "OK," but you don't give us numbers. The car smokes, but you won't do a leak-down test. It runs on three cylinders, but all the things that could go wrong with it are "fine." Etc., etc., etc...

Here's the deal: the cylinder compresses, the plugs fire and the fact that it's a carb suggests that it's getting gas. That tells me that everything is fine in that cylinder and your problem is elsewhere. Unfortunately, I can't say that with any conviction because you aren't giving us anything useful to work with.

All I really know is that your car runs like crap, but I'm not even sure how. If I had to guess, I'd say it's been run for the last 300,000 miles with no maintenance and cheap gas. Now, you're hoping someone out there can magically provide a diagnosis that will fix all that. You're doing valve jobs, head gaskets and tranny rebuilds, when you should be doing routine maintenance.

These are among the most awesome cars on the planet. They don't break and when they do, it's usually something cheap and easy. We're all ready to help make that true in your case, but we can't do much for you until you get us some better info. You've got to get us some compression numbers, or leak down numbers, or plug wire resistance numbers, or coil voltage output, or the nature of the substance saturating your plugs or something quantifiable.

Okay?