hey guys, long time reader, bought my 91 s13 off here couple years ago, car ran great, had the frame repaired, thought she was solid. One day i start her up and she was running like a bag (220,000 on original ka). I thought it was too hot or something so i went back into the friends place and waited it out for about an hour, went back out, (mid july) and tried again and it was the same thing, it would start after an extended crank, bout 3-4 seconds, but it ran awful, motor was shaking but i cant remember what the rpm action was like. I checked the oil, put about half a liter in (motor was burning oil, sometimes with blue smoke out the tailpipe on long drives) started the car and revved her up, all of a sudden she smoothed right out and i drove her home (about 10-15 minutes city) no problem, next day go out and start her but same thing, motor was shaking like crazy. The wifey was not down with spendin money on it sooo we bought a pos sunfire (i work at a gm store). A 5 spd rwd sports car with power options and cruise control to a pos auto sunfire. geeez what a heartbreak, so i parked it and didnt touch it for a year (end of summer and winter) did some research and figured id start with the basic diagnostics, no codes by the way so i figured its something to do with tune up as i didnt do anything when i got it. I thought the oil burning was in the head, so i wasn’t about to do anything about it. After the winter she wouldnt start at all. She cranks but wont turn over. I put a new battery and spark plugs and nothing changed, today i did a spark test and i have spark at every cylinder. And i could smell fuel from all the cranking. So i pulled the plugs to verify fuel in every cylinder. And thats when i was horrified to find oil on the first spark plug i pulled (cylinder 1). So i know thats pretty bad but i want to verify that this means my engine is gone (rings on cyl 1 gone) the last couple oil changes ive been adding lucas oil stabilizer to help the oil burning issue but actually after i put that in the blue smoke started again (not directly after the oil change so could be a coincidence) o and i was using 10w30 oil. Sorry for the long post but i know the details really matter. If any more info is needed let me know, im on here often. I just need to know if i should kiss the motor goodbye? im really not ready for a swap quite yet, finances a little shakey right now. Thanks in advance
do a compression check that will help you figure out where your motor stands
ooh ok so its possible for the engine to be salvageable if the compression numbers arent to low? ok ill do that and post the numbers, thanks
compression test will tell you which cylinder is fucked or almost fucked… then you can either rebuild your motor, swap it now OR drive it till it blows up(thats what im doing)
realistically its a 20 yr old motor, parts wear and fatigue, i would just buy a rebuilt sr or swap out for a healthy ka if you have the means
it may just simply be a leaky valve cover gasket. you said when you leave it that the problem starts but, then after a while the engine runs fine. I think the oil burns off the plugs then it runs like a champ then you leave it and the oil seeps in the spark plug holes. lets hope it’s just a leaky valve cover.
That wouldnt explain if the oil is on the tip of the plug thats inside the head.
Do a compression check see where you stand and or just put 1 tea spoon of transmission fluid in each sparkplug hole. it will help seat the piston rings.
right on thanks for the input guys. The valve cover gasket suggestion had me going for about a second, but ya oils on the tip of only one plug. definitely a ring issue. A teaspoon of tranny fluid? Thats a new one on me but ya thats the kinda info im looking for, something to try to maybe save it, while i save UP for a new motor. Haha you know guys this means i wont be drivin her this season probably, but it also, probably, means a new motor! S**T YEAH thats exciting. And just to clarify she hasn’t started since october of last year, maybe even late september. Put a new battery in it mid november along with new spark plugs and nothing changed, since then i havent touched the car, so the new battery is dead.I didi the spark test while it was boosted by my sunfire, at least that cars good for something. Right now the battery is in my trunk so i can hopefully charge it up on monday at work, then do a compression test wen i get home. I’ll post those as soon as i get them. Again thanks for the ideas guys.
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well looking for a little more help now guys. How the heck am i supposed to know a good motorset? right after that last post, i went to the for sale thread and the first post was a ka24de and tranny set for 200 bucks without the harness. But like i said i got my car off this forum, and let me tell ya i learned alot, I am in now way shape or form blaming this forum or the members of this forum, it was because of this forum i found out about the frame rot issues and so on. long story short, i got ripped, totally my own fault but it stings ya know, if it was to happen again it’d be enough to get me out this game, to much money not well spent. But if its a decent motor then its a great deal, id like to get it, maybe if anyone else can vouch for the motor? thers a guy on that thread saying he etested it and its super clean, but i dunno, haw can i know?
if your looking for a motor. Go to someone who will offer a gaurentee for 30 days. Motor’s are expensive and not something to mess around with. I suggest you upgrade to an sr20 or an rb20. Jdm shops should be able to help you on this deparment Or contact Varun
My motors legit. The guy that vouched for me is my friend. He works at a shop which did the etest and the results were prefect. It passed with flying colors. I did a compression test when I bought the car 1 year ago, it read 155-155-154-155 or something. That is a good compression. It doesnt leak/burn any oil, and I maintain my engine properly (Oil change every 3500km, etc.) Its a good engine man. Its worth more than 200, your getting a steal >: D