Engine upgrading

[zdorantes]

Car been sitting for 2 years, yikes... when you took off the valve cover was there a lot of sludge? Have you change the oil? If so how does it look like? How many times did you try starting fluid, a couple or so is good. If it does not continue to run on its own, then maybe your fuel deilvery is bad. Or it could be many things. Forgot to ask if you can crank by hand...disconnet battery first...then get a open end wrench and try turning the crank (clockwise). Take out spraks plugs..it should turn freely, with occasional tighness because pistons are going up and down but should turn.

 

A car sitting for 2 years and not driving all kinds of crap can happen...what do mean ignition is under spec.? Be mindful about replacing too many things at once. One thing at a time..what if engine is bad and you've replace a lot of stuff..At this point, don't even think about upgrades..priority is to see if engine/fuel delivery is okay, if good compression/fuel okay then do upgrades. Good luck.

 

I haven't taken the valve cover off because I wanted to do the compression test first and it failed miserably having slight compression during dry test and no compression during wet test.There's alot of sludge all pver the bottom and sides fo the front part of the engine. I haven't changed the oil. I tried the starter fluid a few times still didn't work. Yeah I'm able to turn the engine by hand.

 

The Ignition coil was bad and I'm going to replace it today to see what happens.

[zdorantes]

It sounds like the car ran, for how long, how far , did it have power, was it smoking white smoke, have you checked your dipstick to see wat color oil is

The car did run originally but I didn't add coolant and it overheated. White smoke was coming from the engine bay and I panicked and got the water hose and sprayed it down I know it's stupid but I didn't know any better since it is my first car. The oil color is dark. Also when I replaced the radiator (the fan at the time ripped into it) the coolant or liquid look like semi chunky with a rust color.

[racerx]

Maybe the headgasket is gone.  when you say the oil color is dark, does it look like choc. milk shake?  If so HG gone. Did you smell coolant at exhaust pipe, are any of spark plugs super clean?  Specially if spark plugs are next to each other. If so, bad HG steam cleaned the crap out of it, another indication of had headgasket.  Outside sludge or oil build up is okay..be more concerned if you open the valve cover and tons of sludge in valve train area, this can affect your compression and can eventually freeze up because oit is not getting inside the cavities of engine.  Either way, if you did the comp. correctly, then I say that engine is gone, time for a rebuild or find one with low mileage.

[Xnke]

If you overheated it that badly, you probably blew the headgasket...this accounts for the low numbers. Find another engine or rebuild the one you have. If you overheated to the point of blowing a headgasket, the head IS warped and you will have to have it properly STRAIGHTENED, BEFORE having it milled. And when they mill it, they will have to cut both the bottom AND the top of the head, which involves what some people call voodoo magic, when in reality it's SOP for a head refurbishment.

 

Wet compression testing ALWAYS yields higher numbers than dry...something is very wrong here.

[zdorantes]

Maybe the headgasket is gone. when you say the oil color is dark, does it look like choc. milk shake? If so HG gone. Did you smell coolant at exhaust pipe, are any of spark plugs super clean? Specially if spark plugs are next to each other. If so, bad HG steam cleaned the crap out of it, another indication of had headgasket. Outside sludge or oil build up is okay..be more concerned if you open the valve cover and tons of sludge in valve train area, this can affect your compression and can eventually freeze up because oit is not getting inside the cavities of engine. Either way, if you did the comp. correctly, then I say that engine is gone, time for a rebuild or find one with low mileage.

 

The oil is dark but not chunky or "milky" I replaced the spark plugs but they were dirty. I will be opening the Valve cover soon but fingers crossed that I don't see sludge. I do think it's time for a rebuild, everything is pointing to that.

[zdorantes]

If you overheated it that badly, you probably blew the headgasket...this accounts for the low numbers. Find another engine or rebuild the one you have. If you overheated to the point of blowing a headgasket, the head IS warped and you will have to have it properly STRAIGHTENED, BEFORE having it milled. And when they mill it, they will have to cut both the bottom AND the top of the head, which involves what some people call voodoo magic, when in reality it's SOP for a head refurbishment.

 

Wet compression testing ALWAYS yields higher numbers than dry...something is very wrong here.

I plan to take off the valve cover off soon how can I tell if the head gasket is warped and if it is can it be replaced? (rather then straightened and milled.)

[zdorantes]

Wet compression testing ALWAYS yields higher numbers than dry...something is very wrong here.

The compression test seemed really straight forward so I don't understand why the wet test showed no compression.

[racerx]

can you take pics of sparkplugs and show us.

[zdorantes]

Don't have the old spark plugs anymore unfortunately.

[racerx]

what color were they?  was it black, brown, gray or combo..

[zdorantes]

Black at the tip surronded by brown

[racerx]

all of them like that?

[zdorantes]

Yeah I found a pic of them I'm trying to post to figure out how to post.

[zdorantes]

can you take pics of sparkplugs and show us.

Couldn't figure out how to post picture.

[zdorantes]

I got the car to start with starter fluid but it idle and then turns off, what could be the problem? I figure pump, injector, pressure regulator, or cold start valve.

[zdorantes]

How did you test the injectors?

If you can test injectors, you can bench test the relays

I tested the injectors by there resistance with a multimeter though I suspect them to be clogged now or the pressure to be to low.

[zdorantes]

_{have you tried spraying starting fluid in the intake? just be careful...starting fluid is very volatile}

_{So I did this and the car idled and then died. What do you suspect is the problem?}

[zdorantes]

Fuel, Crank over for 30 seconds then go smell the tail pipe.

Is there anyway to round down what fuel problem I'm having further?

[zdorantes]

The engine turns on but dies at idle it only stays on if my foot is on the gas what does that mean?

[Parkinglotslider521]

Could mean alot of things. Replace fuel filter first. If the car has been sitting, then you drove it you probably broke all the crud up that was on the bottom of the tank. before you take the filter off cycle the key on and off 2-3 times to build fuel pressure. Now when you take the filter off you should have some fuel spray. If you dont get spray, then the fuel pump or pressure regulator is dead/dieing.

[zdorantes]

So I got the car to run it was a mixture of things I guess but the engine sounds bad.

[datzenmike]

Before a compression test the valve lash should be checked/set. You may have a tight valve that is not closing and this will cause low compression numbers when nothing is really wrong.

[racerx]

what do you mean it sounds bad?