- Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:34 am
#324463
Hello everyone. I need help with my engine. I have searched around but have had no luck. I will try to be as detailed as possible. (sorry ahead of time for the long post)
First off, I have a 95 civic coupe with a jdm b18cR swap, 96 spec. Basically stock with I/H/E. I have had the engine for about 2 years now. The only issues I've had with it has been with the distributor electrical connector, which I replaced with a Deutsch connector several months ago. I also have a remote start/alarm installed on it. The engine as never burned oil, even with spirited driving.
This is what happened: Thursday night I drove home after work (40min drive, all hwy) and parked it. Everything was fine. I didn't notice any issues with it and did not drive it hard. Friday morning I used my remote start to start it, however the alarm reported an error. I went out to the car and it would not start. I do not know if it started for a second with the remote start and shutoff, or if it simply did not start. I am leaning towards the latter.
We got some snow and ice during the night, and at first I thought it might be related to the cold weather. I started to poke around, and found out the problem. The screw that bolts the distributor rotor to the shaft had backed out and was being tossed around in the cap. One of the cap terminals was bent 90° back, the rotor was damaged, and the inner cover was sliced up. Other than that, I did not see any damage.
I replaced the cap and rotor today, ensuring that I had the plug wires correctly installed, went to start it and it still did not start, however this time I could tell it was on the verge (barely) of catching. I took the plugs out and verified I had fuel, and checked to make sure that I had power to the distributor. (I forgot to check the coil but I will after I finish writing this). The cam gears are correctly lined up, the belt is tight, and when I move it to TDC, the rotor is lined up with the number 1 terminal. The fuses under the hood were all fine. I wasn't sure what to do next, so I did a compression test. The engine was cold (didn't have any way to warm it).
This is where it gets a little weird. The first time I ran the test the cylinders gave me this, if I remember right: (nominal is 270)
1: 270
2: ~150?
3: ~180?
4: 240
I tested it again (I didn't write any of this down so I am relying on my bad memory)
1: 180
2: 180?
3: 150?
4: 240
I ran it a couple of more times and I kept getting different numbers for the first 3 cylinders, however cylinder 4 stayed the same. After testing several times, the numbers became consistent:
1: 120
2: 220
3: 200
4: 240
I got these numbers about 3-4 times in a row. Why cylinder one started at 270 and ended up at 120 is beyond me (I am absolutely sure of these numbers, if not the others) There was a little bit of fuel in the cylinders from me trying to start it before, however I did have the fuel system and ignition system disabled.
I then did a wet test on cylinder one. I poured about half a cap of oil in the cylinder and tested it again. I got 120 again. From what I read this points to the valve train.
I double checked the distributor for damage and couldn't find any, then put everything back together and tried to start it. It didn't start but you could tell it was trying. I also checked for any leaks around the head and found a little bit of coolant behind cylinder one but not much. I couldn't tell if it leaked out of the head or not. I have not seen any smoke from the exhaust and I check quite often.
Also, it might or might not be related, however I have been hearing a weird tapping sound coming from the engine. I thought it was valve lash so I adjusted my valves and it didn't change anything. I was not a regular sound like you would expect (tap-tap-tap-tap...). It was more like taptap-tap-taptaptap-tap-tap-taptap. I had intended on looking in on it this weekend before all of this happened. The sound seemed like it was coming from either cylinder one or two's exhaust valves.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. If possible, I would like to have it fixed before Monday so I do not miss work so help asap would be even more appreciated. I am open to any suggestions. Blown head gasket? Bent valve? Burnt valve? Electrical issue? Thanks ahead of time.
First off, I have a 95 civic coupe with a jdm b18cR swap, 96 spec. Basically stock with I/H/E. I have had the engine for about 2 years now. The only issues I've had with it has been with the distributor electrical connector, which I replaced with a Deutsch connector several months ago. I also have a remote start/alarm installed on it. The engine as never burned oil, even with spirited driving.
This is what happened: Thursday night I drove home after work (40min drive, all hwy) and parked it. Everything was fine. I didn't notice any issues with it and did not drive it hard. Friday morning I used my remote start to start it, however the alarm reported an error. I went out to the car and it would not start. I do not know if it started for a second with the remote start and shutoff, or if it simply did not start. I am leaning towards the latter.
We got some snow and ice during the night, and at first I thought it might be related to the cold weather. I started to poke around, and found out the problem. The screw that bolts the distributor rotor to the shaft had backed out and was being tossed around in the cap. One of the cap terminals was bent 90° back, the rotor was damaged, and the inner cover was sliced up. Other than that, I did not see any damage.
I replaced the cap and rotor today, ensuring that I had the plug wires correctly installed, went to start it and it still did not start, however this time I could tell it was on the verge (barely) of catching. I took the plugs out and verified I had fuel, and checked to make sure that I had power to the distributor. (I forgot to check the coil but I will after I finish writing this). The cam gears are correctly lined up, the belt is tight, and when I move it to TDC, the rotor is lined up with the number 1 terminal. The fuses under the hood were all fine. I wasn't sure what to do next, so I did a compression test. The engine was cold (didn't have any way to warm it).
This is where it gets a little weird. The first time I ran the test the cylinders gave me this, if I remember right: (nominal is 270)
1: 270
2: ~150?
3: ~180?
4: 240
I tested it again (I didn't write any of this down so I am relying on my bad memory)
1: 180
2: 180?
3: 150?
4: 240
I ran it a couple of more times and I kept getting different numbers for the first 3 cylinders, however cylinder 4 stayed the same. After testing several times, the numbers became consistent:
1: 120
2: 220
3: 200
4: 240
I got these numbers about 3-4 times in a row. Why cylinder one started at 270 and ended up at 120 is beyond me (I am absolutely sure of these numbers, if not the others) There was a little bit of fuel in the cylinders from me trying to start it before, however I did have the fuel system and ignition system disabled.
I then did a wet test on cylinder one. I poured about half a cap of oil in the cylinder and tested it again. I got 120 again. From what I read this points to the valve train.
I double checked the distributor for damage and couldn't find any, then put everything back together and tried to start it. It didn't start but you could tell it was trying. I also checked for any leaks around the head and found a little bit of coolant behind cylinder one but not much. I couldn't tell if it leaked out of the head or not. I have not seen any smoke from the exhaust and I check quite often.
Also, it might or might not be related, however I have been hearing a weird tapping sound coming from the engine. I thought it was valve lash so I adjusted my valves and it didn't change anything. I was not a regular sound like you would expect (tap-tap-tap-tap...). It was more like taptap-tap-taptaptap-tap-tap-taptap. I had intended on looking in on it this weekend before all of this happened. The sound seemed like it was coming from either cylinder one or two's exhaust valves.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. If possible, I would like to have it fixed before Monday so I do not miss work so help asap would be even more appreciated. I am open to any suggestions. Blown head gasket? Bent valve? Burnt valve? Electrical issue? Thanks ahead of time.
Last edited by EJ1ITR on Sun Jan 20, 2013 1:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
