Engine swap from Hell part II: What's wrong with my engine

[lonewolf]

Sorry, another long post from me!

Following on from my original Engine swap from Hell thread, I have been pursuing the legal route with some success.

I have been in lengthy discussions with Trading Standards over the past few days and with Karma Import. Trading Standards are defiantly on my side on this one. They have told me:

Karma Import is under a legal obligation to carry out the work on my vehicle with reasonable skill and care, using parts of satisfactory quality and fit for their purpose, as laid down by the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. Given that they have failed to do so, I am legally entitled to compensation for breach of contract.

In these circumstances, I am legally entitled to financial compensation. However, while fully reserving my rights under the Supply of Goods and Services Act, I am prepared to give them an opportunity to repair the defects without any charge to me. If they fail to do this work then I will hold them responsible for the cost of employing another trader.

I have contacted Karma Import and they have shown willing to rectify the faults with no charge to myself. The mechanic who worked on my engine swap has since left the company and they have a new guy in.

I am preparing a list of faults for them to correct, but I need your help please:

Distributor:


Suspect dizzy was from old engine - SOHC non-vtec 6800 redline D16Y7, it has been machined to fit.
Is the coil able to deliver a strong enough spark?
Is the ignition control module suitable for vtec?
Will it cope with 8000rpm of the B16?
Any other problems associated with using this dizzy?

EVAP purge control thingy? on intake mani


On the top, next to the screw, it looks like something has snapped off? Anything important? will it cause problems?



Whats wrong with this?

Which would be the best option for the throttle bracket? new throttle cable or fabricate a new bracket? Not too worried about the blanking plate for the temp sensor as i'll be getting a Skunk2 soon.



Many many thanks for your continued support and help.

Tim

 

[lonewolf]

On a bone stock B16A2, what PSI should each cylinder be. I know they should all be within 20%, but what sort of psi should I be looking at 100psi, 150psi 200psi?

Thanks

 

[Blazed]

all the cylinders should read well ablove 200 IMO..expecially on a 99 b16a2

 

[lonewolf]

Thanks Blazed, I was under the impression that it was fairly high, like 180-190 or so, just looking for someone to back me up on that. Cheers!

I was looking to check the compression again this afternoon (previously it had been done by a mechanic whilst I wasn't there. He said it was ok and by that he meant that they were all within 20% or so, but he didn't tell me the psi for each cylinder)

Unfortunatly I have LOST my plug remover so I need to get another one when the shops open tomorrow. It is 17mm isn't it? I never really looked at it to be honest. All I have is a 21mm.

I've been systematically going over the engine today with my brother-in-law compiling a list of problems for them to fix. We are pretty sure that cylinder 1 or 2 has shot away piston rings, and were are fairly sure that it was caused back when the car was running lean. We also think that there is low compression in all cylinders, but without compression testing it we don't know, but it would account for the lack of power. I also have plumes of blue smoke now, which is never a good thing. Found loads of other problems as well, it will be interesting to see what the new mechanic makes of it.

I'll taking the head off tomorrow, which will be interesting.


Thanks again.

 

[vandynamics]

do you know how to properly check the compression? by disconnecting the injector clips or pulling the FI fuse?

they explain it better than i can happy wrenching~

http://www.c-speedracing.com/howto/comptest/comptest.php

 

[lonewolf]

Finally got a plug remover
Anyway, from cy 1 to 4, I have 170, 179, 175, 165 psi. We are pretty sure that the head is f***ed, oil getting through the valve stem seals in cy 4 and the 'mild' port and polish was a tad aggressive. Won't find that out until the head is off. All the spark plugs were fine, so it is unlikely there is any internal damage caused when I was running very lean.

I took it back to Karma for them to look at, spoke to the new mechanic who seems ok. He took the car for a test, but reverse would not engage at all so we were stuck in the car park!. He could feel that the gearbox was duff just by trying to shift. Main bearing has gone as well. Hopefully the new mechanic can rebuild it.

They will also be taking the head off to inspect headwork and replace seals.


After that me and my brother in law took a trip to Rampage Motorsports - HKS and Spoon Sports uk dealers and bought some new toys!

All round a good day

Thanks for the help!

 

[Blazed]

f**k all that tell them to get u another swap...simple as that....
tell them to compression check the f**kin motors before dropping them in..

i hate shady f**kin shops and mechanics...

 

[vandynamics]

Finally got a plug remover
Anyway, from cy 1 to 4, I have 170, 179, 175, 165 psi. We are pretty sure that the head is f***ed, oil getting through the valve stem seals in cy 4 and the 'mild' port and polish was a tad aggressive. Won't find that out until the head is off. All the spark plugs were fine, so it is unlikely there is any internal damage caused when I was running very lean.

I took it back to Karma for them to look at, spoke to the new mechanic who seems ok. He took the car for a test, but reverse would not engage at all so we were stuck in the car park!. He could feel that the gearbox was duff just by trying to shift. Main bearing has gone as well. Hopefully the new mechanic can rebuild it.

They will also be taking the head off to inspect headwork and replace seals.


After that me and my brother in law took a trip to Rampage Motorsports - HKS and Spoon Sports uk dealers and bought some new toys!

All round a good day

Thanks for the help!

how did he diagnose the main bearing?

 

[greenlx777]

damn, they really butchered your engine...
as for the throttle clip, its fine as long as its attached tightly to the manifold
your sensor should be repaced, you might throw a code, if you havent already

 

[lonewolf]

Just to update everybody on the past few days.

Yesterday I took the car back to Karma having talked it over with my brother in law (a big customer of Karma). They have a new mechanic down there who started after I had my car back, so he had nothing to do with the bad work.

Karma have shown willing to look at the faults I listed and fix them free of charge if it was there fault.

The new mechanic took the car for a test, but reverse would not engage at all so we were stuck in the car park!. He could feel that the gearbox was duff just by trying to shift. Unfortunatly the gearbox is out of both warranties now, so I will have to get another one.

I had the compression checked - cy 1 to 4, I have 170, 179, 175, 165 psi, so the problem lies within the cylinder head. When that was removed it was clear to them that it had been messed up, far to much metal had been removed from it. They have said they will replace the head for me.

There was no damage due to running lean (which I was a little worried about)

They have also agreed with most of the faults I found and have agreed to fix them, including the dizzy.


Hopefully this is well on the way to being sorted now.

 

[RKSskier]

hope they fix it all up for you, it sounds like they messed up big time

 

[vandynamics]

how did he diagnose the main bearing?

 

[Handlebars]

the intake manifold is f**ked too. ont he right side, that missing sensor is the intake air temp sensor, and it looks like it was removed and plugged with jb weld. that needs to be replaced with the head

 

[racerx661]

dude ask for a new engine and tell them to pay for a legit shop to do the work...thats one of the worse b16 swap I have seen recently...

 

[lonewolf]

how did he diagnose the main bearing?

The main bearing on the gearbox, not the MAIN bearing (if that makes sense). I'm to tired to remember which one it was. Output shaft bearing i think. Car in neutral but stationary you can hear the thrust bearing collapsing, if you push the car slowly you can hear another grinding noise over the thrust bearing. You can also hear it when grinding when coasting to a stop.

 

[lonewolf]

the intake manifold is f**ked too. ont he right side, that missing sensor is the intake air temp sensor, and it looks like it was removed and plugged with jb weld. that needs to be replaced with the head

The later models didn't have an intake temp there did they? The sensor block is cast over. I'm not to worried about that because I have a Skunk2 waiting.