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91 22re, no compression #1 cyl according to mechanic
Last year I had my 91 22re in the shop (I gave in and finally decided to have someone else work on it). To get it running correctly, timing, pass smog. Well it ended up needing head work done, valves adjusted that sorta thing. Drove it home. This was a project vehicle so it doesn't get driven very often. I would start it up and let it run when I would make it home from work (out of state) once maybe twice a month. After a few months of this it started to become hesitant to start and finally after it would start then run like crap. Decided to take it back to the mechanic. He thought maybe the valves needed adjusting. Took the top end apart and said he couldn't find anything wrong but now #1cyl index has no compression and would require him to tear it down completely. After getting his quote just to look at it I said no thanks towed it Hon and I can tear down myself for free fiddy. Well now I'm stumped cause I'm not seeing anything wrong like I was expecting. Looking for suggestions.
Walls are smooth, no scratches
Rings are complete
Don't mind those marks, that was from setting it at TDC before disassembly
Unfortunately this motor was disassembled prior to some additional diagnostics.
Looking at the pic of the cylinders still in the block, it doesn't look like #1 had the compression tested with oil. By that I mean, if you get one cylinder drastically different than the others, you squirt some oil into the spark plug hole and test it again. If you compression comes back up then your rings are the culprit. This could also be a case of the walls being washed of their oil coating.
Washed cylinder could be the result of a leaking injector dribbling gas into one cylinder and over time dissolving the oil film from the walls.
You said yourself that you rarely started it.
At this point you've torn it apart. Call engbldr and get a master rebuild kit. That'll run you just shy of about $300. You'll want some machine work, deck the head and possibly block, align bore, and clean up the jugs. Pick up a torquey cam and you'll be happy with your 10+% increase.
There wasn't any oil present because I wiped it down prior to taking the pics and inspecting. I started disassembling all of it with the thought of getting a rebuild kit anyways and was expecting to find something wrong on the bottom end. I plan on removing the engine completely and painting everything in engine bay and the motor before reaseembly.
okay, just looking at the pics, i can see 2 things: first, there are kiss marks from the valves on cyl 1, which probably means clean the valve guides and valves and you are good, but i also spot egged rings. when you pull a piston, the rings should pop out evenly, not just on the left and right(in this case). you might be good just doing a refresher rebuild with new pistons, but you might as well check into the ring issue. are thay warped, or is the piston/carbon pinching them by the wrist pins? is it just that cylinder? at any rate, the engine speaks obvious that you have a decent amount of blow-by and you alreay have it torn down. might as well at least re-ring it...... and by the looks of those score marks, you might want to put new pistons in..... i would for a driver, and not for a hobby rig.
I wouldn't be too concerned about rings not expanding in a uniform circle when the piston is pulled. The piston could have some residual oil on it or not being held level. There are lots of things that could defend that picture.
I do agree that your oil and gas is terrible. There is a lot of carbon build up on the cylinder crowns. What do you intake runners look like? I'm sure equally as black with carbon.
Like I said before, at this point get a master rebuild kit and be done with it. You've torn the top end apart so you need a headset gasket kit anyway. You've pulled a piston, so do the job right and pull the remaining 3 and have your block cleaned up.
It would be silly and unprofessional to clean up on cylinder and reassemble the top with new parts and gaskets knowing the other 3 jugs have 100+K miles on them.
You've missed the boat on some diagnostics before tearing down the motor. But at the point in disassembly, it doesn't matter. The solutions no longer apply to a lot of the symptoms now that the head is off.
Oh and get yourself the steel guided timing set when you put everything back together. Your timing cover and oil pump will thank you later.
So yeah, unfortunately I did jump the gun as far as diagnostic goes and just going off what the mechanic said, didnt think to ask about the test #'s. But either way, I'm planning to do a rebuild kit on the motor. I plan on having the block looked at and probably done .020 over with new pistons and upgrade the cam.
I wouldn't be too concerned about rings not expanding in a uniform circle when the piston is pulled. The piston could have some residual oil on it or not being held level. There are lots of things that could defend that picture.
I do agree that your oil and gas is terrible. There is a lot of carbon build up on the cylinder crowns. What do you intake runners look like? I'm sure equally as black with carbon.
Like I said before, at this point get a master rebuild kit and be done with it. You've torn the top end apart so you need a headset gasket kit anyway. You've pulled a piston, so do the job right and pull the remaining 3 and have your block cleaned up.
It would be silly and unprofessional to clean up on cylinder and reassemble the top with new parts and gaskets knowing the other 3 jugs have 100+K miles on them.
You've missed the boat on some diagnostics before tearing down the motor. But at the point in disassembly, it doesn't matter. The solutions no longer apply to a lot of the symptoms now that the head is off.
Oh and get yourself the steel guided timing set when you put everything back together. Your timing cover and oil pump will thank you later.
the rings being gummed up by oil tar can stick them in the landing, leading to low compression readings. that doesn't mean they are bad, just gummed up. i've seen thos happen, and sometimes a good cleaning could make it like new again..... on the other hand, i've seen pistons pinching the rings in the landing, calling for new pistons and an explaination why to know what to repair. the kiss marks could have deformed the piston and/or bent the valves..... either way, the #1 cyl appears far too polished and the piston scored, so the rebuild is a good call anyhow. to the op: have the head and valves checked real well. the kiss marks mean the valves are sticking or "dropped" and should be at least cleaned, checked, and probably re-seated, if not replaced. the job is not too bad if you have, or rent a valve spring compressor.
08-20-2015, 01:54 PM
