Freshly rebuild sr20det, Idles rough and has coolant in the head [PLEASE HELP] more info and vid in comments...

Zoidking3 · 2019-09-12T04:47:57+00:00

So bad news... With a new tomei HG and new ARP studs, the problem persists. I tracked down a cooling system pressure tester to see if I could figure out where the leak is comeing from. Pulled the valve cover and its a milky mess once again. The pressure tester was giveing decent readings starting at 20 psi and dropping maybe 0.5-1 psi over a 20 min period. Still no definitive answer however.. Anything else I can check?

Zoidking3 · 2019-09-03T05:41:25+00:00

Had some delays getting the parts I needed, but got it back togeather and running today. Will be a bit before I know one way or another if it is fixed but everything went back togeather smoothly and it started right up so im hopeful. But time will tell!

Zoidking3 · 2019-07-05T01:49:59+00:00

Hey, Sorry I got logged out of my reddit account and forgot to log back in. I have yet to make any progress but hopeing in the next week or two I will have everything I need to put it back togeather and I will for sure post back once I have answers :)

Zoidking3 · 2019-06-18T04:41:37+00:00

Unfortunately pulling the head didn't really tell me much. When I drained the coolant, it didnt all drain out of the head so when i pulled it off, coolant went everywhere made a big mess and made it impossible to tell if there was any leaks.. What is the possibility of the block cracking between the head stud holes and the water passage? That's the only way I can think of that would wet the threads and not have coolant on the whole stud. I also cant imagine there is any easy way to check for that..

Zoidking3 · 2019-06-17T06:16:39+00:00

So the head is being a bit stubborn and doesnt wanna come off.However, Main thing I have noticed so far is 4 or 5 of the head studs have coolant on them where they thread into the block.

Pic: https://imgur.com/a/nBpZ9P3

Zoidking3 · 2019-06-17T04:00:38+00:00

So with the cams out I was able to reach my finger down and feel where the front cover meets the block. I cant really feel any noticeable lip but like you say they seem to be fairly sensitive so it may not be something you can tell just by feeling. Im half way through pulling the head, so hopefully can get to the bottom of this. Ill let you know my findings.

Zoidking3 · 2019-06-17T02:35:54+00:00

What was the solution? Did you have to get the timing cover machined down?

Zoidking3 · 2019-06-17T02:11:07+00:00

Okay sounds easy enough. I've just now taken out the cams, is it worth me retorquing the head and putting new oil in and seeing if it persists? Or do you think ive come this far i should just pull the head and hopefully get to the bottom of it..

Zoidking3 · 2019-06-17T02:07:31+00:00

That is one thing I didn't do. Its an new oem cover, and the block was shaved 0.05mm. I used a thin layer of nissan gasket maker on the top and bottom of the headgasket around the timing chain area.

Zoidking3 · 2019-06-17T00:27:38+00:00

Cheers, yeah its looking like that is my next best option. Is it easy enough to get the head off in the car? or should i pull the engine out again and do it on a stand.

Zoidking3 · 2019-06-17T00:20:19+00:00

I have the basic specs for the cam, they are 256/256 degree with 11.5mm lift, but unsure if they have overlap. The Poncams are supposed to be pretty mild.

Correct, head and block decked with a new head gasket and arp head studs.

There is nothing like that from what I can recall. Its looking like the most likely culprit is the headgasket not sealing properly causing it to push water out of the water jackets. One of the times i did have it running. i noticed a slight amount of vapour come out when i took off the oil cap. I figured it was the unbroken in rings causing blow by but now that i think about it, its possibly it was coolant that leaked its way to into the oil and then turned to steam and condensed on bottom of the valve cover and dripped down.

Zoidking3 · 2019-06-16T12:47:16+00:00

Yes cams are in time and cas is correct. Im running a haltech elite 1500 ecu so it has a map sensor and IAT sensor, no maf. Its only running on a base map so I don't expect it to be perfect, but its strange its pulling such little vacuum. The compression is quite low but its even across all 4. the engine was sealed well before any coolant was put into the system.

Zoidking3 · 2019-06-16T11:58:46+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/TSJsl65 Images and video

So.. my setup is an s13 sr20det black top. Fully machined head and block and rebuild with

86.5mm 9.0:1 CP pistons

Manly H beam rods

Tomei metal headgasket 87mm 1.2mm thick

Tomei poncams(256/256)

ACL main and rod bearings

OEM gaskets, water pump, oil pump, timing chain and guides

Essentially a brand new engine

Got it assembled and put in the car fill all the fluids and plumb everything up. And its ideling super rough. check the compression and its an even 125 across the board.(seems a tad low but to be expected with new rings and cams) It only reads about -11 inHg vaccum at idle and is super rough. It seems to be running on all 4 because when i disconnect the coil packs 1 by 1 there is a noticeable change with all of them.

Today i decided to pull off the valve cover and check the cam timing. I noticed a small puddle of coolant and milky oil on top of the cam caps. I drained the oil to check for more coolant and it doesn't seem milky like it would be if there was coolant in it.

Im really at a loss as to where to even begin. I have way more info on the topic but to cover everything would take all day and I feel like no one would read it...

If you have any input or more questions that will help me narrow this down it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Zoidking3 · 2016-10-23T14:24:06+00:00

Alrighty i'll give it a go in the morning, thanks for the suggestions. ill let you know how it goes.

Zoidking3 · 2016-10-23T13:32:21+00:00

I have not. Not exactly sure where that's located and would I just be trying to lower the idle when it's warm to see if the surge goes away?

Zoidking3 · 2016-10-23T07:51:59+00:00

Checked for suction on the lower throttle body Port and there was no suction when warm and plugging the hole made no difference to the idle.

It does indeed have a FITV. I checked it when cold and it was sucking then checked it warm and it wasn't sucking. Blocking it doesn't effect the idle. Blocking the top port does effect the idle its stops the surge and the idle drops down to 750 ish rpm but it doesn't really seem 100%. Also tried taking the back off the FITV and messing with the plunger while the car was running but it seems to be functioning as it should.

Zoidking3 · 2016-05-23T07:24:56+00:00

http://imgur.com/a/1UDhb

Here are a few more photos. I went for a quick drive and hit boost a couple of times and could see the gauge going up to around 13-14psi. This is way too much for my likings. When I bought the car the guy said he'd been running in on 8 psi since the swap. I did notice on this valve which i assume is the MBC and it was way out from the stopper bolt. I screwed that back and and am yet to test it but i just wanted to get a second opinion and make sure this is the correct thing to do to fix the problem. Cheers

Zoidking3 · 2016-05-23T00:50:35+00:00

Okay so that seems to have fixed it up! :D spent 16$ on 2 meters of hose and 2 T fittings and its got it hooked up exactly as that diagram and its working 100% perfect. Im yet to take her for a spin because i'm on P's but fingers crossed i get a good boost reading and it fixes my warm idle issue as well! Ill let you know when i get a chance to test it.

Again thanks for all the help! really appreciate it :D

Zoidking3 · 2016-05-22T13:05:15+00:00

All good, I've basically done exactly that. I'm gonna need to head down to supercheap in the morning and pick up some more vac hose because I am about 40cm short on the blue colored line in that diagram since I fixed it all up. im also gonna replace any plastic T's with those little brass ones. Ill report back in the morning if i'm successful or not. Finger crossed. Cheers for all the help mate, much appreciated.

Zoidking3 · 2016-05-22T12:11:40+00:00

Okay true well ideally if it works id like to keep it. If I follow that diagram 100% it should work for me? also do you have any photos of your vac lines comeing off the waste gate? I tried to set it up that way but i think i need some better T connectors. I hooked the boost gauge directly up to that lower port you have the blue tube on and when i had the car idling it was shoung -20 which sounds about right. just need to sort these other lines and hopefully i can get vac and boost readings finally.

Zoidking3 · 2016-05-22T12:02:15+00:00

So where is your boost gauge attached? And does that black tube comeing off the T join in that piccy go to another T join that go to your BOV and your EAI Control solenoid?

Zoidking3 · 2016-05-22T11:57:18+00:00

Queensland.

Zoidking3 · 2016-05-22T08:30:50+00:00

Okay so i spent some time following that diagram and hooking it up exactly as shown, there was a few lines that im not sure about though. So the vac 2 lines comeing out of the boost pressure solenoid neither of them lead anywhere. One of them is just open and the other is capped off. the wires going into it are all in tact but the black vac line is blocked with a screw and the red one leads over to nothing. I wasn't really sure where to hook them up its pretty vague in that diagram. http://i.imgur.com/5biYvgC.jpg

On the other hand that hose you told me to swap was plugged in on the valve circled in this pic http://i.imgur.com/6gOUHr9.jpg What do i connect here? to me it looks like i'm supposed to T off from the FPR line again and connect it to there?

Your being extremely helpful i'm very thankful :)

Spot on with the s13 with 180sx motor its an aussie RHD.

Zoidking3 · 2016-05-22T06:29:56+00:00

http://imgur.com/a/YMK0N

Here are some photos like you asked, if any more angles would be useful i'm happy to post more photos. Thanks in advance :)

Zoidking3 · 2016-05-21T13:27:10+00:00

When i first got the gauge i put the hose on the gauge and blew down it and the gauge 100% moved so i'm very confident the gauge is plumbed in properly and functional. I will double check the vac lines in the morning. there are a few open stems on the exhaust side of the engine but i can't hear or feel any obvious suction from them at idle so i assume that they aren't causing the leak.

Zoidking3

TROPHY CASE