cylinder head prob

butta

Kicked in the Member
erm yes private road oh and down hill the only mod is an induction kit. leave it there cuz i dont want to go too far off topic and hi-jack the thread
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
btw if i drain out the relatively new oil to fix those rings, could the oil be reused? cos i would seem a waste to chuck out £22 oil if it's only done 480miles.
 

butta

Kicked in the Member
its up to you but i wouldnt want to risk it in case the oil got contaminated with dust/dirt metal shavings etc... short cuts with this type of work is risky as it seems youve already found out the hard way more than once!
 

butta

Kicked in the Member
i would try part co or local motor factors before nissan cuz of the price of nissan parts ( i had to replce my speedo drive and they wanted £155+ vat for the part)
 

Fordy

Ex. Club Member
right to get this thread back on topic

asdame,

if you take the head off you will need a new headgasket as you can never reuse them, but the up side is you wont have to grind valves again, hoping the head you brought had this already done, and that if you took out the valves that you put them back in the same hole they came out of.

also you will need to buy if you already dont have one a piston ring compressor as you dont want to risk damaging them new ones when puting the pistons back in,

you will also need another sump gasket set unless its just sealer

nissan rings will be expensive about £150 for a set probably, payen or something is highly recommended as an alternative

also use new oil since your gunna be spending another £5 wont break the bank

if you close to peterborough or huntingdon and need a hand give me a email using the address in my profile
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
the head i got off james tis fine.

yep i have ring compressor from when i was overhaulin the pistons & rings (really shoulda changed em). although just a thought, would the bore need honing or it's ok to just take out pistons, change rings & slip it back in?

i read somewhere that honing's required to remove that tapered cylinder wear before using new normal rings (or the new rings would hit the tapered ridge at the top). or there are some alternative rings for when the bore's not honed but has less seal ability.

i just used sealer on the sump.

would partco spec what brand the rings are or they're just oem?

um another £22 on magnetec oil.

i'm a loooong way off peterborough fordy, i'm up near hartlepool area. thx for ya offer ;)

wondered what if a garage did it for me? they'd prob have the right tools/facility & expertise but labour'll prob overshadow the cost of parts by loads and i'm assuming insurance won't cover it too.

ok my calcs say:
eng oil £22, head gasket £35, exhaust gasket £5, silicone seal £5, new set of rings £150 (my labour, and forgetting to change the rings in the first place = Priceless :p ok j/k)

round est £220.

guess i'll do it myself.
 

Fordy

Ex. Club Member
you have the right tools and you seem to have done well so far so do it youself,

honing is easy, go to the local motor factors and get a bore honing tool that goes in a drill, you should have 3 stones on the tool lub these with engine oil and oil the bores gently turn the tool with the drill holding it at 90 degrees to the block and go up and down a few times not to much just enough to scratch the surface up remember to keep oiling the stones and bores

the scratching makes the rings bed in properly when its driven, dont go reving the tits off the engine untill you've done at least 1000 miles or you will blow the rings again and they wont seal properly, take the engine steady making sure on motorways etc you dont cruise to long at one speed, make use of the rev bands etc and you should end up with a decent engine that will last at the same time

you could just pop the rings on and chuck them in but thats a hash and not the way i like to put my name to the work i do

22 quid on oil! are you mad? just buy some standard semi synthic oil nothing fansie is needed
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
righteo Fordy

i'll check out some honing tools around here. i presume i'd also have to cover the crank to prevent shavings droppin on them.

shall i just get some cheap 10w40 oil down partco or any stores then? the used magnetec i think i'll save it to use on me bikes, doors, etc round the house :p

sure hope XX that this would solve my power & economy issue

currently doin the bathroom so can only fix the eng after that's finished.

......
ok found some hone tools from tooled-up.com from a fiver upto £20 with grits rangin from 120 to 220. i'm guessing i use the medium stone to smooth out the upper cylinder ridge and fine stone to finish off the cylinder?

http://www.tooled-up.com/searchresultbasic.asp?SearchType=2&Keywords=cylinder+hone&ProdCode=&QSearchButt.x=0&QSearchButt.y=0
 

Fordy

Ex. Club Member
you wont get shavings but its a good idea to cover it up

also the 220 grit one will be fine on its own you dont want a shiney bore afterwards but you want a lighty scratched bore
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
ok ta

some guides recommend using honing oil? where'd i get that or couldn't i just use eng oil?

btw did a dry & wet compression test tday to verify if the rings have gone.
felt awquid drippin some oil into the cylinders.

when i began the wet test the pressure just shot up the gauge, crikey. was worried about blowin up the gauge.

results
untitled1copyyu7.jpg


overall adding some oil boosts the pressure up by bout 1.5bars (22psi)
so the ring's certainly worn

what pressure does urs run at or what a 1.3 should run at?

here's a pic of the plugs too.

p1010294copyru6.jpg


a slightly ash like deposit. one site saying it's from burnt oil or fuel additives.
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
did another fuel trial for a week and it ran for 295miles using bout 38L
so thats 29mpg. not bad, but could be better once i get this piston ring sorted.
 
....

left mirror had a big crack so thats all epoxied together now.
p1010183mz2.jpg

p1010185uh8.jpg


btw i've also videoed the cars exhaust. vid1 is startup from cold and there's minimal smoke. vid2 is after 5mins once the engines up to temp and the exhaust begins to smoke, especially in vid3 when i rev it.
could you confirm my suspician that it's just water in the silencer?
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=I5MRBO0K


Hi asdame,

sorry if this post here is irrelevant to your cylinder head problem, but i am interested to know how you get the mirror, mounting base and the components inside the wing mirror off, epoxied the wing mirror cover and fixed it back to your car? basically i meant how you take the wing mirror cover off the whole mirror components??

my reason to ask this was someone broke off my micra's wing mirror, and the whole left wing mirror was broken off the mounting base, with 3 wires dangling from the base. i am thinking to buy a cheap OE specs mirror, and changing the cover from my broken original wing mirror onto the new OE spec mirror, i.e. use new OE internals + mirror with the original colour coded wing mirror cover. anyone reckon this is possible???

this will save me from primering the new mirror and spraying it.....

please let me know if i need to start a new thread on this if my post offended anyone here....
thanks!
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
hi zeeww

i made a new thread for ya "cracked wing mirror reply for zeeww" just to keep things relevent ;p

take care
 

rlees85

Ex. Club Member
si's have 130mph speedo and it does the clock downhill and about 120 indicated on the flat (sorry for the thread hijack btw)

lol no they dont, they aint any micras with 130 on the clock! the facelifts go up to 125mph (200km/h), including si.
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
rang up partco tday bout piston rings, they don't do em

so rang nissan and a set of normal rings'll be bout £98.37 (guy asked if i was after rings for normal or re-bored cylinders)

also their head gaskets £32.72
£2 cheaper than partco

goin over on wed to pay before they order it
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
i was thinkin of changin me gearknob to the original rubber type and the guy at nissan was surprised it's just £12.

i'm goin over this lunchtime to pay for em bits.
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
hey fordy i ordered the 280 grit hone. is that ok or would it be too fine?

any ideas where honing oil is sold? haynes says i could also use paraffin.
 

Fordy

Ex. Club Member
engine oil for lubing the stones is all i've ever used and never had a problem and that grit level should be fine
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
okey, i'm lookin into how to let the engine break-in after an overhaul and is slightly confusing

now the textbook way would be to ease the engine before 500miles

but most websites r saying drive it hard but in varying bursts & revs for the pressure to Push the entire ring against the honed walls while preventing oil from overheating & glazing.

and also recommends avoiding synthetic oil till after the break-in. i'll prob need a can a non-synthetic initially then after 500miles change the filter and back onto synthetics.

anyone advise?
 

Fordy

Ex. Club Member
semi synth oil will be fine and just drive it easy dont go reving it high and vary the revs when pulling away to put a little pressure on the engine to bed it in
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
ah buma

got the delivery tday but turns out that i'd just ordered a set of 280grit stones rather than orderin the hone itself:doh:

p1010298copyux9.jpg


bah

their hone device (has 180grit stones) costs £25 and a further week to wait

i think i'll just pop down to local machine marts n get their £24 deglazer

040210259.jpg


says it comes with medium grade stones, dunno what grit or if that's fine enough

here's a site i saw that describes how to break-in
http://www.ntnoa.org/enginebreakin.htm

bottom of the page it says:
using a low viscous oil
1. initially only warm up engine with no load then cool down
2. light runs at low gears n rpm for 15mins, cool down
3. medium burst runs at med revs for 15mins, cool down
4. medium burst runs at higher revs for 15mins, cool down
5. change oil & filter

Another guide by Motoman's little more agressive
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

says only use petroleum based oil during break-in before moving to synthetics.

don't run engine in garage. only start an overhauled engine when ready to warm up & carry out this break-in process.

1. warm up engine
2. hard acc & engine braking in 2nd to 4th gears (on empty roads and maybe on country roads)
3. change oil & filter after 20miles

Are any of these sites right?

btw do you warm up an engine by idling or rev it 3k rpm at standstill? or by gently driving around till it's warm?
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
machinemart doesn't have any glaze breakers in, ah well.

picked up me parts from nissan tday

new rings
p1010302xf0.jpg


p1010305dt2.jpg


p1010309hw3.jpg


p1010308pl7.jpg


new knob lessons the rattle abit but i think the rest of it is coming from the linkage & bushes.
p1010310yp3.jpg


the old knob was spherical, big n chunky but this smaller new one'll need some getting us to

finally a new headgasket.

i'll be ordering the cylinder hone on monday.

lookin in halfords tday i'm quite confused over what non-synthetic oil and grade to get to break-in the engine. they had a range from mineral, part synth and fully synth. obviously ££ over there so'll pick up the generic oil down partco, just need to know what type/grade.
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
resolved most of the gear rattling tday by taking out the linkage bolt near the gearbox end and bend it slightly with a hammer so that it'll fit back in more tightly.

i also removed the intake pipe to see how it affects the engine.

took it for a run and it cold starts a little more easily without the pipe and gives a nice loud roar when i floor it

gearstick now only rattles a teenie bit if i floor it in 5th

thing that annoys me bout the gearbox is how difficult it is to sometimes change from 3rd to 1st as though the synchro's not aligned, unless i release and engage and try it again. other gears r fine.
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
changed me dizzy cap & rotor tday but i have a strange problem.

i sparked the battery terminals by mistake while i was loosening the clamps with me socket n extension, hope it didn't damage any electrics.

neway with new dizzy i took it up the countryside, floor it afew times, fun car.

but on the way home 1 cylinder began to misfire at random intervals whenever it's around 3k rpm (lurches you forward when it does) and also the tach flicks up n down irratically at times when between 2-3k rpm.

it's fine at idle and full power.

because i changed the rotor, could a slight dizzy mis-timing cause this? think i should try find a strobe light i could borrow or get a garage to check the timing.

spark plugs ok and compression's consistantly 15bars.
 

Craig

Unofficial Member (Gold)
Club Member
Could be the throttlebody, I think George had a similar problem at JAE a few years ago, are all the HT leads connected?
 
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asdame

Ex. Club Member
i put the ecu on diag mode 2 and there's no problems, started engine and the O2 sensors working fine. could be the timing then.

just ordered that draper timing light.

whenever i start the engine cold there's always a faint poof of white/bluey smoke exausting out n blown across by wind. need to change em rings soon.
 

pollyp

Club Member
Hi everyone
sorry i haven't been updating here for a long time, but i'm back and have a massive update.

since me last post bout misfires and the wondering rev counter at 3000rpm, it turned out to be a vacuum line at the back of the TB that i've forgot about. plumbed it back on and engine runs fine now. the wondering rev counter effect had gone after afew miles.

when i was testing the effect of removing the intake pipe it engine had a louder raspy noise at full power but i then took a temp sensor to record readings with/without the pipe. turns out the inlet temp is dramatically hotter without the pipe cos it's just suckin hot air flowing from the exhaust, over the block and trapped up the engine bay, so i kept the pipe on for now

inlettempju4.jpg


gear change from 3rd to 1st is better now after afew humdred miles.

back when i finally had all the parts ready on a tuesday, i went about changing the rings but me work m8 said it was my turn to drive next week so i had to do this all in a week.

took the head off
car54ky1.jpg


and was surprised to see a holy thick crust on top the pistons, prob result of the burnt oil from when i performed a dry/wet compression test awhile back.
car55rh9.jpg

car56hv9.jpg


head on the floor
car57qe3.jpg


old rings ok, not much sign of blow-by
car58xj5.jpg


pic of the crusty layer that i had to scrape off all 4 pistons
car59wt2.jpg


was a very tense n scary procedure but i eventually honed all the cylinders
car60uo3.jpg


Mmm shiny clean pistons with new rings
car61iy1.jpg

car62mn3.jpg


inserted back into engine
car63ff7.jpg


i always loove the sight of clean pistons here
car64bw2.jpg

car65qi5.jpg


nissan head gasket, slightly different to Partco's version
car66eb7.jpg

car67ux2.jpg


head back on
car68vn3.jpg


installed cams
car69ct0.jpg


red cover
car70is5.jpg


everything else
car71zp1.jpg


one day i replaced the tatty engine cover screws with new allen head bolts. looks much nicer and less chance of screwing em up upon removal
car75pz9.jpg


i inspected the removed oil filter and was shocked to find a build up of sand, from the engine cover that was sand blasted:eek: the oil sump had a thick crud of sand which i rinsed out. engine was spared it's life i guess.
car72sf1.jpg

car73qm9.jpg

car74au3.jpg


resulting from the inlet temp tests grabbed a drain pipe off B&Q and made my inlet pipe to replace the restrictive stock pipe. very tight fit due to abs unit.
car82li9.jpg

car83oj9.jpg


This engine runs like a dream now. i love it

day to day drive to work i get bout 30ish mpg (some normal & some thrashing driving)

but other day i drove to hilly bolton abbey 70miles away and dad advised me to try driving softly at 57-60mph and i'm real surprised and happy that it did up to 40mpg which included some steep hills. driving style and speed has a big effect on economy. :grinning:

here's a history of the engines compression tests.
pressurehistoryin6.jpg


hmm i have a feeling i should check cylinder 2's valve shims cos the compression hasn't been the best since i last changed em
 

pollyp

Club Member
it was personally very nerve racking cos i feared of cocking up the job. i was using a mains power drill which wasn't the most appropriate cos at low speeds it lacks any consistant torque.

i was nervous cos the speed of honing was quite random. the idea was to let the grind stones move in a smooth 45-60deg cutting angle so you move the tool up n down as it turns.

problem with the lack of torque was that sometimes it was hard to start off so i up the drills power for more torque but once it gets going it spins too fast so had to turn it down.

also cos we're grinding, the crank needs to be covered, quite awquid to get a cloth in and over the cranks with tight space.

if i was to do that again (hopefully not) i'd use some portable hand drill with a selectable slow low gear with enough torque.
 

Antony

Ex. Club Member
hi, very informative thread. much what i have done myself....

i dyno's my car not long ago, (less than 600miles) at 95.5 bhp at the fly with the janspeed system,
tested the compression ratio about an hr ago and they are 110psi. very low, but i now have, new cams, new head, new chains etc etc.

now heres the problem,
the chain when putting on was very very tight, now i have turned it over a few times, its soooo loose that the brand new tensioners are at full extension. also, i think i may have the cam timing off slightly as the dissy is at full advance and is only 10deg BTDC..... so im gonna move the cams one tooth round to try and get more timing advance on the distributor....

saying that, it wont idle.... but after about 1500 rpm, it revvs its nuts off, very fast indeedy do... i like it..haha.

any suggestions?
 

Fordy

Ex. Club Member
dont run yours any more antony, strip it down again and find out why the chain is so slack and then retime the cams and everything, you've got it a tooth out by the sounds of it but you could of slightly bent some valves so maybe take them out and check them imo
 

Antony

Ex. Club Member
awwww FUT!!

i dont think the valves ever came into contact with the pistons... its not that far out... and wouldnt have run at all... i dont think.

but i cannot explain why the chain is so slack other than its not a nissan OE part.

i cannot find the answers anywhere........ GRRRRRR this is sooo anoying. especialy with no money or spare time.
whats annoying me the most is that it was tight before. nothing has moved, or bent and its now so slack the tensioner is at full extension, i have tried 3 tensioners, my one of 107,000 miles, the one that was in raceworx head (fairly new and nissan part) and the one with the kit...... nothing...

sorry for hi-jacking the thread matey
 

Ed

Fusion Motorsport
MSC Founder
Official MSC Trader
Antony, only pulling it appart and checking carefully will anything be revealed.
 

pollyp

Club Member
110psi is round 7.58bars? that's like realllly low. might it be causing your idle issue. check the cam valve gaps in spec, and if the rings/valves r leaking (wet/dry compression test?).

something sounds wrong with the slack timing chain :/
you say its a new head, has it ever been skimmed too much beyond original spec? a shorter head means the cam spockets r closer to the idle pulley therefore chain would be quite slack (if the chain's correctly up to nissan spec) and piston/valve timing would also be off slightly (could this also cause lack of pressure?)

ooh if the chain's not a nissan OE part i might possibly be out of spec by afew links? check against the old chain?

i'd personally make sure the timing chain/cams are aligned before running engine, you know about the matching the 2 silver & 1 bronze chain links to the spocket marking dots? (if your new chain has these markers)
here's the guide i used from cisco's micra website
http://micra.com.au/technical-articles/nissan-timing-chain-procedure.php

i'd never think about messing with the timing chain to advance the dizzy. if you can't advance the dizzy enough, i'd advise just loosening the dizzy rotor, advance it very slightly 1deg (turn anti-clock when looking straight at it) cos there's some slack when the screw's loose, tighten back up and then commence with check/adjusting the timing.

i'd always crank the engine by hand after any timing chain assembly to check there's no collision or major resisitance with the valves/pistons etc

as fordy says, i'd strip n find the root of the problem, check if anythings outa spec.
 

pollyp

Club Member
hey
i checked my valve clearances tday and here's afew charts of the valves history.

when i first brought the car, the valve clearances were wayy off spec. the engine was cold tested and had 92k miles
originalshimnv2.jpg


with the new shims in place, most of them were back in spec. cold engine again.
newshimcoldgl1.jpg


tday the cars at 94k miles and i tested the valves while the engines hot, as the manual says. some valves r a little off as they've bedded in
newshimhotnn5.jpg


haynes says you could change the shims with the cams on by levering between the edge of the followers and the cam shaft with a C-spanner or stout screwdriver which i found impossible without it accidentally slipping and slamming the valve back onto its seat. maybe i'll leave this till i come to taking the cams off one day.
 

Antony

Ex. Club Member
thank you pol.

i do crank it over by hand a few times just to see if theres any collision.,

theres no oil ontop of the pistons to indicate any blow by or "knakered rings"
the head was raceworx head.... i dont think it had been over skimmed, not to the point where the chain would be that slack,

there was no timing marks on the chain other than one silver link (both on bottom and top chains)

but the chain was tight when fitted, then turned over.... still tight.....then run....loose...... its as loose as jenna jameson.

i have replaced the top tensioner with a nissan OE one. and seams to have taken a bit out. but its wrapped about 3/4's the way around the idler pulley.

the reason im saying the exhaust cam may be out of whack is because of the timing is only 10 deg, surely there should be more play that this?

its driving me nuts...

ps that was a wet test too...lol
 

Antony

Ex. Club Member
easier said than done, i dont have the cash, we dont have a nissan dealer, and the new ones where exactly the same as the old ones that came off.

its not going to be as simple as that. only wish it was.

i carefully measured everything. and it still doesnt work.

i might just sell the bits and buy myself an RX7....



ps polly where are you from?
 

pollyp

Club Member
7.5bars on a wet pressure test? yikes

how odd that it loosens only when the engine's running with oil pressure :/

when you checked after running the engine that the chain is loose do ya mean the tensioner is fully extended and the chain is still slacking about? the idle pulley's still secure right?

has the chain got the same number of links as original? maybe put back the original chain or is that gone already?

in terms of timing, this may be handy from ciscos article? and maybe mark your chain links/spocket where the bronze n silver bits would be?
nissantimingchainprocedzl8.jpg

as is shown, 5 links between the 2 silver marks, 11 links between the cam and idle pulley mark on the tensioners side, 7 links between the cam and idle pulley mark on the non-tensioner side.

is the engine together or apart at the mo? cos if it helps i still have the old cylinder head (i should really sell it on ebay sometime) and i could measure it's height from the head gasket face to the top so it gives a rough reference for you to check that your cylinder head is on spec and not causing this chain prob?

...
measured it for ya neway

it's bout 12.12cm from top to bottom
p1010199copyac6.jpg


i'm 140miles up in hartlepool btw ;)
 

pollyp

Club Member
guys i'm a little worried by the engines oil consumption

after rebuildin the engine with new head & rings, used havoline 10w-40 during breakin in for 4k miles (consumed quite alot of oil: whole dipstick per week), i've recently changed to 15w-40 catrol high milage (reduced to half dipstick per week but still drinks 3/4 dipstick after 270miles)

when i drove 125ml to manchester, went shoppin, started the cold engine, drove down afew yrds and upon slowing down i saw a mist of bluey smoke for afew secs, this was worrying.
after more yrds once engines warm its normal again, but has burnt off 3/4 dipstick over the long drive.

i'm speculating it could be worn valve stem seals cos whilst cooling down, oil could've trickled from the head past the seals, down to the cylinder and shortly after starting, the engine burns off this excess.
or could i have messed up the cylinder honing?

if the stem seals r worn, could i replace em with out removing the head or shall i take this to a garage?

i tried takin off the stem seals off the old head but can't figure out how to proceed
 
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