Real Tech Talk Rebuilt 97KA24DE. Smoke,Bogg Etc.

[Nismobound]

Hello everyone,

I have a Rebuilt 97' KA24DE in a 93' SE S13 with 1200 Miles on it and properly broken in. I've been running 30weight Non Detergent Motor oil in it since the rebuild, then the night before i had problems i changed the oil to Castrol 5-30w synthetic. Here's the problem. I pushed the motor to its limits for the first time, after the first two drifts the motor started losing power rapidly. I had a huge lack of acceleration and speed and the motor sounded like a Subaru, like it was running on two cylinders.

My friend said he had seen this problem before and it was either cause of bad Injectors, Spark Plugs or S.P. wires, I've installed brand new sparkplugs and NKG S.P. wires i also installed the injectors off a working motor and cleaned the rail. I'm still having the same problem. I have a feeling i might have a bent valve because the Head has bad shims, they were adjusted wrong during the rebuild but i still drove it 1200 miles with good power.

If anyone has a idea to what could have happened please let me know. Remember my motor lost its power while i was drifting smoothly and suddenly began to lose its power. I was able to drive the car 50 miles back home but struggled to maintain high speeds without excessive heavy throttling. During the drive i had bad bogging issues and lack of acceleration. When i got it home i replaced the injectors and drove it the next morning the car poured out BLUE smoke (something i might not have noticed the night the motor lost its power) and it was still having acceleration and bogging problems.The motor also dies when i don't give it gas periodically during idle. I ran a compression test and the results are: Cylinder 1: 208 - Clyinder 2: 174 - Cylinder 3:174 - Cylinder 4: 174. I've exhausted my brain on the possible fixes to this problem please give me your feed-back but read the bold below first!

Please READ the description of the motor before explaining your theory on the fix.



I have a 97' Rebuilt KA24DE in a 93' SE S13 with about 1200 miles on it and I'd broken it in myself.

Description of Engine and Mods: The Crank Angle Sensor is increased 5 degrees and im running 93 octane. The Head has bad shims to begin with and makes noise occasionally. I've made alot of changes in the swap and ill explain. I've Deleted E.G.R, covered the hole left & capped vacuum lines, Deleted Fuel charcoal canister & Deleted AIRV, Deleted A/C & Heater, Unit and full part assembly and lines. I know that i have clean connections and, i know i don't have Vacuum leaks, unplugged/cut wires or clog Intake/exhaust/fuel filter/lines & parts. Check Engine Light comes on occasionally because i have no E.G.R when the check engine light comes on and off, there is no difference in power.

Parts installed: New fuel filter, Hockey puck Engine mounts/ Engine Dampener, Mishimoto Rad. with dual fans, hoses and relay, wrapped Cold Air with HKS filter, New spark plugs and NGK Spark plug wires, Wrapped Megan Headers.

Parts I'm installing in the morning: Megan downpipe w/ flexpipe &canister. Megan Test Pipe. This will take away exhaust flow problems.


I've given my full description of my problems and have reviewed the post twice! This is exactly whats going on with my car forsure!


Thank You for reading and your feedback is highly valued.

Happy New Years!

[NINJASPY]

black smoke=fuel
blue smoke= oil
white smoke=water
Pull the plugs and check them for uneven discoloration and look at the tops of the cylinder to look for oil.
my guess is bad rings.
Who rebuilt it? what was replaced/rebuilt? rings? cylinders honed?
It is very easy to put in rings incorrectly or sized wrong.
Check compression too.

[Nismobound]

black smoke=fuel
blue smoke= oil
white smoke=water
Pull the plugs and check them for uneven discoloration and look at the tops of the cylinder to look for oil.
my guess is bad rings.
Who rebuilt it? what was replaced/rebuilt? rings? cylinders honed?
It is very easy to put in rings incorrectly or sized wrong.
Check compression too.

Hi, I was just logging on Zilvia to add that i did already run a compression test and the numbers are: Cylinder 1: 208 - Clyinder 2: 174 - Cylinder 3:174 - Cylinder 4: 174.

I've noticed on the new spark plugs when i took them out to run the compression test some were perfectly clean and the others were black, this was on new spark plugs 0 miles. I don't remember what numbers they will. It's 5A.M. here ill get the numbers soon. What does it mean when one spark plug is darker than the other?

It could very well be the rings, but it perfectly till that day i pushed it. The motor has new pistons, clean block, honed.

The motor was rebuilt by the same friend that said it could be the injectors/ plugs and wires in my post.

[NINJASPY]

black plugs are burnt fuel/excess heat from no fuel, or my guess is probably burnt oil, especially if there is little to no miles.
compression test should be within 5% of each other or 10psi or so, or about 10% on higher mileage motor. Your cylinder 1 sounds bad.
When you pushed it, the cylinder compression was higher, more air, more power, more compression, more load on the rings/valves, etc.
Check the distributor.
Check oil levels. If too high, that can cause misfire.
Any codes/check engine light?

its fuel(air/gas), spark(plugs,wires, distributor), or leaks(compression, valves, rings)
I don't know much about the deletes so....

[NINJASPY]

there is also leakdown test where they pressurize the cylinders and it should take a certain amount of time for the air to "leak" out. If it leaks too fast, or one cylinder faster than the others... that is the problem.

[nismoman]

i had the same drivability issues on a KA when I had a bad ignition coil, the smoke doesnt make sense though unless its black for that problem.

[Nismobound]

I have a check engine light, can't read the codes i don't have the tools. The light is cause of E.G.R. forsure and could be something else too but it's gonna be a long shot due to S14 motor and all the deleting i did.

Burnt oil problem?
Cylinder 1 has way more compression, whats that a sign of?
What would be wrong with the distributor? It drove fine and then stopped while driving, it could have moved but i doubt it.

Ill check oil level. probably might be a little to high but wouldn't have caused the misfire now because i drove it with the same oil level to the drift spot.



If i preform a leakdown test and find out some cylinders leak to fast, what is the cause/fix?



Ignition coil should be fine, its the original one on the car with 60k miles. Can Ignition coil suddenly go bad when driving? I've replaced the wires remember.

[nismoman]

Ignition coil should be fine, its the original one on the car with 60k miles. Can Ignition coil suddenly go bad when driving? I've replaced the wires remember.

Ive had a relatively new MSD coil die like that. I checked everything and couldnt figure out the problem. figured it couldnt be the coil since it was pretty new. Changed it and problem was gone. wouldnt hurt to check the coil.

[Nismobound]

Ive had a relatively new MSD coil die like that. I checked everything and couldnt figure out the problem. figured it couldnt be the coil since it was pretty new. Changed it and problem was gone. wouldnt hurt to check the coil.


okay thanks for your input. Ill replace the coil with a working one today. It might fix the bogging and HOPEFULLY the smoke but doubtful, i can dream too :D

[Nismobound]

Checked oil level, it's good and clean.

haven't replaced ignition yet. will tomorrow.

Pulled the spark plugs again and didn't notice one sparkplug being darker or whiter than the others.

I noticed oil ontop of the pistons and they are really black.

The car idles fine when it's cold but once you let it warm up for a little it begins to die quickly unless you feather the gas. First and second have a lot of bogging and blue smoke. Haven't had enough power to even reach 3rd gear ( didn't even try ) to much smoke on the road, i looked like Uncle buck's Buick going down the road in the S13 lol...