Bad compression? Piston rings shot?

[takeitsideways]

Hi i have a sr20det engine
1st valve: 110psi
2nd valve-120 psi - bleeding
3rd-120psi bleeding
4rth 110 psi bleeding

First one doesnt bleed..
their is oil on my exhaust tip, lots of smoke coming out of the exhaust, white smoke that is. Spark plugs are clean and have no oil on them.

IPOURED injector cleaner into my gas, 1 pint for 8 gallons.

Would this make smoke come out of my exhaust so much?? Their wasnt this much smoke before hand, theirs puffs and puffs and you cant see behind me when i drive.


Nothing in oil- checked it, coolant free.
No oil in radiator.
No noises in the engine, car runs/ hauls good, its just the smoke

Neighbors says piston rings or seals.

*TOOK ENGINE APART*
Oil rings are frozen, piston rings almost shot, head gasket is good, camshafts are almost gone. One of my rod bearings are smaller than the other and dont fit, i think they were bent or something..
PICS BELOW, tell me what my problem wass

WHATDOES ZILVIA THINK?
http://i54.tinypic.com/zurs3p.jpghttp://i55.tinypic.com/xdugid.jpghttp://i56.tinypic.com/dbtp44.jpghttp://i52.tinypic.com/2saav11.jpghttp://i51.tinypic.com/25klqp0.jpghttp://i55.tinypic.com/2j4vcrt.jpghttp://i54.tinypic.com/sdjte1.jpghttp://i56.tinypic.com/2exmsnr.jpg

[slider2828]

white smoke is water.... compression test ain't going to do shit for you..... head gasket, you need to do leakdown test....

[fliprayzin240sx]

If you dont have access to a leak down tester, drop a cap full of oil and see if the compression jumps up. If the number jumps up, then its the rings.

[Rabboni]

While it is possible for injector cleaner to cause smoke, I have to agree with slider2828. You should try and borrow a leakdown tester, or if you have the money buy it, and perform that test. Air Bubbles in the radiator or out of an adjacent cylinder means your head gasket is bad. Air out of the dipstick tube means rings. Air in intake or exhaust is from the corresponding leaking valve.

[takeitsideways]

Their are no bubbles in the radiator, and no air in the dip stick. How much do leakdown tests cost? Ill ask around to see if anyonr has one. & Slider, like i said their is nothing in the oil, and nothing in radiator. If it was water you'd be able to see it
I appreciate the help, anyone else have oppinoins? Is this problem worth fixing?

[slider2828]

Bubbles will be caused by the leak down test, not by looking at it LOL..... Thats what he was referring tooo....

Doesn't matter what you see in the oil and what not... it could even be the turbo since it IS water cooled. BUt I am sure you are losing coolant.....

[takeitsideways]

Engine is taken apart... The gasket is fine, and the rings look good, but worn a bit.. would that be my problem.. or?

[I LUV MY S13]

might aswell replace em while its out. or is the motor in the car?

[shadowcorp]

Though if it's really oil smoke since he mentioned oil on his exhaust tip it's posable that the rear seal in the turbo is leaking. Mine did that when I lost the first turbo. It will be noticeable when driving but after sitting at idle it will start to smoke a lot worse. If that's what's really causing it, it might last a little while but it will die soon enough.

[slider2828]

Engine is taken apart... The gasket is fine, and the rings look good, but worn a bit.. would that be my problem.. or?

Dude should have done a leak down test... Tearing it down and not doing the test is useless.... OH wellz, replace the head gasket check the head bolts for stretch.... Might as well rebuild...

[takeitsideways]

it did look like their was oil inside the turbo, and also the blow off valve.
Will posting pics of all my parts help out?
The cam shafts are like flat T_T

[shadowcorp]

it did look like their was oil inside the turbo, and also the blow off valve.
Will posting pics of all my parts help out?
The cam shafts are like flat T_T

Check the turbo for play and disconnect the down pipe from the outlet elbow and stick your finger in there or look in with a flash light. If there is any amount of oil in there then there is a good chance your turbos rear oil seal is leaking since if your rings were letting oil through then it would be burning it in the cylinders and be more of a soot than wet oil.

[shadowcorp]

Look in the outlet elbow not the exhaust I mean.

[takeitsideways]

When i turn on the car their was no smoke well barely any
as the car warmed up more and more smoke came, and when i would rev it clouds came out.

[shadowcorp]

When i turn on the car their was no smoke well barely any
as the car warmed up more and more smoke came, and when i would rev it clouds came out.

Same shit mine was doing when the exhaust system heated up it started burning all the oil that had been blown into it. Like I said just pop the down pipe off and you'll know real fast if there's to much oil in the outlet elbow. If not then at least you know it's probably not from the turbo.

[takeitsideways]

the oil rings are frozen/shot.

[shadowcorp]

the oil rings are frozen/shot.

Lol should of said that to begin with

[takeitsideways]

Just found out, and what happens if they are frozen, im pretty sure thats what they meant by the oil rings beneath the piston rings dont move but the piston rings do
what problems does that cause

[shadowcorp]

Well they should be floating otherwise they can damage the piston or more likely the cylinder walls. But more so they won't do their job in keeping the oil on the bottom side of the piston. That's if I'm remembering right, but their main job is to let oil lubricate the cylinder walls while keeping it out of the combustion chambers.

[takeitsideways]

oil chambers.. which means this is why so much smoke is coming out of my exhaust?

[shadowcorp]

oil chambers.. which means this is why so much smoke is coming out of my exhaust?

More than likely

[takeitsideways]

Can you please tell me where i can purchase 4

[shadowcorp]

Can you please tell me where i can purchase 4

I would say buy a full ring kit if your going to replace them. You can search around ebay and such but a local company I know in fort lauderdale carries a lot of stuff for the SR engines at good prices. Race Engineering, Inc (http://www.raceeng.com) after you go there click catalog and chose import, then you'll get a PDF of their import catalog.

[takeitsideways]

Cant find what you are talking about, can you link me?
And what kind of ring kits? piston rings kits or..?

[95zenkisr20]

replace your head gasket with a mls (if havent already) i had the same problem... and take your head to a machine shop to get your head resurfaced

[shadowcorp]

This is the direct link to the import catalog and yea I was talking about ring kits. They come in a full kit that replaces all the rings on each of the 4 pistons. All their contact info is at the bottom of the PDF and there's a good set of their house brand which is very good quality on page 7 for only $65

http://www.raceeng.com/images/sportCompact.pdf

[takeitsideways]

Uploaded pics, take a look

[fliprayzin240sx]

Holy fuck, thats one of the grimmiest engine I've seen in a while. Looks like the oil wasnt changed for a while and cooked alot of shit in there.

Considering my shitty internet is taking forever to load up...I wouldnt even use that head and cams. Lots of scarring on the cams and the cam retainer area. Either the oil pressure was shit at one point, or the oil squirters were clogged. Either way, some of that carbon deposit got to the head and grooved the shit out of the head.

[takeitsideways]

my buddy is supposed to give me a black top head but idk if i can but that on a red top block?? Is their a way? just bolt it on?
Or can i still clean this head ?? help plox -.-

[fliprayzin240sx]

S13 blacktop head? You can swap S14 heads too but you have to do a couple of things. Cant remember if you'd have to use a S14 or S13 HG and what oil pump.

If you plan on reusing that bottom end, hot tank the shit out of it to get a much of that carbon out of the oil galleys. That crank will probably need to be micropolished. I wouldnt trust it without machining it, considering how much carbon build up that engine had.

[nissanfreak317]

Lol, you have engine problems so you tear it apart and THEN ask Zilvia?

Anyways,

1. That head is filthy.
2. Without pictures of the other side of your headgasket and deck of your head it's tough to say, but I vote headgasket leak. It's interesting that you ruled it out so quick despite the fact that you seem to have limited engine knowledge.
3. Get your shit hot tanked, blasted, de-greased, resurfaced, do something to clean it up!
4. Do rings and headgasket after cleaning and resurfacing.

Good luck.

[takeitsideways]

Yeah people do rip on the fact i dont know anything, that's why i came here
This is my first time touching an engine and i have a buddy helping me but he doesnt even know what it could be other than the oil rings because theyre frozen.

How much does a hot tank cost and what kind of places do that? Also prices on resurfacing?

Yes, im a newbie, and i do need help.

Im limited on money, only have around 400 bucks.

I just want to get it running so that it doesnt smoke and make a profit, and buy a good 240sx; i appreciate the help

[Csomme]

Seriously, It was probably the fact that the oil was never changed. So much shit must have been clogged/cooked bro.


Take a step back and asked yourself what caused the rings to be frozen.

[takeitsideways]

I bought it like 2 weeks ago.. the guy said it was sitting their for around 4 months. a day after i bought it i changed the oil and filter
it burned off, i changed it again, black oil is what came out both times, and i still change the oil.
I know what you mean, but it wasnt me that was taking care of it, i woulda babied it.
I would like some more tips though, where can i go to get it hot tanked
and cant i just use something at home to get all the sludge out?
something cheap?.. idc how much i gots to scrub

[nissanfreak317]

Honestly, it seems that you may be out of your budget already. I mean a standard automotive machine shop can clean your head and resurface it for like 200 bucks or less. ring sets aren't too much, maybe $75, I would have them properly gapped by whatever shop does your head though (maybe another $30-$50) which leaves you at a total cost of about $325-ish

The problem is that, as mentioned previously, there may be problems that require further investigation. oil starvation is a serious deal, you should really get the whole engine checked out, bearing clearances, oil pump clearances, valve guides checked for wear, valve seals replaced, etc...

Even though you are on a limited budget and have limited knowledge, I wouldn't risk it. You already have it apart, and peace of mind knowing it was done right going back in is worth it. plus, we are here to help :)

[blueshark123]

i think ur best bet is to get another sr. to get this one running will cost you to much or if u want keep it as a spare u can later build when u have more funds and knowledge

[takeitsideways]

i just want the smoke problem fixed and sell it i dont really want to do all this work and put all this money into it.
so all i need to do are rings, one rod bearing, resurface, and clean the shit out?
to get it to stop smoking that is..