TomsSVX - I think I found the problem....

[SVXRide]

with your engine

Tom,
Got around to taking a closer look at the heads from your old engine, and it looks like the driver's side head is the "smoking gun". Take a look at these pics:






Other than the cylinder-to-cylinder variation in coloring, the combustion side of the head doesn't look too bad. The center cylinder is the one with the crack





Who owned your car (engine?) before you? I can't believe this was a "factory" fix


-Bill
p.s. you wouldn't happen to still have the "mains" for the cams, would you?

[mbtoloczko]

Wow. That's pretty bizarre! I'm surprised about the possible afr differences between the three cylinders. Seems that two things could be happening. Either less air is reaching some of the cylinders, or less fuel is reaching some of the cylinders.

[SVXRide]

Mychailo,
yeah, not pretty....I was hoping to have two good heads to work on, now it looks like I'll just section this one up on the band saw to see what the wall thicknesses are so I'll know what I can and can't do while "working" on the passenger's side head (ah the joys of porting/polishing aluminum heads ). My machinist just got a flow bench in his shop, so I'm going to try to set the passenger's side head up on it and see how it flows at the stock and higher valve lift numbers....for starters (then the real fun begins!)
-Bill

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by SVXRide

Who owned your car (engine?) before you? I can't believe this was a "factory" fix


-Bill
p.s. you wouldn't happen to still have the "mains" for the cams, would you?

PatrickB owned TomsSVX's car before him for a few months, but the prior owner was the infamous Astralbody.

Not sure what the "mains" of the cams are, but I picked up the two intake camshafts from TomsSVX.

-Chike

[TomsSVX]

Thats the pass side head.... I knew my problems were from that side due to Jesse's exhaust showing me lots of smoke. I did not even look at the heads really. That was the motor out of my old red FWD. So I have no idea who the PO was. I can promise you I did not do that I should have seen that huh? I did mean to give you the main caps with them... PM me your adress and I will ship them out with a refund check for the heads. Is it ok if I only give you $100 back, I cannot afford much more right now. There are some financial issues happening in my house right now and I am loaning a lot of money to a couple family members. Hopefully this will al be over soon and I can get back on track with my turbo system. Ask GreenMarine if he has his old heads, he might have a pass side in good shape.

Tom

[SVXRide]

Originally Posted by TomsSVX

Thats the pass side head.... I knew my problems were from that side due to Jesse's exhaust showing me lots of smoke. I did not even look at the heads really. That was the motor out of my old red FWD. So I have no idea who the PO was. I can promise you I did not do that I should have seen that huh? I did mean to give you the main caps with them... PM me your adress and I will ship them out with a refund check for the heads. Is it ok if I only give you $100 back, I cannot afford much more right now. There are some financial issues happening in my house right now and I am loaning a lot of money to a couple family members. Hopefully this will al be over soon and I can get back on track with my turbo system. Ask GreenMarine if he has his old heads, he might have a pass side in good shape.

Tom

Tom,

$100 is too much...I'll PM you
This is definitely the driver's side, as the other head has the EGR "stuff" still attached to it. I figured you didn't do this to the head...for the life of me, I don't know how this could have happened unless someone got really careless when it came to unbolting the head and cranked an extension against the passageway (okay, now that I think about it, this is possible... )

Given the non-urgency of this work (yeah, it's a "winter project" ), I'd like to find another head closer to home or one that I can get from someone at one of our SVXi meets (thanks again for bringing the heads down to Ripken!)

-Bill

[TomsSVX]

Bill, check your PM box again I think u sent me one while I was sending u one.

Tom

[Matthewmongan]

since were on the topic of motors

tom, you spoke of getting smoke out of your exaust. i get a little puff of light smoke at high rpm and the exaust gasses leaving the tips and flowing ofer the bumper have caused the bumper to start melting. could this be an afr issue, if so how would i fix it?

[TomsSVX]

I am not sure of your problem. I did notice however that your tips were bent upwards instead of straight out the back. the heat from them might be causing the bumper to melt because they are too close to the plastic. Might want to see if they can be pushed down to level them out, that should solve your problem in my opinion

Tom

[Matthewmongan]

hmm,

it definately helps to have someone point out the small stuff. me and the other tom would have spent days trouble shooting before we thought of that.

[TomsSVX]

still I have a question for you. Why would the tips get hot enough to melt the bumper would be my first quest. I know mine don't gt that hot but mine is far from stock... Do you still have the cats in the system??

Tom

[Matthewmongan]

yeah, thats what me and svxfiles are scratching our heads at. the only thing that has changed is the muffler. i dont have one. stock cats (3) resonator to the tips. i am begining to think that the or a muffler acts as a heat synk, disapating the heat from the exaust gases. in a flow through system like mine their is no disapation so the gasses are as hot as they are leaving the cats.

[TomsSVX]

well, he has a laser thermometer right?? Tell him to compare the temps on the pipe right behind the resonator on your car and one of his(with a stock exhaust). If yours is running hotter than his, that will be a good place to start

Tom