When i stopped at a set of traffic lights this morning on my way home from work i noticed spoke coming from under the bonnet. I lifted the bonnet to see oil all over the battery and surrounding area. When i shone a light on it i noticed the Dipstick had been blown out a good inch or so. I'm guessing this isnt a good thing, but what is the cause?

 

I recently installed a FMIC, which upped the boost to around 1.4 bar, and noticed on the way home it was only boosting to around 1.2 bar. I imagine the boost is a result of the problem, if not the cause.

 

Any help and advise would be greatly apreciated. I'm very worried about this!! :(

that dosnt sound good mate ... internal crank pressure is doing that and i would say u have a piston on the way out ... ( geting blow by )

i agree with mark i just didnt want to be the one to say it. time for a compression test at least preferably a leak down. even if only to isolate the worst from your mind.

How do i go about doing the compression test? I've never done one before.

you need a compression tester for starts then you remove the fuel relay so the car cant start and remove the plugs, put the compression tester in the spark plugs hole. crank over and you will get a reading in psi, for that cylinder. obviously work your way along doing them in turn. they should all be equal i cant remember off hand what a good reading is but damn you will notice a bad one. you can also look at the plugs while they are out if they have sticky black residue youve been burning oil. black sottiness is normal just carbonation.

you can also do a leak down, this involves a similar procedure but you pressurize the cylinder. and leave it to see if the pressure drops, obviously this is a slightly better way of testing because you get a longer veiw of potential leakage.

Are you running a standard ish engine and turbos? 1.2 / 1.4 bar is a very high boost pressure to be running. Has it run lean and done damage?

Comp test's should be around 130>150psi with about 10 psi between will be ok ...

 

but to say the boost you been running at ... would say cl6 as melted or cracked

Took the car for a gentle drive to Halfords to get a compression tester. Get lots of blue smoke from the left exhaust when accelerating, doesn't seem to be any loss in power or driveability though. Turned the boost down to 0.4 bar to try and prevent further damage. Will do the compression test in a bit.

 

This isnt going to be cheap.....i think i might go have a little cry :(

Dont panic too quick! Compression first panic later.

All reading around 150psi appart from 2 and 6, reading just under 100 psi. Bad news? :(

Looks like it .. sorry dude ....

Stock turbos and internals are only good for 1 bar maximum mate, looks like you have cooked it. :(

Ok, so having established and come to terms with the fact i've killed it, what sort of work and cost am i looking at to fix it? I sure as hell don't want to get rid of it, even if it means it sits on the drive for a year!

 

What exactly is the problem? Just FUBAR'd piston rings? or could it be other things too?

i would take a guess u have melted/cracked your pistons ... depending if u have damaged bores or not ...

 

no damage

change pistons and all rings ... hone the bores

new gaskets and may be a timing belt/w-pump ...

 

if u have damage to bores

New over sized pistons and rings

bores will need to be redone ( oversized )

new gaskets and timing belt/w-pump

Edited August 18, 201213 yr by MarkDerby
i'm a spaz and can not spell

i would take a guess u have melted/cracked your pistons ... depending if u have damaged bores or not ...

 

no damage

change pistons and all rings ... hone the bores

new gaskets and may be a timing belt/w-pump ...

 

if u have damage to bores

New over sized pistons and rings

bores will need to be redone ( oversized )

new gaskets and timing belt/w-pump

 

Exactly what he said ^^^ :)

there is other things u can do to beef up the engine a little ..

 

Skim heads and

Cometic Head Gaskets

ACL race bearings

Wisceo pistons

 

this will alowe u to run more boost without stressing the engine

the standard rods will be ok for 500Fwhp

Any idea of cost of the work?

Rob give us a call ... Will have a chat

Just off out with the Mrs now mate, can call tomorrow if your free?

 

I'm more than happy for the car to sit on my sisters drive until i can either afford to get it fixed, or buy bits each month and hope someone can help me fix it. Just glad i have my other car or i'd be screwed lol

yeah tomorrow is fine ... we will sort something out for u

Really what i should have done after fitting my FMIC is turn the boost down, not go "1.5 bar! This is great fun!". But having said that, it was fun :p I guess i've learnt my lesson the hard way

The cheapest option at least in the short term would be to a buy a known good engine from a breaker and put that in whilst you rebuild yours. That would mean youve got the car to enjoy. But as said, never more than 14psi/1 bar of boost on stock turbos/pistons etc. Actually not those thats the real problem I believe its the fact that the stock (370cc) injectors simply cannot supply enough fuel which means it melts pistons, typically number 6 as mentioned above.

tbh iv not red all replys but the main culprit for blow hrough the dip stick is faild piston rings..:-(

yup melted piston or rings have gone probaly more likly the piston has melted after your 1.5bar of boost. shame. anywayssssss as above get yourself a good runner from a breaker then decide whether or not to rebuild the orginal block.

My plan at the minute is to leave it off the road and start saving to buy either parts to take higher boost or an engine with the bits already in it :)

thats a good idea..cheaper than bying a new zed..:-)