where to start.... well, my car has decided to stop running right

about 2 weeks ago, walter and i swapped my head for another b16 head w/ toda spec a's and portflow/itr springs and titanium retainers. Since then, i've babied the damn thing, never revving it past 4k, because i'm afraid it will detonate on me (this is because it was detonating while stock... still not sure why) Now, instead of detonating, it just bogs down around 2k, and then sometimes decides to accelerate more, but more often than not, i have to shift at 2k so that my car doesn't die. Also, my o2 sensor is DOA, as evidenced by the fun light show i get whenever i look at my a/f guage. however, despite all these problems, my ecu isn't throwing any codes. And i have a coolant leak somewhere, but the car isn't running hot, there's just little puddles of coolant in my engine bay. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH MY DAMN CAR????? i've already replaced the fuel filter (since i thought that might have been why it was detonating before) and am trying to run injector cleaner through the system, but i haven't even gotten halfway through the tank because i can't drive the damn thing. I also added more oil (hoping vainly that it might have something to do with oil pressure), but again, the problem just got worse. any suggestions?

 

well, when we pulled the head off, the tops of my pistons are fried. also, i had been hearing the engine detonating at WOT, but i didn't know it, i just wondered what the noise was. and my plugs are white. So... i'm thinking it's been running lean and detonating for a little while. The O2 is definitely blown. the A/F is all over the place. i've honestly never seen the guage go this nuts before. something is up with the ecu as well, because there was no oil getting to the vtec solenoid for a solid week, and still no code. there is no question that my o2 sensor is blown. it started running like shit this week (as far as the bogging, etc. goes.) and got worse after i changed the fuel filter.

 

would an exhaust leak cause the motor to run like this?

 

Is the timing off a tooth or so? Run a comp test. And those Air fuel gages are worthless, I'd throw it away.

Hook up a temporary fuel gage and check what kind of rail pressure you have. Try cleaning the actual rail itself and run injector cleaner.

 

timing is fine... the guage used to actually give me a semi-useful reading before... now it's just nuts.. all the lights flickering on and off, then one light at full rich, then no lights, then one light at full lean, shit like that. and i'm trying to run the injector cleaner now, but not being able to drive the car is putting a damper on that.

 

i just walked out and checked the timing... everythings cool with that. i know there was no oil getting to the vtec solenoid because the oil feed was blocked (from the head being used for ls/vtec) the head had to be pulled back off to remove the plug. i don't know what the deal is w/ the ecu. when i turn the car on, the cel comes on then turns right back off again, which i assume means it's working just fine. and i already checked the fuse, so the ecu isn't resetting itself everytime i turn the car off.

 

anyone? anyone? anyone?

[/ben stein voice]

 

ok, next question... how do i go about doing a compression test?