Please help..Spent alot of money and need advice!

Quentin Hewitt

New Member
Please read this all the way through before posting please thank you!!

STORY: Bought my 95 Acura Integra from a school auction website the Integra had 69,000 miles on it and wasnt currently running at the time but with a new battery and prayers we got it running long enough to get on the tow truck.

THE CLIMAX: I took the car to my fathers mechanics and they said I had cylinders 3 and 4 were dead. My car needed a valve job and because the head was warped and it was going to cost 1,500 to fix it all. I payed the 1,500. I get the car back and the car is running!!!! I WAS SO HAPPY, but 2 months later my car is acting up.
I take car back to the same mechanics and they say that CYLINDER 3 IS DEAD AGAIN!!!! AND THAT "It turns out its not the head and its block that's the problem". And they wanted to fix the car again IF I PAYED THEM!!!!

Guys I really do love this car and I am keeping her. I just dont know why this keeps happening I payed alot of money and got screwed. I need advice on how to fix this problem! This is a dream car thats turning out to be a nightmare because of the choices I made. PLEASE LEAD ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!!

Why do I keep having dead cylinders?
Do i buy new block?
Get new engine?
Rebuild kit?
Give my car to shop?

I have literally been stressing out and I love my car way to much I'm not letting her go because I made some bad choices I just need to fix these last few things please help guys.
 

Russell D

New Member
I would start by getting a second opinion from a different shop.

are you capable of doing a leak down or compression test yourself?
 

Nick_C78

New Member
Uhhh by dead cylinder I assume you mean 0 compression.. ?

Getting 0 comp from the block side is very very unlikely..also, how is a car with 69k miles that messed up? Clarify what dead cylinder means first.
 

SoundEfx

New Member
I might be wrong but it sounds like they are trying to take advantage of you.

First and foremost, DO NOT give them your car. (If they bring up that idea, kick them in the nuts.)
Second, try and get another opinion from another shop.
Third, ask them what did they do that cost $1500 and not hold up for more than two month.
Fourth, ask them why they didn't find this problem the first time.
 


Quentin Hewitt

New Member
SoundEfx said:
I might be wrong but it sounds like they are trying to take advantage of you.

First and foremost, DO NOT give them your car. (If they bring up that idea, kick them in the nuts.)
Second, try and get another opinion from another shop.
Third, ask them what did they do that cost $1500 and not hold up for more than two month.
Fourth, ask them why they didn't find this problem the first time.
Click to expand...
Yes they are not getting my car back as I have moved into a different area where some friends of mine are willing to help me fix my car and probably replace the block.

I payed $1500 and they said the head was warped, I some 2 burnt valves, cylinders 3 and 4 were not holding compression and that my car would be sent to a machine shop so they can work on it. Also a valve job was necessary they set the valve lash timing.

When i got the car back I did a compression test and all the cylinders had compression around 125. But for some reason the car kept dying on me. You can read the earlier post I made about the rough idle etc.

I took my car back and the mechanic said I think the ecu might be dying? I asked how do you know the ECU is dying? He avioded the question and started talking about other things.

One month later my car is acting funny again I did another compression test and guess what CYLINDER 3 HAS 0 compression but cylinder 1,2,4 were still around 125.

What route should I go I have another car I can drive while im here since im staying in Texas now but when my car arrives what should I do?
 

Nick_C78

New Member
You know....I bet you they fucked up setting your valve lash. If they didn't tighten the valve adjusment nut correctly it is very possible is came loose and now you have a valve stuck open causing no compression. Just speculation, but its all I can think of unless you bent a valve somehow. Either way its their fault. They either didn't time it right...which makes sense why it stalled a lot, or they messed up valve lash.
 

Muckman

Not a M0derator
Take it to another shop. Request a leak down test. I suspect compression is leaking out the valves. "Valve job" can mean two things - either setting valve lash on the rockers or 3 angle valve job on the valve seat. I suspect it was the latter as it went to the machine shop but find out and confirm.

There is no way any mechanic can confirm a warped block or warped head without removing the head and measuring. It sounds like they over diagnosed and charged you way more to repair it than it would have cost to simply replace the head with a used one.

Cylinder compression can leak from 3 places - piston rings, valves or head gasket. The head gasket is usually not likely if the engine is not over heating. A leak down test can confirm if its piston rings or valves. If its valves then the previous mechanics did crappy work.
 


Quentin Hewitt

New Member
Muckman said:
Take it to another shop. Request a leak down test. I suspect compression is leaking out the valves. "Valve job" can mean two things - either setting valve lash on the rockers or 3 angle valve job on the valve seat. I suspect it was the latter as it went to the machine shop but find out and confirm.

There is no way any mechanic can confirm a warped block or warped head without removing the head and measuring. It sounds like they over diagnosed and charged you way more to repair it than it would have cost to simply replace the head with a used one.

Cylinder compression can leak from 3 places - piston rings, valves or head gasket. The head gasket is usually not likely if the engine is not over heating. A leak down test can confirm if its piston rings or valves. If its valves then the previous mechanics did crappy work.
Click to expand...
Thank you Muckman for your response

They also put a new head gasket on as well. Also after the car was running for a while they were be a little bit of smoke coming from under neath the valve cover. My car wont be here till probably the end on January.

When I got my car back from the mechanics the second time confirming that cylinder 3 had no compression. They said "Oh well I guess it was the block that was messed up". And that the bottom end of the engine is whats causing the problem.

I got screwed over but im going to try and get my car running again, I just need a good starting point.

So first should a leak down test? and then what from there?
 

Quentin Hewitt

New Member
Nick_C78 said:
You know....I bet you they f***ed up setting your valve lash. If they didn't tighten the valve adjusment nut correctly it is very possible is came loose and now you have a valve stuck open causing no compression. Just speculation, but its all I can think of unless you bent a valve somehow. Either way its their fault. They either didn't time it right...which makes sense why it stalled a lot, or they messed up valve lash.
Click to expand...
Also when I was testing the compression of the cylinders, cylinder 3 was shooting oil or some substance out of hole. This shouldnt happen what could it have been because it did it constantly and the valve cover caught on fire for about a few seconds.

There was no oil in the spark plug hole or anything of the sort, it was dry and the spark plug was good.
 

Nick_C78

New Member
When you did the compression test did you unplug the distributor? Sounds like fuel injectors were still firing. Oil doesn't ignite easily.

Do a leak down like muckman said, but for it to give 0 compression the likelyhood of it being the rings is pretty low honestly. Same with headgasket. 0 compression is almost always valve related.

The fact that they said the head was warped without removing it and then afterwards said..oh, guess we were wrong must be the block..means they are shady and you should small claims court those fuckers. You paid them to fix your car. They didn't. Thats like going to the doctor for a broken arm and they just give you a prostate exam and send you on your way.
 

Swerve

Shawn
125 compress is pretty damn low right? Doesn't 130 constitute a dead cylinder? Or maybe im in sohc mode still :p
 
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Quentin Hewitt

New Member
Nick_C78 said:
When you did the compression test did you unplug the distributor? Sounds like fuel injectors were still firing. Oil doesn't ignite easily.

Do a leak down like muckman said, but for it to give 0 compression the likelyhood of it being the rings is pretty low honestly. Same with headgasket. 0 compression is almost always valve related.

The fact that they said the head was warped without removing it and then afterwards said..oh, guess we were wrong must be the block..means they are shady and you should small claims court those f***ers. You paid them to fix your car. They didn't. Thats like going to the doctor for a broken arm and they just give you a prostate exam and send you on your way.
Click to expand...
No i didnt unplug the distributer, I just removed spark plug and I used a guage I bought from Autozone.

But when my car actually arrives in Texas I will post another Topic, but my car isnt running so is a leak down test still possible? My car isnt even cranking so does my car have to running to do the leak down test?
 

osiris19

Active Member
When you compression test you should remove fuel, so unplug all the injectors before doing the test.

Leakage test requires compressed air. With the special gauge set, you force air into the cylinders and then determine if they are leaking. You don't need it running.
 
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