Post by tom400cfi on Mar 25, 2013 20:24:24 GMT -7
Some of you guys don't know, but when in Colorado, (aka, the middle of f'n no-where), I bought a junker to commute. I was putting 88 miles/day on my truck which felt like a ridiculous waste. $90/week in gas, tires on that thing aren't cheap, and while it's not worth much, I don't need to be dumping miles on it either. Just a waste. So I bought a CHEAP, beater -an '87 Acura Integra. It was pink (faded red paint) all the trim had flaked so it was chrome trim, it was dirty, neglected...but it got me 40mpg and it ran and that's all I cared about. I buffed out the paint and made it red. I pulled all the trim and painted satin black. I replaced 5th gear w/a higher ratio from an Accord for more comfortable cruising, and I installed a nice stereo/amp, etc. One injector was leaking (a lot) so I replaced the injectors w/ones from Pick 'n pull and it started idling sweetly, and running much more smoothly. I flushed the coolant and put in a new T-stat, bought floor mats, cleaned the interior...and low and behold...it turned into a pretty nice car! (for a beater).
Now that I have the transmission working nice, and the car running smoothy on 4 cylinders w/it's new/used injectors, I decided to locate the healthy oil leak that it has had. Leaks about a quart every 500 miles.
After removing the lower shrouds/fairings, I pressure washed and got a better look at the thing, it's the head gasket. SON OF A...! See pic...
Soooo, change the head gasket on a cheap-o beater just for an oil leak? Or just keep dumping oil into it? When I bought it, I was just happy that the thing ran, and got great mileage. That's what I bought it for. But as I've owned it and fixed up the low hanging fruit items, it's gotten to be a nice little car. So I can't let it continue leaking like a neglected beater. I want it to be a cared-for beater! :mrgreen:
So, my "little oil leak fix" has turned into this...
Some cylinder wear; a very minor ridge at the top of the bore, and you can see some wear mid bore which is not surprising;
*Long stoke engine
*Questionable maintenance history
*200k miles
...but not bad. Certainly I've seen way worse that still ran fine.
Here is my leak...the freakin' RETURN! No pressure there at all!
Here it is on the head side..
Took a pic of the cam, b/c I thought the asymmetric lobe was interesting...
SO, now I'll get it to a machine shop this week and get it cut...hopefully get the thing back together next Monday.
Now that I have the transmission working nice, and the car running smoothy on 4 cylinders w/it's new/used injectors, I decided to locate the healthy oil leak that it has had. Leaks about a quart every 500 miles.
After removing the lower shrouds/fairings, I pressure washed and got a better look at the thing, it's the head gasket. SON OF A...! See pic...
Soooo, change the head gasket on a cheap-o beater just for an oil leak? Or just keep dumping oil into it? When I bought it, I was just happy that the thing ran, and got great mileage. That's what I bought it for. But as I've owned it and fixed up the low hanging fruit items, it's gotten to be a nice little car. So I can't let it continue leaking like a neglected beater. I want it to be a cared-for beater! :mrgreen:
So, my "little oil leak fix" has turned into this...
Some cylinder wear; a very minor ridge at the top of the bore, and you can see some wear mid bore which is not surprising;
*Long stoke engine
*Questionable maintenance history
*200k miles
...but not bad. Certainly I've seen way worse that still ran fine.
Here is my leak...the freakin' RETURN! No pressure there at all!
Here it is on the head side..
Took a pic of the cam, b/c I thought the asymmetric lobe was interesting...
SO, now I'll get it to a machine shop this week and get it cut...hopefully get the thing back together next Monday.