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12 Posts
What’s up, D-freaks? I gotta strange situation.
A few weeks back, I was changing out the cam in my ’90 SI, and one of the rocker-arm bolt holes stripped out. As far as I knew, there was only one good way to deal with it, so I drilled it and helicoiled it, which went fine, except that I was a little nervous that I’d maybe drilled too deeply into the head. I decided that was paranoid, and continued the assembly.
When I was done, it cranked over and ran fine. I re-parked it, let it sit awhile, then drove it maybe 20 miles or so to a friend’s place. It sat maybe a coupla hours, and when I started it back up, it chugged like crazy. No smoke of any color, but serious chugging, like it was trying not to fire.
The weather was weird--cold and moist--and if I revved it, it seemed to climb out of the rough zone. I went ahead and drove home, and after it warmed up, it seemed normal again, so I chalked the whole thing up to weird weather.
But the cold-start chugging never stopped. The first thing I tried was an IACV cleanup, but that was ineffective. I re-tuned the rockers, but that did nothing. And then, a coupla weeks ago, I got in it and it wouldn’t start at all.
The belt’s intact. There’s spark. There’s fuel. I supposed there could be an electrical problem with the injectors, but it doesn’t seem likely. And when you crank the thing, it doesn’t sound right. It’s too smooth, as if the compression’s gone.
I gotta assume the head’s dead, that I drilled into a major artery or something. Actually, the rocker arm bolt-hole I drilled into is the one furthest toward the passenger side in the front, and it is very close to the water outlet, but I’m not losing water.
Is there a better assumption than a murdered head? Anyone help me out?
A few weeks back, I was changing out the cam in my ’90 SI, and one of the rocker-arm bolt holes stripped out. As far as I knew, there was only one good way to deal with it, so I drilled it and helicoiled it, which went fine, except that I was a little nervous that I’d maybe drilled too deeply into the head. I decided that was paranoid, and continued the assembly.
When I was done, it cranked over and ran fine. I re-parked it, let it sit awhile, then drove it maybe 20 miles or so to a friend’s place. It sat maybe a coupla hours, and when I started it back up, it chugged like crazy. No smoke of any color, but serious chugging, like it was trying not to fire.
The weather was weird--cold and moist--and if I revved it, it seemed to climb out of the rough zone. I went ahead and drove home, and after it warmed up, it seemed normal again, so I chalked the whole thing up to weird weather.
But the cold-start chugging never stopped. The first thing I tried was an IACV cleanup, but that was ineffective. I re-tuned the rockers, but that did nothing. And then, a coupla weeks ago, I got in it and it wouldn’t start at all.
The belt’s intact. There’s spark. There’s fuel. I supposed there could be an electrical problem with the injectors, but it doesn’t seem likely. And when you crank the thing, it doesn’t sound right. It’s too smooth, as if the compression’s gone.
I gotta assume the head’s dead, that I drilled into a major artery or something. Actually, the rocker arm bolt-hole I drilled into is the one furthest toward the passenger side in the front, and it is very close to the water outlet, but I’m not losing water.
Is there a better assumption than a murdered head? Anyone help me out?
