Thread: Dirt cheap mods: my never ending struggle

Well Scotty, you're going to be very happy since I'm finally picking up a used hptuner!!! I'll definitely be bugging you with questions before long... lol Maybe I'll finally get those fuel trim under control!

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

im still pretty new to hpt. lord knows i barely got the scanner figured out lol at least we got yt vids on how to do the set up and how to use the scanner readings in your bin file. maybe the coolest part.

im gonna unlock the regal one day soon and see if i can make it any better.

lol still better than me! I haven't been able to find those videos. Mind sending me the link?

Let's play what did I change to my engine bay today? (Hint something is missing)

Originally Posted by ItHurtz

supercharger is missing because your getting ready for turbo

thanks Ithurtz! Now I really have no excuse other than money! Just picked up an HPTuner pro!

Originally Posted by ItHurtz

Tax season baby make it happen, kits are sellin cheap!

lol wife used it to pay off debt... well, at least I'm debt free?

Well, had some fun with the oil leak today... brand new harmonic balancer and some jerk off made the brace too close to the bolt hole to pull the balancer. Made it work by grinding down the bolt to fit.

And sorry felpro, not a fan of the seals anymore. Brand new, leaking oil like an oil can. Bought updated acdelco one and it works worlds better. Impact gun decided to crap out on me so I still had to do it by hand...

Update: been about a week since I replaced the seal and I have no leaks to speak of!

Lesson1: Use OEM whenever possible unless it's known to be bad or too expensive (not as big of a fan of felpro)

Lesson2: Never trust anything that came stock on a 15yr old car is "probably good". Test it! (yes, that means overflow tanks too)

This is officially the first time since I purchased the car back in Dec 2016 that the car needs no immediate maintenance with no check engine light or noticeable issues. I even trusted my wife to borrow it so I could fix her Acura! (though now she likes the gp better... LOL)

Well, still having issues with oil consumption and I'm starting to notice smoke....






To preface, those of you who don't know by now, about 8000 miles ago, I completely rebuilt my engine from the ground up trying not to cut any corners.... I think one might be coming back to haunt me though, but more on that after I explain what's going on...






So, I noticed it's using about a quart every two weeks or so of moderate daily driving. First thought was oil leak, but everything is bone dry. At this point, I didn't have any visible smoke. I performed a compression test on all cylinders with my crappy harbor freight compression tester and all of them were really low, like 120, but they were all within less than 5 psi of each other, and I'm pretty sure the compression tester is way off to begin with.






I'm running a catch can, and I'm not catching an unusual amount of oil, and I've tested the system for correct operation.






There are no misfires at all, and I don't feel like power output is down either. Long term fuel trims are within +-2% from 0, and there are absolutely no vacuum or exhaust leaks.






Also, the engine itself is almost completely stock n/a in case someone new is reading this.






Here is what all the spark plugs look like:













basically normal wear and no fouling. So the oil leak must not be that big.






Here's the compression test dry after engine has come up to operating temperature:









And here's the compression test after adding a bit of oil to the cylinder:





What I don't know is whether this is a normal jump in compression for good rings, or whether this indicates an issue with the piston rings.


Here's my hypothesis. Either one or two things are wrong:


1. The only corner I cut rebuilding this engine was using the donor heads from a 142,000 mile grand prix and not replacing or really checking the valve guides, and using cheap valve stem seals.


2. I didn't have a ton of experience rebuilding engines when I did this, so there's a possibility that I didn't gap the rings correctly, but the manufacturer claims they're pre-gaped for this application (sealed power).


What I'm really stumped about is that the cylinders were correctly overbored and honed and new rings and pistons installed, so I don't want to blame the rings. At the same time 142,000 miles isn't that much on the valve guides, so they shouldn't be leaking like that unless maybe the valve stem seals are bad?


Another test I've done is holding my hand over the oil fill neck, and there is no discernible pressure from blowby even with throttle opened.


Did a vacuum test and though it was a tad on the low side of normal, it was still within normal range and it was steady and moved with rpm like it should. Again, if it was rings, wouldn't this be erratic?


Also, the smoke is mainly on startup, and when it's been idling for a while. I don't notice any when throttle is applied. The amount is very slight, but it does smell like oil and it's got a touch of blue grey.


Not thinking headgasket since that's obviously new, and I have no issues with overheating or coolant loss at all currently.


Basically, I'm looking for y'all to help weigh in and help me decide whether I'm looking at another rebuild, or just getting the heads redone. I'm already planning on top-swapping anyhow, just trying to save up first... lol

Well, turns out my hunch was correct! Had a friend with a verified good compression tool that I borrowed and the numbers were perfect. This makes sense because there is literally no blowby in the crankcase when you open the oil fill cap. I forgot that I opted for lighter weight completely synthetic oil in the winter, so that would explain the consumption. Valve guides are definitely a little worn, but after switching to valvoline 10w30 blend, I'm not burning any more oil (at least visibly).

Anyways, engine is now over 8,000 miles since I bought and rebuilt it and still running strong! I'm still going to make the leap and top-swap it, but I'm going to take more time to save up for a cam and do a real port job on the heads and intake and this time have the valve guides replaced!

Get after it!

Originally Posted by selliott

Get after it!

Haha I hope to! Got a cooling issue to deal with first, and creating a flow bench. If anyone cares to weigh in, I just started a thread on it!

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

Flow for heads?

Yup! I'm going to try my hand at porting and polishing!

Partly grand prix related, I had an old 05 monsoon amplifier lying around and I noticed that the Aztek's radio was the same as the gp, so I custom wired the harness, and wala! This will be the first Aztek with a center speaker monsoon system.

I'll be installing the upfitter speaker plus sub enclosure tomorrow and the rear tailgate radio controls. I'll look out for new speakers for the enclosure since the stock ones are 4 Ohm, but the monsoon is for two ohm.

Also, eventually I'll run the separate tweeter wires, but until I have upgraded speakers, it's not really worth the hassle.

Hopefully I'll have pictures tomorrow.

Well, it's been awhile! Got over 10,000 miles but the oil consumption has me worried, so I decided to go ahead and tear into it today.

Turns out, my suspicions were warranted. Almost all the valve stem seals were loose, and several of the exhaust ones were as well!

In case anyone was wondering, they were installed correctly, and they were the new design, but they were of a cheaper material I think. Just bought some felpro's to replace them.

But... now that this is my extra, I'm going to top swap this baby and do it right! So far, I'm thinking yella terra rockers, mls head gaskets, arp studs, xp cam, ls7 lifters, port my L32 heads, port m90 gen 3, intercooler, small pulley, wideband, tune, balance shaft delete, double roller timing chain, n* throttle body, cai, and a few other mods I'm forgetting. This will definitely be a long project though....

Crazy part is look at the difference between the exhaust ports between one that still had the seal, and the one that didn't...