YES!!! It was the F**KING HEAD

#1

I’ve been fighting for a week to get good, reliable and repeatable leakdown tests. I’ve done so many damn leakdown tests that I’m now like some kind of leakdown rocket scientist.

Tonight I struggled for a couple hrs to get the Molitor motor on to an engine stand. Damn thing didn’t want to reach around the flywheel.

Then I repeated last night’s leakdown tests on the Strictly German motor. And then the test of truth, I started doing wet leakdown tests (a couple spurts of oil in each cylinder) right after each dry leakdown test. The oil seals the piston rings so you can tell if leakage is valves or rings.

The wet leakdown test indicated that the Strictly German block is not in bad shape. The problem is the head.

At midnight I shifted focus to the Molitor motor. Each cylinder was kicking ass with 0-4% leakdown. I was getting nervous. I’d been so sure that Molitor hadn’t done shit on my motor since I pulled out of RA…but what if the problem had been as he said…my old rings didn’t like his tight head. And that he really had done a ring/hone job? What if all the work in the motor swap was for nothing? Or what if the motor had been weak for some damn mystery reason?

I was heading for trouble. The Molitor motor was checking out to be really good. The last cylinder to test was #3. I was crossing my fingers. If this cylinder turned out to be good, I was going to be in a world of hurt.

80% leakdown. Cylinder #3 was all kinds of screwed up. Ok, time for the test of truth. Spurt spurt goes the oil. 80% leakdown. The problem is the head. Eureka, the problem is in the goddamned Molitor head.

I took some photos of the dry test and wet test result for the lawsuit. Tomorrow the head goes to a machine shop to get checked out.

#2

How much did you give Alex? Have you heard the expression, “You can’t get blood from a turnip.”?

John

#3

drumbeater wrote:

[quote]How much did you give Alex? Have you heard the expression, “You can’t get blood from a turnip.”?

John[/quote]

Ranger -

Is there anything laying around his shop of marginal value? Old donor chassis? Something else you could take in lieu of getting cash back?

I understand the principle of the thing, but I’d hate to see you throw good money after bad with lawyers. I guess there’s always small claims court…

Congrats on learning the comp/leakdown stuff. That will come in handy!

Steve D.

#4

I’ve got $3300 into this.

My wife’s a lawyer. That itself isn’t helpful because although she’ll tolerate my obsessions, she’d burst out laughing if I suggested that maybe she could up her participation from “tolerate” to “assist”.

The real utility of sleeping with a laywer is you end up with lots of lawyer buddies. For example, the guy I went shooting with in Atlanta during the Molitor stake-out is a lawyer.

The head went to a machine shop this morning. I’m supposed to get a call Monday with a report on it. This will be the first night in a week I wasn’t up until 0200 working on the car.

#5

Ranger,

You need to bring all your tools to tracks and in between runs, offer the service of checking everyone’s compression and doing leak down tests.

I’ll be willing to pay for that service.

Glad you found the cause of the problem.

#6

csrow wrote:

[quote]Ranger,

You need to bring all your tools to tracks and in between runs, offer the service of checking everyone’s compression and doing leak down tests.

I’ll be willing to pay for that service.

Glad you found the cause of the problem.[/quote]

Chi, one of your many charms is that your humor is rather dry. So sometimes I can’t tell if you are kidding or not. Which is exactly what I try to do to others. But I really could bring the compressor and tester to the track.

There’s no way I could accept money for working on someone’s car tho, not after what everyone had done for me. I’ve a lifetime of debt to work off in that respect.

I’d take a beer tho.

You give me a car with it’s rocker arm cover and spark plugs removed and I could do a both a dry and wet leakdown in <20min. If you hold my beer.

If anyone is interested in this, tell me and I’ll bring my stuff to RA. Call it my community payback. No mass market pisswater beer tho.

Where were the power hookups in the Pro-pits paddock? I’ll need that for the air compressor.

#7

Scott, bring the tools!

I can bring mine,too. By the time of the RA event I’ll have data on 5 cars. The additional data that is gathered can then be used for those that have results from the Balanced Performance dyno. Is there a correlation? I don’t know…can’t think of anyone on this web site that knows, but gathering data will help us to learn. (It will make me a better used engine buyer.) Hey, that’s what it is all about, 'cause we can’t all be Skeen or Cobetto.

Regards, Robert Patton

#8

Ranger,

Half jest + Half admiration.

Super job on tackling the problem head on and at the same time acquiring a brand new skill.

I thought it would be a waste not to utilize that practiced skill. (place an emoticon of your choice here)

#9

Scott,

If you want to stay up again until 2:00 tonight, I have a suggestion… I would love to see a DIY writeup for the leakdown test process. I’ve just acquired my new/old 91 donor car and would love to know how the engine checks out. I would love to give it a go if I had some guidance rather than take it to the shop…

I’m sure others would benefit as well.

Keith

#10

Ok
http://www.gress.org/Home/Cars/TrackTales/Leakdown%20DIY.htm

#11

You didn’t really use office 97 to type that did you?

#12

87isMan wrote:

I used fingers 10, mostly.

Office2k3 helped tho.

#13

Scott -

Great write-up. Interesting that Longacre recommends having the cylinder at BDC so it can’t move. Is that the lawyers talking? Is TDC a better recommendation because you need less volume of compressed air and that will work with most compressors?

I don’t understand how I can be so fascinated by mechanical things and be devoid of mechanical ability at the same time.

Steve D.

#14

It’s not clear to me how to tell TDC from BDC, short of sticking something thru the spark plug port and feeling around. I tried to shine a light thru the port to see if I could spot the piston top, but that really didn’t work.

I think that there is a consensus that TDC makes the better test because the cylinder wall at TDC is under more stress then the cylinder wall at BDC.

After the cylinder on the Molitor motor failed the test, I pulled the head. I noticed last night that the problem cylinder was at BDC.

I rec’d a very interesting PM this morning from a SpecE30 DE’er that saw my motor at Molitor’s shop in mid Dec. He looked at my block and noted that Molitor was apparently replacing some bent valves in my head. Further, he says that my pistons showed damage appropriate for smacking the valves.

Oops, that timing belt wasn’t on quite right?

#15

Scott, I think you just discovered the “Molitar Mystery.”

Call me and I can walk you through the TDC versus BDC thing.

Robert 800-755-1715