turbo rebuild problem civic 1.4 turbo

akernohan · 04-30-2008

I know alot of you wont have time for new people like me so Right long story cut short i need help with my civic 1.4 this seems like the site to go to. I'm new so you are going to have to bear with me on this one I'm not a great writer.

The turbo kit was going just great (if anything little low on power 130bhp) until I noticed I was burning a hell of alot of oil. I thought of the worse and started on replacing piston rings now I know it's the turbo oil seal.

The rebuild went just fine until start up. I have the worse idle in the world and it constantly stalls with clutch in or neutral. It has got so bad I cant drive it. I have heard something on air in coolant system and iacv system??? The boost gauge suggests i am loosing vac but it is variable. I have checked vac lines and tried idle control valve.

Any help would be much appreciated

familycar · 04-30-2008

Timing belt on correctly?? start the motor with out boost first, break it in then boost it! It will make it more difficult to figure out the problem with the turbo in place. You could laso have a valve adjustment issue. Who put the motor together?

civicsrcool · 04-30-2008

did you clock the piston rings correctly? maybe you have no compression.

FoSho · 04-30-2008

We'll....you've been into every single part of the motor......so back check everything! I would definitely perform a compression & leak down test asap to get your foot in the door. Then from there back track by what you know. Engine takes air,fuel,spark, & timing to run.......check all of these if your compression is good.......go from there man.......time to put your diagnostic gloves on!

akernohan · 05-02-2008

Well the timing belt isn't on absolute perfect its maybe a few degrees advanced at most. Would it be worth doing that again.

Dont think taking out intake pipe will change it was working fine for a long time on boost.

Rings are on as in manual. Dont think its a specific cylinder. I do have compression or did.

FoSho · 05-02-2008

hmm...well that may be your problem right there. Your timing belt only goes on 1 way. TDC on the cam & TDC on the crank. Thats it. Even if it's off a tooth it can cause issues. or are you refer. to your distributor timing?

akernohan · 05-06-2008

ok will have a go at trying timing belt again to get perfect. any tips to getting it on right. Didn't know it could cause idle problems like this. distributor is the way it was before. think i might check intake manifold gasket at the same time. i think it ran better without the iacv plugged in so i thought the coolant thing was to blame.

andyman97 · 05-06-2008

Wow man, your timing belt is off a few teeth? Lucky if you don't have any bent valves. Start over and do shit right this time....

akernohan · 05-09-2008

meant few degree but yeah still no good. What? Y start again all I have to do is take the timing belt off and go by the book a bit better this time.

familycar · 05-12-2008

/\/\
hopefully you didnt damage any valves

94EG6 · 05-14-2008

I am assuming this is a 1.4 vtec motor if so,I hope nothing was bent bro.
The timing belt is a huge problem.One tooth off can cause weak power and maybe bent valves if the rpm gets high and the vtec engages.

akernohan · 05-15-2008

havent been reving it that much since engine rebuild. I have heard no noises yet so i am hopeful that valves are ok. Dont really have time to cheak them so will just fix timing this weekend hopefully. It isnt vtec but i might do a conversion some day. Thanks for the help btw!

akernohan · 05-17-2008

timing fixed (although wasnt far off)
yet to start up waiting on battery charging
other things that could cause problem:
evap reservoir solenoid on top broke off in rebuild
air in coolant system (some sensor which affects idle)
injectors???
intake manifold gasket

akernohan · 05-20-2008

so incase anyone wants to provide any input.

its not:
the evap purge thing (tried a new one)
problem with injectors of any sort (new seals, throughly cleaned)
the timing (redone)
wrong wiring to spark plugs (check)

have ordered new spark plugs just cause i cant thnink of anything else to do. Anyone think new wire will be needed. I think unlikly as it was working fine before.

just to remind ppl: there is hardly any vac on idle but kicks in after coming off the throttle. the idle almost always stalls. Iam not so sure about drive as i havent driven in such a long time.

i am really stumped here guys any suggestions welcomed.

drunkenmagnum · 05-21-2008

What kind of Engine Management are you using? Is it hooked up properly, could your old tune be causing a problem? might want to check over it possible. Just a suggestion.