bye bye engine!!!
 

Okay here it goes so I went to get my haircut. When I left I was just cruising down the road out of boost and the car dies all gauges I have read good A/F, Oil Press., temp gauge. and lose power steering and ABS, I look back and looks like a white smoke bomb out the back and Then I knew It wasn't starting again so I had to get it towed $52 :vash: big waste of money. But heres where I stand now I'm pretty low on cash and Im pretty sure its the head gasket by the white smoke Heres what I need help with whats the cheapest way to diagnose and fix my problem! thanks guys I tried with the punctuation but probably isn't right also on a sidenote when I try to crank now theres no oil press. what does that mean exactly? I'm a noob when it comes to engine building only thing I've ever rebuilt would be lawn mower engines in school?

You can do a few things. Is their oil in coolant, coolant in oil, gas in oil, metal in oil, etc. Buy a cheap compression guage or better, a leakdown guage, and run the test. Either will tell you if you have a compression problem, the leakdown will tell you precisely what the problem is.

Before you do anything...double check the torque on the head bolts...they should be around 70 ft lbs IIRC.

If that checks out ok, do a leak down test with the radiator cap off,and see if air comes out of the radiator.


Has the car been overheating lately?


Tony

no the car has never overheated since ive owned it

wheres the cheapest place to get apr head studs and an oem headgasket,

Like I said, just double check the torque on the head bolts... it's not going to cost much in terms of time or tools.

I will for sure check that what does it mean if they arent that????

pull your plugs and see what they look like. that will tell you a lot. also check your timing belt, by all of the sudden just dieing while cruiseing and now no oil pressure while cranking, you could have just snaped the timing belt. and thats an easy and cheap fix. but FIND OUT WHATS WRONG BEFORE BUYING ANYTHING! you dont need to waste money on stuff that doesnt need replacing.

If it's not the torque on the head bolts, you are going to need to perform a leak down test.

Basically what that is, pressurize the individual cylinders with compressed air (make sure the valves are closed and the piston is at TDC) and see where the air leaks out of. You can buy a leak down tester at Harbor Freight stores for about $40. You are going to need an air compressor for this though.


Tony

I just re-read your original post...the thing about the oil pressure is that it's going to be difficult to build a whole lot of pressure by just cranking the engine.

Where is the oil pressure at idle?


Tony

the oil pressure at idle was like 25??? but when i was messing with cranking settings for MS it built oil pressure and wouldnt start

UPDATE :vash::vash::vash::vash::vash::vash::vash: I went out to try to start it and what do you know it started right up???? WTF is goin on?? why would I have a smoke screen of white smoke behind my car and it stall and not start again??? :vash: the only thing i noticed when checking the oil and coolant was that it was a little low but not really do I have a leaky HG it seems to idle fine no smoke or leaks or smells what should I do???

check your god damn spark plugs :vash:

I will tell you how they look as soon as I get a chance to go out there and pull them

Hmmm...

;)

Remember how you threw those cheapy spark plugs in?

no no i replaced them with NGK's

Hey craig, you only have Honda studs listed on your site. Just looked. What's your price?

okay so I pulled the plugs and well in a handbasket there white??? and the bottom of the threads are black??? Really lean Im guessing or coolant contamination?

Here's a thought. Do everything you've been told. Do a compression or leakdown tests. If you can't read plugs post pics of them. OMG, you've been given good advice so far your just ignoring half of it.

just did a compression test thanks though they all read 120 and the engine was cold i was just posting my thoughts on the spark plugs and expressing what I saw Oh yea and the torque wrench thing I need to buy a new one lost mine or left it somewhere so really I am taking the advice just slowly doing it

Ok, I would assume you know how to do a comp. test but perhaps you don't. Look it up. Here's a hint, motor has to be warmed up. Another hint, throttle has to be open. Also good idea to have battery on a charger. By all means this is not all the shit you have to do, so look it up if you didn't do all these things and feel competent. And please, OMG, use damn capitalization, periods, apostrophes, and all that other grammar shit your supposed to be introduced to in elementary school. Is it really that hard? Come on, not that hard. You can turbo your car but can't hit the shift button or the one 2 spaces to the left of it?

http://tunertoys.zoovy.com/category/....arp_hardware/

You must go to the miata section, they are not directly in the ARP section. Weird thing too, I taped miata in the search box and nothing appears?

i have always been told that too, but every comp test i have ever it has never made a difference with the throttle open or closed

Ok first off I did hold the throttle open unplugged the injectors and ignitor pulled all the plugs then ran it only thing was not warmed up but what would it matter if there all the same when its cold should mean nothing is seriously wrong sorry when I'm on the computer I don't wanna feel like I'm in school maybe i just wanna type however what are you an old English teacher? And isn't this a car forum not a grammar forum???? :jerkit: but thanks to everybody for the help Im gonna get a torque wrench, air compressor, and leakdown gauge and do all these things mentioned above as soon as I get some money

This post isn't going to help you but, I agree, use capitalization and punctuation. It makes it easier to read and therefore, more people will be willing to read it. I know that when i see a big block of non-punctuated, non-capitalized, misspelled garbage, It makes me not want to read it and I usually just skip over it. Punctuation and capitalization were invented for a reason. Use them! Moral of the story is, the better you type, the more help you will get.

Oh my, I'm definitely NOT an English teacher. I suck at spelling and a lot of stuff. Look, I'm trying my best to help you, so be gratefull for that. I have to read you post 2 or 3 times before I understand it because I can't tell when one thought stopped and another begins. It would require little effort on your behalf to type clearly to better convey your messages.

The end result of course would be the readers would better understand you and be able to help you. It's to your benefit, no? Do whatever you want, but some people refuse to read post that are written in caps lock, huge paragraphs with no breaks, no punctuation or capitalization, etc. I'm not calling you out for misspelling something, I'm not trying to be a grammar natzi. Just saying you could try to do better and it would probably get you more responses to your questions. Nobody has to help you, you have to earn it, so to speak. Refusing to follow any grammar rules just because you can is not gonna help you get the responses your looking for. If anything, it will just get you off topic criticisms....

But you do whatever floats your boat.

when the motor is cold, nothing is sealed correctly,
and ur readings will be way way off
i just did mine, and ur number* are nowhere near mine

u kinda described my plugs, they look lightly white, normal looking,
with black on the ends of the threads

post pics, and more members will help,
but for now,

were glad your car runs

If you're burning coolant, one (or sometimes two right next to each other) of the plugs will be shiny and clean, compared to the other 3.. It sounds as if you are not burning coolant to me.

leakdown test. if air comes out of the plug hole beside the one you're blowing into, head gasket. air coming out of the intake, intake valve. air coming out the tailpipe, exhaust valve. air out the dipstick hole, piston rings or hole in the piston. any combination, either a f**ked motor or you're not at top dead center.