The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

[Scott Liggett]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

When running an MSD coil, I had to go to a low resistance carbon button between the coil and the rotor because the regular resistance one would die, car wouldn't start. I even melted one into the cap. MSD sells both.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

Good info Scott. I have a standard GM coil on there now.

I did the compression check:


One of these things is not like the other:

1 - 135,135
2 - 136,148,142
3 - 138,140
4 - 149,150
5 - 140,140
6 - 0,0,0,0,0,0,0 :o Yup, that's zero. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K-WB6xvAMc
7 - 138,142,142
8 - 133,140,138

I checked 6 again after I checked 8 to make sure I had the tester threaded and seated properly. I tried some oil in the spark plug, but it was hard to get it in there with the A/C box, and wasn't sure how much to add for the 4.3" bore. Adding the oil did not change the compression. I don't know if I didn't add enough oil or if I have some major issue with the head (or cracked piston?). I popped the valve cover off and had my friend crank the engine over while I watched the rockers and there wasn't anything unusual in the movement of the valves/springs on #6, move smoothly and uniformly. In any case I plan on pulling the engine at some point (probably be late May early June) and pulling the head. I'd pull it sooner, but I have plans next weekend and I'm going to Germany for the first two weeks of May. I put the valve cover back on and the car still starts right up and leaks oil :P I did unplug the #6 injector and spark plug.

[Scott Liggett]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

Was #6 plug the one that had oil and you pulled during your trip back from Pheonix?

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

Was #6 plug the one that had oil and you pulled during your trip back from Pheonix?

Yeah it was.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

Oh yeah, at least one good thing about pulling the engine in the summer/spring is that perhaps I can get a decent coat of paint on it, winter painting at 20*F doesn't stick well =P

[Scott Liggett]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

Oh yeah, at least one good thing about pulling the engine in the summer/spring is that perhaps I can get a decent coat of paint on it, winter painting at 20*F doesn't stick well =P

Another chance to clean up that engine bay too. Time to make it pretty.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

yikes, I wonder what ate #6

The fried coil/fried alternator is actually not that uncommon.... especially if there isn't a fuse/fusible link between the alternator and the charging system....

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

So I called T/A, it'd be about $2000 for them to set up a set of aluminum T/A heads using my valves and springs...... That's doing a multi-angle valve job and some clean up work on them..... plus I need another ~$300 for a bigger cam and some lifters.... On top of what ever I find wrong with the engine...pistons??

[milner351]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

bummer

Hopefully it won't be pistons, but piston - hopefully you'll get away with no bore work needed.

[DanStokes]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

Can you borrow a bore scope - maybe from work? I keep threatening to buy one. We had one at EPA and it was PERFECT when this kind of stuff happened. Pull the plug (or injector on our Diesels) and look in there - you can see if a valve is missing a corner, if there's a line down the bore, etc.

Dan

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

I've thought about seeing if one of the local shops has one and will let me borrow it. The number six cylinder is the hardest one to look down because the A/C box and the way it faces.

I am truely confused as to what happened to and what is wrong with the engine. It doesn't make any funny sounds (Rebeldryver Scott can attest to this), I drove it home (well ~300 miles of it) with good/normal oil pressure, no funny movments of the vacuum gauge or weird noises. I was running fairly rich down the 1/4 (~11.7:1 afr :-\), no nitrous and near as I could "hear" no pinging, as I had backed off the timing as a buffer before I left Ely.

I too am crossing my fingers hoping the bore is good. If it's a piston I'll look at the other ones, if they appear fine I may just purchase one. If it looks like there is reason to suspect the others I'll purchase some forged ones. (these are cast not hypers)

[milner351]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

The price on borescopes have come down quite a bit, but - it sounds like pulling the head is going to be required anyway, if it's a tweaked valve head - it would still go up and down fine - but it wouldn't seal combustion - and you wouldn't see that until you pulled the head off anyway - details like that are hard to see through a scope.

what the heck - just go out there and pull the intake and head off - for a master like you what will that take?
2 hours?

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

;D pfft, 1 hour ;D I just don't want to tow it to my car port when I go to pull the engine. The reason I don't suspect the valves is because the crank case pressurized so badly it blew the seals, another reason is there isn't any backfiring through the intake or exhaust (and in the intake's case, the vacuum gauge is steady).

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

I've had that happen....


I also had a 425 caddy that a hole right in the middle... not detonation pits, nothing to suggest why it went - but it had a nice hole in the middle.... ran smooth even with the hole.... :

[milner351]

Re: The Silver Buick's well Silver Buick!

No offense Buickguy but I really really hope for Randal's pocketbook - that his doesn't look like that when he does pull it apart! :'(