hehe, thanks for splitting the thread Bruce

This was originally a part of Bruce's thread 323 is on the road. We were discussing gas mileage and this was my reply:


lead feet pills ? yeah.. that's my problem
I definitely have a problem with my car though. I think you might have seen my loong thread about a 4th cylinder misfire... rough idle and all that. I have 80psi of compression in my 4th, while all others have twice that! The strange thing is that it varies! Sometimes it's high (about 120) then it's low (down to 80). This sucks... and I don't have $950-$1100 to fix it (that's what they want for the replacement of a valve or two).

All of this makes for a very un-economical ride. Definitely not gonna produce that "new planet smell"...

 

You might as well sell the car and get another ...
Or
Rebuild the motor yourself
bruce

 

I don't feel like letting this car go yet... I just started mod'ing it!

Rebuilding the motor? I wish I could. I am not a mechanic and I've never had to work on an engine. I'm more of an electronics guy...

What would YOU do?

 

Well you have to remeber I am mechanically inclined since a kid ... so I would rebuild it or swap in a 1.8.

Wait that is wh at I am doing , being as my Protege smokes blue smoke ...

 

what about swapping it for the same 1.5L engine? there's one on ebay for $75

 

Well, I am performance oriented, but I don't work and I don't have the money to buy everything I want. I still go to college...

I'd very much like to put the 1.8L engine in my car, but that costs money as well. What's the BP actually? Anyway, if the BP swap costs less than $1000, I'd do it! My dad wanted to spend the $950 on replacing the valves. He thinks that the car might just stop working one day and we'd have to pay much more than $950, as mechanical problems tend to worsen over time...

So if the BP swap costs less than $1000 I could convince him to invest in this venture...

What do you think? I gotta ask Bruce though. See what money he's spent so far on his project.

 

i see the position that this type of predicament would produce, and personally, for 950, you could get another beater car or truck, let alone work on the same hunk of ****. tell me this, how much in repairs have you made to this car? if your dad is wanting to put out the $950 bucks to fix it up, do you have to pay it back? i mean, at that point man, i'd just have to say drive it till it dies completely and in the mean time GET A JOB save up some money, get the 950 or 1000 off your dad and get a new used car, you'd be better off than beating a dead horse. unless you have the endless amounts of time to tear apart your engine, learn how to put it back together and still have the damn thing work, forget about swapping that crap in. you figure if what you're going to pay for the engine is going to outweigh the cost of the motor, i'd just tell you to forget it.
peace

 

Check out A-spec auto in Canada , they can do the complete 1.8 swap for you , pm KDAWGONE, he knows their contact info ...
Bruce

 

I "financed" the car a year ago for about $6000. It had 43K miles on it. 6 months later I went for the 50K mile service at a DEALERSHIP and they charged me $800 for it... They even replaced a broken corner light (without authorization) for $127. 2 days later my check engine light came on and I spent about $150 for a "tune up" which I did myself and didn't fix anything, although I replaced the wires, rotor, cap and spark plugs....

Then a week ago, I was quoted $950 for the replacement of a few valves and probably "machineing the head" or something like that...

As far as buying a car for $1000... I don't think so. This one is still in very good condition and I've just started putting some mods in it. All the other cylinders have compression in the range of 160psi, the fourth one varies between 110psi and 80psi. Besides, I am still paying for this car (my dad is). I am not in the position of having a job. I pretty much live off my parents...

So, I guess he doesn't want to buy a car for $1000 and this is why he is willing to spend $950 on a repair job. I don't have all the tools required for this... I don't have the knowledge either.

What I'm saying is - the engine is still pretty good. It's only a valve or two that are giving me the problems (rough idle, and low gas mileage, but I have a K&N filter that is contributing to this as well - that's it).... I don't feel like letting go of this car, yet...

Damn valves....

 

anyway, I've decided to replace the 4th cyl. valves.
how difficult/complex of a task is this?