Ok i bought my s14 a while back ago and the guy we bought it from had just rebuilt the motor it only had 500 miles on it. and when you started the car it took a while for it to start but he was building the motor so he could turbo it so he had the timing advanced, well when we were driving it back from were we picked it up we noticed it was extremely slower than a ka usaully is so when we got it home we set the timing back to stock at 20 degrees, but it still took forever to start it so we set it again and double checked but still took forever and we also checked the compression it was 90-60-60-90 so we took it to the shop and they said its becasue the piston rings are not sealed yet since it only has 500 miles on it so yea it now has 1000 miles on it and the compression is 90 al across and it seems to be alot faster now like what stock should be, but it still takes forever to start without giving it gas and the compression is still 90 accros what do you guys think it is? maybe the cams arent lined up properly causing the valves to open at the wrong time which makes the compression way low? your inputs would be greatly appreciated

 

well im taking it to ashleys automotive on tuesday to get a leak down test done, ill tell you what they say is wrong

 

OHH yea i forgot to tell you that when he rebuilt the motor he put in s13 cams, i dont know if that would effect anything but just thought id tell you just incase

 

you could possibly have the cams off, but generally it won't run or backfire and run like total hell if they are off. Your comp is way to low. Sounds like the rebuild wasn't done properly. That whole 500 break in crap. Your comp numbers should be set by then. If they aren't then it wasn't broken in properly. To me it sounds like another rebuild is in the works. If your lucky it could be bad valve seats. I personally think you will need a new hone with some new rings. Good luck though

 

thanks for your reply, but i dont think im going to have to rubuild it just doesnt have those kind of symptoms to make me think that becuase after you get it started it runs good. does anyone else have anything in mind?

 

comp should be 170 stock. did the rebuild use lower comp pistons and a thicker head gasket? cus 90 is really low...

 

yea i know, umm im pretty sure he said he used oem pistons, thats why im wondering maybe just the piston rings are bad causing real low compresion and a decrease in performance, and he used an oem headgasket too

 

hmm, id keep revs low til 2k more miles on the rebuild then go for another comp test. did the engine get new sleeves too? or possibly bored? dont know if you wanna try a leak down test on the rings yet.

 

There is no way that it should take 3k miles to build up to proper compression!! If he isn't putting out proper compression right now after 1k miles, something is wrong. It sounds like the rings are screwed and it needs re-ringed. The problem is how the motor was put together. Was it over-bored, what pistons are in it, where the rings sized properly. These are things you need to check into zenkislider. It has been known for lower comp pistons to make it difficult to start a motor. Generally you don't run into that until you drop to 8:1, but you did say this guy rebuilt the motor for turbo. I think you need to tear it down and go through it or have a shop go through and check everything. Good luck to you.

 

alright i got some facts, the pistons he said were from a truck i think he said a frontier or somhing and they were low compression rings, he did not bore it over he honed it. the motor did not get new sleeves either. how many miles do you recomend having on the engine before doing a leak down test or just until its broken in? Because i think 1k miles is broken in enough to take it to 5000revs

 

500 is more than enough for a break-in. You should be able to do whatever you want with that motor. Go for the leak down check. It will tell you pretty much exactly what is wrong with it. Good luck.

Jason

 

thanks ill be going as soon as its outta of the shop getting a new windsheild, ill let you guys know what the results are