A couple questions.

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TheManRSW

TheManRSW
What's up guys? It's been a while since I last posted, but I figure I'd run some things by you and see what you all thought.

I think my rings are starting to go bad and I'm finally moved in to my new place and I'm ready to start working on the Sol again. ('95 Honda Del sol w/j-spec b16 swap approx 42k miles). I was wondering what you guys thought about this build up. Since I'm going to be changing the rings and valve seals I figured I'd get some new pistons and bearings as well. I want to go with the PCT pistons and a single or double layer HG. That should put my CR roughly 11-11.5:1. Do you think the stock OEM (new) rings will hold this or should I upgrade to a better brand, and if so, which brand?

I'm getting a little blow by and puffing a small bit of smoke. I'm thinking it's either the rings or valve seals...and I'm going to change them both. Simply because if I'm in there changing one...it's not going to be that difficult to change them both and put away all doubts. I work at Mercedes so I have access to all the things I'll need to do it all. It just makes sense to me.

Basically, I was just wondering if anyone was running this set-up and what they thought about it. I'm not looking for huge gains, obviously, but I just want to stop the smoking and get everything running smooth again. Sorry this is a little long, but I'd appreciate any comments you guys have.
 
Do a compression and leakdown test first and it will tell you if you really do need rings.

Why are you replacing the bearings if the engine only has 42k miles? This engine is still a baby for a honda.

Yes the honda rings should be fine. I'm running about 12.5:1 on them.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I'm getting pulses out of my oil filler cap...which leads me to believe it's more the rings than valve seals. It could be either, but with the intensity of the pulses, I don't see it all being the valve seals. I could be wrong, though. It's also smoking pretty heavily when I hit vtec...throughout the entire rpm range (5500-8300). It tends to go away/lessen after hitting vtec a few times in rapid succession.. My first thought was the valve seals...but with the pulses it just seems too great. I then thought about maybe the oil ring...but again the pulses. I'm kind of stumped at this point. The only thing that seems to make sense in the whole thing would be the rings and blowby going into the crankcase and back up and out of the filler cap. The leakdown test was fine. I don't hear anything coming from the intake or the exhaust. My compression test seems a little low, but improves with a few drops of oil in the cylinder first...which is leading me to believe it's more in the rings than the valves. As for the bearings...I figured if I'm in there, why not? I know it's a low mileage engine, but I run it pretty hard and I don't want to have to do it all over again in another 30k miles. I'd rather just do it all and not worry with it anymore. I'm leaning more towards standard bore pistons, but I haven't measured anything yet...so I don't know if I'm going to need an oversized piston. I can't imagine it being that worn with only 42k miles...
 
If its worn enough for the rings needing to be replaced I'd make sure to check the bores to make sure they aren't oblong and the wear on them.
 
Thanks again for your thoughts.

Eh...it smokes a little on initial start-up, but only for about 10 seconds. I figured that's pretty normal. The thing that gets me is the puff of smoke that is emitted on first hitting vtec. I had a d16z6 in it before I did the swap...and it did the same thing, but it also had 160k on it. I know some pulses are normal from the filler cap, but this just seems abnormal. I guess I could just change the valve seals for now and see if it helps the smoking at high rpm...and go from there. I'm kind of interested to see how much the pct pistons will help with the low end power raising the compression and all.

Yeah, I know they can get scarred up pretty quick. I guess I really need to tear it down and measure everything, but only having one car makes that kind of difficult to do. I mean, tearing it down and getting it all together wouldn't take more than a day...but having to order the parts after measuring would mean down time. I don't really want to tear it down...measure it all and then put it back together while I wait on the parts to come in only to do it all over the next week. Plus if I needed it machined it would take even longer. I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to that.
 
First, I just want to say, I'm sure all of your experiance is out of my league, and no thread jack intended, but I also have a JDM '95 Del Sol B16 and I get some white smoke at high rpm as well. It should have between 37~42k on it too.

Stock redline. After a compression check, cylinder 1 is down about 10lbs from the rest. I've also heard that B16 heads/blocks twist at high rpm, if your putting down 200hp, and that's why ARP head studs are recommended. I know i'm not near 200whp, but is this still possible?

This still gave me the idea that since the block is open deck, it's possible the head gasket is letting coolant into the cylinder(s)? Could this be the source of my smoke? After a hard night of racing, I'm low on coolant.

Insight appriciated. Thanks!
 
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