Vash's Lean Knocky Story Time

I would stay away from Densos if I were you. A few people have this issue with them. I'd swap to NGKs ASAP despite me having some shit breaking off of my set lol.

 

If you really suspect an imminent ZZB and have objective data to support it (compression/leakdown, and especially pulling the oil pan and putting eyes on your rods to confirm no deformation), then best to run de-tuned power levels to stretch service live rather than building an engine due to a vented block you can't re-use. It'll potentially save a lot of money too...

 

Compression and everything looks good, but not-stock power on an older engine is what I'm worried about. I have no issues currently and I haven't spent any money, I've just been weighing my options and thinking about the "what if" situations.

 

I'd definitely recommend getting eyes on your rods. That'll be very telling. Relying on seeing knock or clutch pedal vibes before rod failure sometimes lets you know it's impending, but not always. Other things could happen too, like a spun bearing.

Have any UOAs? Hows oil consumption?

 

No oil consumption. Have my first sample over at Blackstone now actually.

 

I've had to gap every single set of spark plugs I've bought. .026

Agreed. Autolites or NGKs. Autolites for availability while waiting for NGKs

No oil consumption here either. May our boats both float on the stock block for another 50k!

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@Nox and I, just chillin

 

Still haven't done a leakdown test. Car is running great, 25psi on the S3 w/ meth. I developed a hairline crack in the boost nipple on my jbr tru3.5 intake Monday on the way home. That shit snapped off on inspection at midnight that night. However, my fucking super-boss mechanic was able to fit me in and weld another nipple in yesterday. Back to 25psi. E-BTEC in Powder Springs GA.

After talking with my tuner, I have a hunch why my plug failed. I had been troubleshooting my meth setup over the last couple weeks and had been running into to KR. There were some pulls in which no meth was spraying but the map called for it so I'm confident I ran lean which could kill the plugs. Cylinder 3 being the hottest which is where the plug failed.

Just a hunch.

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I don't know about that. The plugs that survived this are still installed on my car:

 

Damn that's lean as fk. Dually noted -thank you.

Was this just a one-time occurrence? I think I ran lean a few times. The plug broke on cold start one morning.
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Stories in this thread make me pucker o.0

 

Have you inspected them since? That's nuts.

 

Yep. They're fine. I thought they would melt a little bit from the temps (14.7:1 is peak) but they are totally fine. I didn't get knock because I was running ITM at the time and low timing b/c autocross so the engine survived.

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Little update on this...

I have had quite a bit of oil consumption since this whole fiasco. If I drive from Phoenix to Tucson and back I can go from mid way on my dip stick all the way down to nearly the min line. I've been trying to find an oil leak, but after swapping my oil return hose and RTVing everything I haven't seen any oil drippage anywhere.

Compression and leakdown were both great for a 125k motor (175-180 compression on the 2nd test and next to no pressure drop with the leakdown).

Smoking happens only during deceleration. It'll happen when revmatch downshifting as well as on the highway when I have to let off for a bit. It's strange. I'm leaning towards valve guides/seals failing, but it doesn't smoke at all during idle or cold starts after sitting for a while which seems to be a telltale sign of valve seals/guides.

I'm going to pull my intake and inspect the turbo just to verify that there isn't any shaft play or anything like that just to rule turbo seals out, but I don't think that's the issue here.

@Nox definitely jinxed me

 

Also make sure to rule out PCV problems. Make sure all your check valves and lines are clean and working.

It's also possibly the turbo itself. When we pulled my original K04, it was leaking liquid oil out of both the intake and exhaust sides.

 

Oh, it's not PCV. He's running my old setup and that, at least, is known good. Edit: It's likely not the turbo either as it's not a stock turbo.

 

Running a perm plate and I've made sure that everything was tight, but I didn't end up RTVing it down (pain in the ass). I did get a new gasket when I installed it though, which wasn't too long ago.

Liquid out of both sides, this sounds like a Nator AZ meet...

 

Isn't the captive gasket alone sufficient? Pretty sure that's how it was designed from the factory, right? Or is excessive blowby too much for that gasket on higher boost applications?

 

To be honest the factory gasket should be enough I would think. It's going straight to a vented catch can, so there really shouldn't be a whole lot of pressure building up in there, but at this point I'm really just trying to make sure it's bulletproof and there's no oil coming out of anything...

I did an oil change last night and didn't see any oil drips anywhere, but there seemed to be a little coat of oil around the back/bottom of the turbo. My valve cover breather was definitely pretty douched in oil, so it might just be residual oil from the oil vapors pushing through that. I haven't seen any smoke or anything today, so I'll just keep monitoring. The car runs great, but Royal Purple ain't cheap and topping it off all the time is killing me...

I got super lazy and was sitting around drinking with @batmsp6 . I didn't even pull my intake to check for shaft play. Maybe this weekend. Laziness is fun.