a lil imput please

[jeef]

aight here's the dealio, i'm pretty familair with cars in general, and really fam. with 4th gen civics, one of my friends has a 90 accord 2.2L it has a really bad stutter, like it's missing really bad, the first thing that comes to mind is the timing, but the thing that gets me is the burning oil, it reaks of it! FYI it has 200,000mi on it. the next thing i would figure would be the rings are shot and it pretty much needs to rebuilt for years of abuse, which would make sense to me b/c his valve train was yellow!!! i done never did see a yeller one before, i kinda thing the engine was just really neglected before he got it. any imput would be nice, and sorry for the novel.

oh yeah i noticed there was a bit of oil running down the top of the plugs and advised him to change the gaskets on the valve cover

[white97ex]

i have a 97 ex coupe....had 84,000 on the odometer when i got it..the valve train was yellow when it came to me...and it ran like a champ. i heard someone say that using synthetic oil would make your valvetrain components "yellow" like that....is this true?

[fritz_269]

I dunno about the 'yeller' thang...

But start on your friend's accord by reading the plugs.

If that doesn't tell you straight off, then you might want to run a compression/leakdown test.

[jeef]

yeah i'm planning on the compression, i bet it the rings are gone, and the plugs told me the other night they were being drown in oil, as did the smell. the timing may be off but i doubt thats the prob.

[fritz_269]

Originally posted by jeef
and the plugs told me the other night they were being drown in oil, as did the smell.

90% that it's either the rings or the valve stem seals. A leakdown test should tell you. Does it look about the same in all four cylinders?

Oh - and make sure the crank and head breather tubes are clear, if they get clogged, the pressure could force oil past rings or stem seals (even OK ones) into the chamber.

[b16a3sol]

my 4th gen accord had the same exact problems before it got stolen and fucked beyong belief. to stop the oil from dripping down into the plugs, there are 4 o-rings that act as gaskets between the valve cover and the head. after 200,000 miles, those have been smashed to paper thin, and can no longer stop oil from the valve train from getting into there. those o-rings cost about $5 for all for and take about a minute to change them. i was never able to stop it from sounding like it was missing completely. to help it out, check the distributor cap and rotor, and the ignition coil to make sure it is sending a strong enough charge to the plugs. run the compression test to check the rings. if it ever gets to the point that it doesnt start anymore, try replacing the main relay. sorry about the length, but hopefully i helped.