99lx,broken valve. broken heart.

[jamesmetairie]

now that my 1999 lx has the apparant dropped valve seat it,s time to make a decision! BTW == the a/t tranny has a slight slip from 2nd to 3rd gear. should i find a shady tree mechanic and replace the engine with a used one. Or should i just try to sell the nice car for about $350?????????????????????????????? and have nice memorys ????????????

[mightymoose_22]

Take the head off and have a look. It may be worth repairing. You don't necessarily need a new engine.

[Davescort97]

Like he says: It may be worth repairing. You can get a used head for around $50 where I live. Chances are that is all you need. A complete engine for around $300 and some boneyards will put it in for you for a lot less than a regular shop. I'd go that route. But, if you are tired of putting money into this car, maybe it's time to get another. Either way the man is going to get into your back pocket. Can't be helped unless you want to sell it to the boneyard for about $400. If you like this car, why fix er up and keep er for a few more years. Buying another car is always more expensive than fixing the one that you have.

[jamesmetairie]

forgot to mention = on the second day like a hard head i kept trying to make it start. probly turned it over at least 7 or 8 times. had it chugging along once or twice. if i try to have it repaired i read that the "intake manifold" and also "egr" must be super cleaned. or the old particles will mess-up the works again. are those the only two parts ? shouldn,t the piston be damaged also? that will really complicate the repair.

[mightymoose_22]

You will have to open it up to determine the damage. One time when it happened to me all I needed was the head. Another time when it happened it needed the head and a piston. The more you keep cranking it the more damage you will find.
The tope of the piston will likely be pitted, hopefully the cylinder wall is ok. You will just have to have a look and determine what is worth doing.
As for the cleaning.... yes, absolutely flush out the intake manifold VERY well. The EGR shouldn't be a problem, but don't drop it into a solvent tank or your will wreak havoc on the diaphragm inside. I suppose you may find something on the mounting surface though... simple enough to clean up.

[GTP Dad]

I have to agree that you should repair your car. Even if you put $1000 in it that is still much cheaper than a new one. Ii would search Car-part.com just to see how much you can get an engine for. You should be able to get a complete engine for less than $500 and you won't have to worry about cleaning your old parts.

[wafrederick]

If it is the 2.0 vin P,that engine is know for wearing out at 150,000 miles.I know of one wrecking yard that knows about them.Did a Focus with 146,000 miles with that same engine,put in new piston rings and the rings were wore out.

[jamesmetairie]

i,ll keep you guys posted.

[denisond3]

I recently rebuilt a 94 Escort I bought - knowing it had eaten an inlet valve seat. With the head removed there were two pistons that were battered on the top. When I removed the engine, in order to remove the pistons and check on the sides of the pistons, I found the piston ring grooves for the top two rings were crushed, and were holding the rings motionless in the grooves. Also those two pistons were no longer free to rotate on the wrist pins - due to the pistons being mashed by the particles. So I would have had to replace two of the pistons, and possibly two of the con rods (I didnt measure them for being twisted), and to check the crankshaft for being out-of-round. Instead I got a junkyard engine and 'rebuilt' that. All it needed was new oil control rings. I didnt replace the pistons from the junkyard engine. I did put in new crankshaft seals, crankshaft & con-rod bearings & valve stem seals, since its so easy to do with the engine sitting on the workbench. I used a spray can of brake cleaner to get any tiny bits blown out of the intake manifold and EGR valve. We have since driven that 94 about 3000 miles, and are getting 38 mpg on the highway. It is a 5 speed.
If your tranny is slipping on a 2-3 or 3-4 shift, have you considered replacing the spring and plunger for the oil pump of that transmission? I had an F4EAT tranny in a 92 Escort that I rebuilt, and the new plunger and spring for the oil pump was slightly different from the original. The instructions that came with the tranny master kit said the original plunger and spring resulted in oil pressures being too low at low rpm. I know my F4EAT would shift into 4th at as low as 40 mph, resulting in a very low rpm until the car's speed would build up. You can change this plunger and spring without removing the tranny from the car, or removing the oil pan. There is a large plug that screws into the bottom of the oil pump casting (its the rusty casting at the side of the tranny near the drivers side tire). When you remove that plug, the spring and plunger can be pulled out with tweezers -- and several quarts of ATF will also come out. The replacement spring and plunger cost less than $20 at a 'tranny-hard-parts' place I found on the internet.
Now that the tranny is rebuilt and the 92 Escort is running fine, I use only 'Drive' when in towns. I dont let it go into 'over-drive' until Im on a highway going over 50 or 55. This eliminates a LOT of 3-4, 4-3, 3-4 shifting.
P.S. We got 37.8 mpg with the 92 Escort and its automatic tranny when we drove to Los Angeles last new years.

I hope your transmission is the same as mine. I only know about the Escorts for 91-94. Later ones may be different.

[jamesmetairie]

thank you denison that,s alot of good info.

[jamesmetairie]

did compression check today. as expected =zero compression in #4 cylinder. next step is to remove the head to see the extent of damage. will keep you guys posted.

[dwbailey]

Hey big guy. Did you ever get your engine figured out? I have a 95 Escort sedan and the engine has started to make an aweful sound but only as it decelerates. Friend of mine thinks it could be a broken valve spring. Gonna pull valve cover and take a peek. How did you first realize something was going bad on yours?

[mightymoose_22]

Before you pull your engine apart, try and verify if it is an engine or transmission problem. If it only happens on deceleration, and can't be duplicated sitting at idle, then don't dive into your engine too fast.

Your problem may be different. You should start a new thread.

[syphon12]

do anyone know about honda civic