Head removal?

[jacobbesanceney]

I have a 96 Escort LX Wagon with 1.9 liter and have been experiencing a hesitation when I try to accelerate quickly. If I take my time, and give it a lil gas at a time it was fine. Also, I started to hear what sounded like the lifters tapping. This went on for about a month and I started to baby the car, taking off slowly, trying not to rev the engine and whatnot. The night of July 4th, just as I pulled off from a fireworks tent I started the car, put it in gear, and gave it some gas....and it hesitates....BADLY, then hesitates some more with a knock . Car would run, but not very good. It felt as if it was misfiring. Engine light was flashing....took the valve cover off, didn't see anything wrong. Put it back on, scratched my head, and started to drive it to the repair shop. On the way I noticed the knocking stopped, so I stopped by O'Reiley's and had the engine code read. It read that the cylinder number 4 was misfiring. I then continued my journey to the repair shop and they checked the compression for cylinder 4 and sure enough, there was none. They said I'd need the head either redone or I needed to buy a reconditioned one. I can do this at my house but didn't have any way to check the compression. Question is, has anybody out there done a head swap before on these cars and is there any concern of piston damage before I go through all of this? Will I be able to tell when I take the head off if there is any damage to them? Looked at other threads and they seemed to have the same thing happen, cylinder 4 misfire, valve seat dropped. Sux. Any help would be appreciated....Thanks.

[RL2000]

I don't know how much help I can be... but...

My guess is that if there is "no" compression, it's a sticking valve. If there is some compression, it could be a burnt valve, worn rings, or even cylinder damage (worn, scored, etc.). No compression at all, is almost certainly a valve issue. That is my opinion at least.

[12Ounce]

Do a forum search on valve seats. #4 cyl has a bad habit of dropping the inlet valve seat ... destroying piston and more. I've been thru it ... not pretty!

[jacobbesanceney]

Originally Posted by 12Ounce

Do a forum search on valve seats. #4 cyl has a bad habit of dropping the inlet valve seat ... destroying piston and more. I've been thru it ... not pretty!

You've been thru it....Can you see the damaged piston after head removal?

[12Ounce]

In my case the piston top was hammered all over, and the piston top would not move ( broken piston and bent piston rod).

I did not start my own string but tagged onto:
.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=162400

[jacobbesanceney]

K. Thanks. I'ma pull the head off sometime this week and get started on it. If the piston is screwed up, look forward to an escort for sale...lol.