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Did a compression check. Thoughts?

Rick built the motor. Kinger did the heads. As for the machine work of the block, youll have to ask Rick since he had someone local do the work.

Honestly, Im a little weary of the Ross Racing and the pistons/rings they built/supplied me. They sent Rick the wrong rings for my motor twice. The third time, Ross said the rings were correct. I asked for rings to withstand 20 psi so im assuming those are the rings that are in it now. The skirt design was also wrong when they were made and had to be remachined. Ross Racing doesnt leave a very nice feeling in my stomach at the end of the day. :(

There was a tiny bit of oil on the plug threads of the cylinder that was low. Not sure if that gives an indication as to whats going on whether thats a symptom of the valvetrain, piston, or something unrelated. Like I said, at this point, im leaning towards the piston/rings.
 
beyondloadedSE said:
Chris, I probably wont be able to do a compression check until next weekend. I just transferred colleges so I dont live at home anymore. I'll probably go home next weekend where I can borrow my friends compression tester and leak down tester. Ill keep you posted.
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A bad valve could cause the compression issue but not burn oil. Valve seal would have to be bad. It is possible a valve seal was bad and carbon built up on the valve so it didn't seal, but that is rare in these motors and if it did you would probably have popping in the intake or exhaust from reversion of gasses.
It could just be a broken ring land. It could be excessive piston to wall clearance and it finally caught up and started to not seal as well.
I'm inclined to think the rings in that cylinder are not truly seated well anymore, maybe due to the type of ring used and the cylinder wall prep done. The cylinder may have had some taper to it. I've voiced my opinion from my own experience that it is hard to find a shop to properly prepare these blocks for use.
After my mistake I stick with stock rings and quality stock blocks if I can.
 
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Well, through a cap full of oil like you said in there, and wouldnt you know, it jumps from 95 psi to a strong 120 psi like the rest of the cylinders. Looks like the rings arent making a good seal or the block wasnt machined correctly like Tom said.
 
Man I am sorry to hear that I bet it is fricken frustrating when things go wrong and all the time and money is there. If there is anything I can help with let me know I know how it feels. I would go ahead and just rebore another block and buy new rings once you clarify the walls are off. Who did your ring gaps I am hoping you went to the .022 are better on the top and larger on the bottom. Need to check your rings for wear on the tips too showng rings may have touched and worn the cylinder down. good luck man
 
I think it may just be easier to go with an 01+ ford escape motor, swap over the Pauter rods, and keep the stock compression. Its shown to hold up pretty well on toms motor. No clue what conditions my ross pistons are in, but I want something where I know the rings are already seated and I dont have to worry about the overbore done incorrectly. Im assuming it was bored correctly, but the more things you modify, the more likely things are to go wrong. Im sure weve all experienced that.
 
Just depends on how much power you want to run. You've already made a lot of power, and I'm quite convinced the stock block will take you to 400 wHP and that it's not just a fluke. Many people running stock rods too. Again depending on how much power you want maybe it's worth more to you to sell them to someone looking for forged rods? Just selling the rods alone would pay for another engine. If the pistons are good, they'd pay for a second engine as a backup :D lol.
 
Hey Jim just curious but what did you do for a engine break in? What type of oil,procedure etc... Sux man.

Oh and curious what you run for a winter mixture in the intercooler, Alchol,coolant?(un-related)
 
The plan for the break in was 500 miles of easy driving below 4K and then to let it rip after that. Unfortunately, during the time, I couldnt seem to get a tune worked out with ADC so we were kicking back chips weekly. The chip I did get from ADC did work, but the day I finally got to 500 miles, I could literally put the pedal to the floor and the throttle response would be no different than say 1/4 throttle. It seemed like it was running terribly rich since I went through about a half tank of gas in literally a day of city driving within just a few hours. One of the chips I got after that, the exhaust was literally white like antifreeze burning due to unburnt fuel coming out of the exhaust. (I have a video of it) My XXY2 pcm code was giving them trouble. Not sure exactly what was going on, so I had Jerry from SCT tune it. Anyways, I had it dyno tuned, only to find out that one bank was about 13:1 where as the other was about below 10:1. Two of th injectors were running full duty. The rear bank running ~13:1 was the bank with the lower compression cylinder iirc. That could have killed it. I dunno. I had so many tuning issues in the very beginning, it could very well be the culprit of the lower compression cylinder.

As for the winter mix, I run water and antifreeze.
 
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stilov said:
who built your motor? just curious? Where did the machine wrk get done etc?
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Buckshot did all the work on our small block. However, i don't think his work caused the problem. We've had some major tuning issues along the way and detonation im sure took its toll...
 
Just go plain 3L and port the heads like Tom and I did. Screw messing with the rods and pistons for now. Just throw in some Clevite 77's and callit good. After all I did kick your ass at the drag strip. LOL

In all sincerity though - sorry to hear about this - I know how crushing it is to have your pride and joy suffer from mechanical issues.
 
Sounds like your tuning may have hurt it. Most likely washed the cylinder down. I would keep what you have, doubt the pistons are the cause. Drop the block off at a machine shop have them re-hone and re-ring it and your good to go. You have to much money into that not to use it again. My opinion. Wouldn't cost to much either.
 
Livinsvt said:
Sounds like your tuning may have hurt it. Most likely washed the cylinder down. I would keep what you have, doubt the pistons are the cause. Drop the block off at a machine shop have them re-hone and re-ring it and your good to go. You have to much money into that not to use it again. My opinion. Wouldn't cost to much either.
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I agree with you. I would hate to see the rods and low compression pistons go down the drain and would like to use the existing block. I don't have alot of knowledge in this area but, do you have to rehone the cylinders to replace a ring? Also, if you rehone the cylinders, do you have to buy different size rings to accomodate the additional rehoning? I would rather replace one ring vs. six rings if that is possible.
 
Yeah but the work involved and added costs would still exceed a low mileage shortblock. If he's going to hover around 400wHP then he doesn't need all that.
The added compression of 10:1 and lower boost pressure will more than make up the power and make it more streetable.

On the other hand if he is still looking to go for the max power ever made, then he should keep it. 8.5:1 forged is probably the way to go if you are trying to pull 450-500 wHP.
But hell, on that note IIRC he's got the wrong turbo anyway.

Don't any of you remember the long lecture I gave a while back where I said its better to drive a car with a 80% solution to being perfect for a while and get your money out of it from use and enjoyment versus sit with the car never working right until it IS totally perfect? :idea: By the time the ultimate contour is ready for the street and gets tuned, your interest has waned and the car is ready for sale. I got over two years of relatively trouble free boost on my stock block never making less that 300 wHP and as much as 350wHP....having fun every day and pulling around 17/25 fuel economy and great driveability.
:ponder:
This must ALL be taken into account because at the end of the day, it ISN'T all the guys who are watching and hoping you'll hit eleventy billion horsepower that should decide it, it is the owner who has to drive it; be able to take it on a road trip with tires that will last or handle foul weather, take the wife out to a movie, start up run reliably and do it again the next day, THEN provide some grins for the weekend run to the track.

Mark my words, two years of NOT being able to just sit back and have a car that runs right becomes tiring.
That's not to say you can't have most of the cake and eat it too, just many times not all the cake.
 
LoadedSVT said:
I agree with you. I would hate to see the rods and low compression pistons go down the drain and would like to use the existing block. I don't have alot of knowledge in this area but, do you have to rehone the cylinders to replace a ring? Also, if you rehone the cylinders, do you have to buy different size rings to accomodate the additional rehoning? I would rather replace one ring vs. six rings if that is possible.
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You will most likely have to re-ring the cylinder if you re-hone it. You can hone one cylinder and order one cylinders worth of rings as well, instead of buying a complete set. Your unit price for one will be higher than if you bought six sets, but probaly less than buying a complete set. Total seal will even sell you just a top ring or just a lower ring if you need it. Hard to say with your custom pistons. Probaly won't be an issue though. The shop that re-hones the cylinder will measure the bore and order the appropreate(sp) ring size you need. There are also ways to build up the piston skirt as well if needed.
I don't see this as being that much extra work. I almost see it as being less. Your engine internals are far better than anything stock, and will allow you to crank it up even more if you want. Cost I imagine as being about the same or probaly less than finding a low mileage 3.0. Hard to say, until you crack open the engine. Hopefully you don't find a bad piston.
 
agree with livinsvt

I think you should stay with the block rehoning the cylinder would be best and ordering file to fit rings would work just fine if you have just a bad rings. you can get one head gasket and you are good to go. To much to waste for the added security of forged internals. Just my opinion
 
Well I got a long block w/ 2k miles on it for 350 shipped. You can't beat that...and until someone actually breaks a rod...who knows how much boost you can run on them. Few have even blown up a good piston revised) ...Warmonger for example made nearly as much as anyone else with custom pistons.

Although I did do custom pistons for the CR mostly.

I would never recommend "building" up a skirt. The coating wear off eventually. I could be wrong...but it doesn't seem the best route.

I think each option has it's advantages....I think it is hard to say what is better. Especially seeing all these custom built motors blowing up that had "better than stock parts". Then you have Tom's car that is still running around on stock internals.
 
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