Yeah it's not tct, because I changed it and it didn't fix the sound at all.

I talked to the guy that built my shortblock, and he listened to it multiple times, even took the valve cover off and examined everything he was able to see. He couldn't find out what was wrong. Said all my valves were good too.

I think the biggest problem is that I'm experiencing insane power loss. I did a test pull to 6k in 2nd gear and there was NO pull whatsoever. I don't even want to take it into vtec(if it still works), I don't want to blow the engine.

What are some likely causes of power loss? It really does feel like I lost a cylinder.

 

the power loss could be lack of compression.. so it's either cylinder scuffing or the valvetrain leaking compression. You should get a leakdown/compression test to pinpoint the problem. Also, an oil pressure test with a gauge wouldn't hurt either to possibly detect bad bearing clearances.

 

Did a compression test, from dash to bumper it read 190 180 180 180. So I guess my rings are okay.. Will do leakdown asap. So basically this points to my bottom end huh?

 

hmm.. maybe you should pull your oil pan as well and see how everything looks down there.

 

No those numbers are low, even if the car was not warmed up.

 

They're low, but they're all close to each other... either all the cylinders are problematic or something else is causing the low comp.

 

I think the fact that they are all low and the bottom end was rebuilt may indicate something along the lines of what you were getting at with some issue with piston/cylinder wall clearance. Although you would think if this were the case he would be burning some oil??

 

Yeah they are all a bit low.. but at least they're consistent.

If the leakdown test shows normal as well, does that point to my bottom end again? If this is the case then I would just go back to the guy that built the bottom end and have him fix it. Maybe the machine shop that crowned my crank didn't do a good job?

 

Honestly in your situation I would not expect the numbers to be inconsitent though. It is not like you have done something that would have damaged one cylinder and/or valve. Whatever they would have done they likely did consistent, if it was wrong it would have been consistently wrong, which would yeild consitently low #s.

Did you do it with the engine warmed up? Just for reference my #s when I did mine were 235 240 240 235, I think that is pretty much on par with what most people see with these cars and a warm engine.

 

It wasn't too warm, but it wasn't too cold either. Basically right now I just need to figure out if the problem is with the shortblock or not. If the problem is legitimately from the shortblock then I can tell the mechanic to pull it apart and fix what is wrong because it would be his responsibility. Are there any other tests, etc I could do to determine this?