anyone good with turbo 2.3s?? need BIG help!!!

[turbo2300]

hey guys im from the 99-01 cobra forums but have a '89 notch with an 88 turbo coupe engine swap.

im having a big problem with this engine running on 3 cylinders. at idle i know for sure, above idle i cant really tell as most engines smooth out upper rpms. while its idling, the whole car shakes, and i have narrowed it down to the #2 cylinder. i know this, cause i have unplugged the injector and took off the plug wire, and the engine does not change at all.

now for the things i have tried:

-multiple caps, rotors, wires, plugs
-compression test" #1= 140psi, #2=110psi, #3=135psi, #4127psi
-swapped injectors between cylinders, no change
-swapped wires between cylinders, no change
-swapped plugs between cylinders, no change
-pulled apart injector wiring, all wires look great and there is equal resistance between all wires.
-pulled valve cover, cam followers are NOT broken
-cam lobes are not flattened
-valve springs all seem to have the same tension, none seem to be weak.
-valves all appear the same height, no loos followers (like theres no valves stuck open)

like i said its ONLY #2 thats not running at idle. i am so baffled :bash:

anyone know what else to try??

 

[silverbird]

do a compression check. to verify that the rings are in good shape. you may have a cracked ring in that cylinder.

 

[BogusSVO]

sounds like you may have a burnt or warped valve

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

sounds like you may have a burnt or warped valve

This...

Or a head gasket problem? That Cyl is reading low.

Can you do a leak down test?

 

[snakebite72]

i had the same symptoms and it turned out to be a cracked head, pulled the head out and found a crack between the int and exh valves on #2 cylinder .

 

[josh_marotte]

I agree with snakebite72.... Those head gaskets are tough- you're more likely to have cracked a head than blown a HG

 

[FORDSVTPARTS]

Check out Forced 4 Motorsports
www.forced4.com

He deals with these cars quite a bit, and might have some ideas

Also stumbled upon this site as well
TurboFord.net

 

[drewkeen]

I agree with snakebite72.... Those head gaskets are tough- you're more likely to have cracked a head than blown a HG

No they're not - they're actually pretty crappy. I have bought several 2.3t cars with blown head gaskets. Any time you want to make decent power you have to switch to the much stronger felpro 1035 head gasket.

They are also notorious for cracked heads as well. Normally these cracks go outward from the valve seat and do not effect the engine at all. When they get bad you will usually start blowing a lot of white smoke out the exhaust from coolant. The head gasket is the more likely culprit in this case.



Edit: Also, turboford.net is the place to go for these engine, a lot of smart and helpful guys over there.

 

[quikcobra]

Cracked heads are VERYcommon on these, I just had my 99 ranger engine decked the machine shop was a little shocked there was no cracks. I would pull the head and have it checked.