Hello,

I am completely new to this forum and i hope this is the correct area of the forums for this post.

We'll i have a 1999 accord ex coupe with 168k. It has never quit on me, but i am being faced with an expensive repair at the moment that is causing me to wonder if i should fix or sell.

I have a engine light flashing on the dash and the engine is idling really rough. The mechanic suggested that i had a dead cylinder valve. We tested the PSI's of the four cylinders while the engine was running and when we removed the plugs one by one all seemed to almost cause the engine to die but one. The last plug was removed and it did not have any effect on the engine. We tested the PSI of that cylinder and it was reading 50psi all the other cylinders were well over 150-180psi.

So the mechanic came to the conclusion i had a dead or dying valve cylinder and that replacing it would cost me roughly 1100$. At first i had made up my mind that i was going to just sell the car while it still ran and look for something newer, but after seeing how expensive newer cars are i began considering fixing it.

Would dropping 1100$ on this car with 168k miles be worth it.?..How many miles can i expect to get out of this car after the repair.. It seems to run great still on the free way ... Seems like it lacks a little pick up in the city.. Thought that might be caused my one of the cylinders not working properly. Also is this job of replacing the valves risky? Meaning should i worry about there being new problems once it is returned with the new valves? Also would this cylinder problem contribute to losing oil more quickly that usual? I can burn through the oil in this car in less than 1000k miles.

Any thoughts on this would be very appreciated .. I have really been unsure what to do with this problem the past few days!! Thanks !

 

When I hear what these mechanics say I ask myself - are they for real?? I mean you can get an engine from get-jdm.com for $1100.
How did this happen, have you had repairs/maintenance done on it recently? Like a timing belt replacement and oops.. the valve hit the piston?
If that's not the case here, the first thing I would look at are the valve springs, are they in one piece? You can take the valve cover off, rotate the crank and see if the rockers work that valve stem up and down. If you know cylinder number, and if it's intake or exhaust it's easy to id. Intakes are towards the intake mani, exhausts towards the exhaust...
If you determine that all 4 valves for that particular cylinder go up and down, and none has a large stem-to-rocker gap, then you may have a bent valve.
Having said this, the question is.. where does all that oil go? Is the spark plug of that cyl oily and fouled? Any other SP that are fouled? Can you see oil leaks, spots on the garage floor?

 

Hey thanks for the response! . We'll i have not had any real recent work the car recently.. I would say about a a year ago i had the car idling really rough after a 260 mile trip and took it to a mechanic thinking there was something wrong... But after he looked at it he said there was not a drop of oil in it which is why the engine was almost shutting down....! I could not believe it because i should have had plenty of oil left. So that is when i first started noticing the oil was burning much faster than it use to like burning through all of it in less than 600 miles... ... I have never seen oil spots where i park. and i had a mechanic replace the head gasket about 7 months ( he thought that was the culprit) ago thinking that would fix it, but to no avail. So i just decided i would keep an eye on the oil a little closer and make sure i did not run out . I will say we inspected the spark plugs and there was not a sign of oil on any of them either. What you have mentioned about the Valve springs sounds like something worth mentioning to the mechanic when i go back in on Monday for a diagnostics test. I hate i am not more knowledgeable with the inner workings of my car , but i really do appreciate your input i suppose this is a start to me learning something finally !!!! I will let you know what the guys diagnostics test shows.. !!! THanks again

 

My car had 230,000 miles on it, it burns 1qt of oil every 300 miles but it runs very smooth. The body is in nice shape so i'm going to put an engine in to it. A new car will cost alot more than a grand. That's why i'm fixing it.

 

Repair is likely to be successful. However, that will not cure the oil consumption. 1qt/1000 is significant but tolerable (compared to engine replacement cost).

Repaiir cost does not seem unreasonable given the uncertainy of what is wrong w/ the engine. I agree a bent valve or broken valve train is more likely, but it could also been a damaged piston/cylinder. This would entail a much larger repair, once discovered. If engine requires replacement, you might spend $2000-$3000, depending on engine replacement cost.

Even so, the car is probably worth repairing, if you are pleased w/ previous performance.

Regular maintenance is the key to longevity. It is not an inherent property.

good luck

 

a couple of things..
# 1,,, the mech that replaced the head gasket because he thought that was the reason for oil consumption ,, Do not go there anymore ,, he was guessing with your money

# 2 the mechanic that tested your car now, did they do a dry and wet compression test ?? burning oil and low compression sounds like worn piston ring issue to me ,,
have then do a wet compression test to properly diagnose the issue

# 3 at this mileage and if you plan on keeping the car i would install a low miles Japanese engine ,,

 

Thanks so much for this response . I will take my car to another mechanic that will perform a more thorough diagnostics of my car. I suppose if it is a piston problem i will be putting a used low mile engine in my car. Thanks so much for you guys response .. I was about to just go get it fixed tomorrow, but after checking back with this post i am goin gto get a better evaluation of my car.

 

The next step into figuring out the problem is a leak down test on the bad cylinder. It will tell you if the head gasket, the valves, or the piston/rings/cylinder are the culprit for low compression.