KA24ET dilema need help diagnosing it!

[JEdi 240sx]

Hey guys brand new dilemma proudly brought to you by KA24ET! Yes I have searched! well all jokes aside here’s whats happening. I’ll post my setup at the bottom. I was home for spring break last week and it drove fine prior to the incident. So my friend was driving my car, got curious and boost shot up to 15lbs. The car starts smoking (white smoke under the hood coming from the breather that sits on the valve cover, a lot of white smoke which usually means burning water/coolant), so he pulls over to try and check it out. After a while he tries to crank it, finally after about an hour it cranks and stays on but took a million tries. When the car is on, alot of white smoke comes out of the vent from the valve cover, and when he plugs the vent the smoke comes out of the exhaust. I want to say it’s the headgasket, but so far the mixture has not shown in the oil, doesn’t overheat, and for some reason the power is still there. The stock headgasket is good for about 400hp as well. Blown piston rings? Maybe but then you would prolly smell/see the oil level go down which it has, but still the power is there. He ran a compression test last night but didn’t do it while the car was warm so he got something like 60’s all across. Any suggestions please post…thanks for all your help.

Airesearch t3 turbo-greddy type s bov-S-AFC version 2-rx7 450cc injectors-walbro 255 fuel pump-fmic

[NISTECH]

even a cold engine should break 120psi on the comp test. I am leaing more toward something other then head gasket, like a crack somwhere in the metal. head or block.

[JEdi 240sx]

nistech thanks for the fast reply. man hope that isnt it...but either way its cheap enough to get another one. with a small crack or anything wouldnt you also lose power? see thats whats getting, is that he says when he drives it still pulls the same. just the whole thing with trying to get it started and all the smoke is confusing me. i have a feeling he might have done the test wrong too, but we'll see i'll keep you updated. Thanks

[NISTECH]

nah you would still have the power it would be a hairline fracture in the head likely but I was thinking about it it wouldnt be low on all cyl's it would only be one, how think is the smoke? is it more grey in color then white? I was thinking with the low compresson across the board and hard start coupled with the smoke that you may have an extreamly rich condition goin on and the fuel is washing down the cyl's during cranking and during the test.

[JEdi 240sx]

the smoke is white and its mainly coming out from the valve cover breather. and when thats plugged itll come out of th exhaust. oil level was a little low, but the coolant and stuff was cool. they never mixed. oh yeah im not running a blow through maf, and the bov is vented to to the atmosphere. so it is running rich, but why would the problem occur just now? saw too much boost, and my car decided to take a crap? in any case let me know what you think i should do, prolly start with resetting the ecu. thanks for all the help and input!

[s13sr20chris]

smoke out the breather at idle really means there is blowby somewhere and i bet you prob cracked a piston or something. 15psi on a stock bottom end will do that. your compression has me stumped though.

[JEdi 240sx]

hey thanks for the reply. too bad im in ny at school...but when my friend boosted 15lbs and blew the **** out of something...well either way, how come no loss power?

[JEdi 240sx]

if this helps, I know NISTECH had this idea first. here's a quote taken from the same pos i made in another forum.

"Sounds like your block has a hole in it. You could have melted through a cylinder wall. Steam out of the VC means your crank case is getting coolant in it, either you blow a coolant gallery, or you put a hole from your block to a coolant gallery. Either way id say its time to tear that beast apart."

so what do you guys think, throw the towel in on this motor ( i just swapped this in about 5 months ago), its cheap enough where I can do that, or is there still a slight chance it may not be as big a deal. the head will be pulled off sometime this weekend. i'll keep you guys posted. thanks...

[NISTECH]

get a coolant pressure tester, warm the engine up, shut the car off, install the tester on the filler neck, pump it up to arong 15 to 20 psi, and let it sit, if it losses pressure you got a leak somewhere in your cooling system, if it doesnt its not a colant leak, I would go for the piston problem as chris said though as far as blow by. but I would expect the smoke to not be cloud white, I would think it would be more blueish grey and transparent(can see through the smoke)

[JEdi 240sx]

k so my friend finally tore down the motor today. the block and head were fine?!?! crosshatches and what not were all there. hasnt pulled out the pistons and rings yet, but most likely its there. when he drained the oil, he said it definitely smelled like gas...hmmm...in that case im going with better pistons and ringswith a 8:1 cr. my choices are cp, wiesco, and supertech. any of these stand out the most, or anyone had any experiences? open to any suggestions!

[s13sr20chris]

when he pops the pistons out keep an eye out for chunks of ring land(the second ring land especially).