time to re-ring the b3

[aithanmier]

hey guys, been having some trouble with the festiva using oil lately so i ran a compression check on it, 149, 149, 70, 152...squirted a tablespoon of oil into #3 and the compression hits 150. so i guess i have bad rings on my #3. now does anyone know where i can get some good quality rings for this thing? i was looking at the total seal gapless rings, problem is they don't have an application for the b3, just the b6. i sent em an e-mail about it but i'm keeping my fingers crossed. anyway, barring the gapless rings can anyone recommend a good ring for me? also about how long would a re-ring job take? and would it be easier to remove the engine for the job or to just tear into it as is. thanks.

ps...not too bad of compression numbers for an engine with 140k...except for the #3 anyway lol

[darkdan]

For the price of rings and the amount of time you're going to spend tearing that motor apart.....

drop a B6 into it.

That's odd that the rings worn that badly in just one cylinder. I'd try a piston soak to see if that helps a little. Fill that combustion chamber with seafoam, b-12 chemtool, some other carb cleaner and let it sit over night. Then make sure the combustion chamber is empty and start the motor up.

This will help clean the rings a decent amount. Perhaps they're just gummed up. If it helps then your motor may be saved after all. If it doesn't help....you didn't lose anything.

Of course, after the piston soak change the oil to get all that crap out of there.

[aithanmier]

well i would swap the engine out, i still have this bp-d with good compression sitting here but right now i'm more worried about gas prices than going fast lol. thanks for the tip on the piston soak though, i'll give it a whirl. i did indeed think it was strange that only one cylinder would be jacked up.

[darkdan]

Check your oil for coolant and your coolant for oil.

Headgasket could be bad right there too.

If the piston soak does help a significant amount, you may want to try auto-rx (damn I sound like a broken record). It will thoroughly clean your ring packs.

When you did the compression test you DID have the throttle blocked open right?

[Boba Debt]

Expect a lot of people to tell you to do a B-6 swap.

There must be an abundance of them everywhere except where I live because you will here stories of how you can get one for $100 and it only take a couple of hours to swap it out.


Even though I had already paid to rebuild the head on my B-3, I spent a few days looking for a B-6 and the best I could do was 500+ dollars for an engine from a salvage yard with no less then 100K miles on it.

You may want to invest some time looking yourself and then after reality sets in you will realize it is best to stick to your original plan.

I don't regret my decision yet.


Originally I just wanted to re-build the head, re-ring the engine and replace all of the gaskets/seals, however, my block had to be bored .020" over so I'm in the process of re-building everything.


When I am done I will have a practically new B-3 engine to drop into the Festy and a fantastic learning experience.


Just something to think about.



By the way, Advance Auto has an awesome Re-ring kit with all of the gaskets and bearings made by Federal Mugal for $242

If your local store doesn't have it I will be glad to pick one up and ship it to you.

[Gro Harlem]

Then you haven't been looking.

Its almost retarded to consider rebuilding a B3 when you can get a GOOD shape B6 for 250 or less. 100 is kinda lowball for a B6 but 250 isn't unreasonable. You can probably get a used B3 for near nothing too if you wanted to just get another replacement. Ppl on here have done so many swaps there should be a surplus of B3's. I gave away TWO of those engines for free to someone here since I could never find a buyer for them.

Go to car-part.com

if you aren't willing to drive 300 miles to pick up a B6, then you are lazy. Don't expect to find a magical 10k mile B6 for 10 cents around the corner.


And the B6 gets very similar economy to the B3. If anything it gets the same, just depends on how you drive and how you maintain your engine and car. 35-43mpg is what my old festiva got with its B6, the B3 I had never got above 40mpg but it had like 190k on it.

[Boba Debt]

For an executive member you're a pretty stupid person



1. I spent 3 days looking for an engine locally and online, the average local price was well over $500 and the average on-line price was $300 and the shipping was at least another $200

2. B-3 engines in eastern NC have an average retail of $400

3. 300 miles divided by 15mpg (Dodge Quad Cab) equals 20 gallons multiplied by $3.25 per gallon equals $65 multiplied by 2 equals $130. I'm not lazy, just smart.

BTW: working 10 hours a day, 6 days a week leaves little time to take a road trip.


4. I never said you could "find a magical 10k mile B6 for 10 cents around the corner". Over-exaggeration of a hypothetical situation is a tool used by a foolish person.



THINK BEFORE YOU TYPE

[aithanmier]

well on top of that as i said i already have a bp if i was interested in swapping out an engine, and as for fuel economy being baout the same...well i'm getting pretty damn close to 60 mpg now, so i think i'll stick with what i got. now anyone interested in a bp? go to the for sale section...350 obo oh and the piston soak solved the problem...no need to rering it for now... maybe time to start rebuilding that spare b3 i have though...just in case lol.

[Kindred]

How the hell are you getting 60mpg out of a B3?

[worfdog]

down here in upstate south carolina,you cant find a b3 in good shape for less than $500 so i know the feeling.the b6 is also the same way.

[gomer]

i'm getting pretty damn close to 60 mpg now, so i think i'll stick with what i got.

The only way to get 60mpg out of a Festy is to idle down the road in 5th at perhaps 30 mph or somehow manage to only drive downhill...

If you're getting 60mpg you could sell that car to any detroit researcher...

I bet you meant 60km/gallon...

Just for fun I visited your website listed in your profile http://www.cardomain.com/ride/380122/1 ... you were baiting honda enthusiasts claiming you were going to "shogun" the white car and you'd end up with a 1200# 250-300hp 12 second ride for $3,000 ,,, you cannot put a heavier engine and transmission in the back of a Festiva , add all kinds of reinforcing, gusseting and such and LOSE 600 pounds over the stock unit.... obviously math is not your strong point ,,, maybe you're just calculating the mileage wrong...

[darkdan]

Glad to hear the piston soak fixed it.

Now it's time for auto-rx to really clean things up.

[aithanmier]

lol looking for my compression numbers i came across this tread again, i guess reading isn't gomers strong point. my cardomain site says that i was planning on getting some shogun flares for my car, not converting it to a shogun. and the milage was correct, i was averaging 56-57 mpg at the time. i also had the entire car stripped down, basically just a driver seat and a instrument cluster balanced on the column support lol. hey jim what is it with the #3 cylinder on carbed festivas? lol coincidence that both tim and i only had bad compression in the #3?

[ericsmith32]

Festiva's will run on three cylinders. I accidently knocked off the third cylinder plug wire.. I thought it sounded funny, I think a bike beat me around the block though. And I wonder why I have so many problems with it.

[Tim]

Festiva's will run on three cylinders. I accidently knocked off the third cylinder plug wire.. I thought it sounded funny, I think a bike beat me around the block though. And I wonder why I have so many problems with it.

I left the spark plug wire off a cylinder the other day when I replaced the plugs. It ran almost normal, and the only thing that tipped me off to a problem was the ticking of the wire arcing to the metal engine.


Regards,

Tim