Datamaster is free for the first 20 logs, but you can buy it at anytime.

 

If you have any questions about wich cable drop them a line and they'll direct you to the one to buy.

 

Is it still only OBD1???

 

I have no idea, I am running an OBD1 conversion.

 

heres a problem that i had when i did my rebuild:

when building my engine, i used impy gaskets with a thickness of .028. stock gasket was at a thickness of .049. difference of about .021. now when i sent my heads in to get ported, they got milled about .015. also got my block decked about .001-.002. total difference of ~.037. any deviation from stock of more than .020 material removed from the combustion deck (to include head gaskets, heads and block) and machine work will have to be done to either the heads or the intake. the resulting consenquence of me not realizing this was that my intake was not sealing along the bottom portion of the intake gasket. oil was getting past the gasket and into the heads (thus running like crap and lowering my octane levels. lower octane levels cause knock and knock causes the engine to pull timing) and was also causing a vacuum leak. i would have never realized this problem if i hadnt pulled the intake to look over my comp R's (another story) and found the bottom portion of the gasket oil soaked. there was no evidence of this by looking at the engine from the bay. now i had noticed a problem power wise but not driveability wise. once i pulled the intake, the answer was clear as to where my problem was.

you might be able to pull a few plugs and check their condition. might give you a sign. if youve done anything to change the combustion deck height of more than .020, i might look into this problem a little more. if it turns out to be the problem, there is a formula for figuring out the material to be removed from the intake. so dont just go milling away at it. also, i have been informed that you could slot or elongate the bolt holes to the intake to fix this.

just an idea. maybe this will help someone.

 

thanks silvrbullet I hadn't thought of that. that kinda makes me wish we pulled the intake when re-adjusting the valves. I have mr gasket 5716 head gaskets at .026" compressed thickness. I am not sure if the block had been decked at all as I bought the short block used. I'll try to get in contact with the original owner and find out.

we had all the plugs out. this is a picture of the spark plugs:
http://x1.putfile.com/8/22620573766.jpg

clearly the drivers side bank is much richer than the passenger side. last night we found that my mac header slip tube on the drivers side has a pretty good leak that we can't seem to stop. this is probably throwing the drivers side O2 sensor off and causing the rich condition.

If I get out of work on time tomorrow Im taking the car to get it scanned so I should have some more evidence here soon.

 

Are you sure? I thought the higher the octane rating means its the ability for the fuel not to combust. Thats why if you go with lower octane rating it causes you to get detonation. Adding oil to the fuel should raise the octane rating as oil isn't as combustable as gasoline.

 

"The octane rating of gasoline tells you how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites. When gas ignites by compression rather than because of the spark from the spark plug, it causes knocking in the engine. Knocking can damage an engine, so it is not something you want to have happening. Lower-octane gas (like "regular" 87-octane gasoline) can handle the least amount of compression before igniting."

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm

so you are correct about what octane means. however, oil's octane rating is 81. (read the post reply by bret for additional confirmation: http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=360789 . ill also try to find an outside source for this info.). you might be thinking of ignitability as opposed to compressed ignition.

 

your driver side plug looks like mine did. i also found a bit of oil on a few of the plug threads.

now that we know you have a .026 head gasket, we know that you've had a deviation from the stock combustion deck thickness of about .023. any work done to the heads? you will need to know this if you wish to have the intake or heads shaved (i would suggest the intake, personally). others will recommend a thicker gasket with slotting the bolt holes. i tried a thicker gasket without slotting the holes and it didnt work for me. after that, i just decided to shave the intake (i have a spare, so i wasnt worried about screwing the first one up too much.) if your reluctant to shave the intake and want to try a safer and cheaper way of trying to fix this problem, then try the thicker intake gaskets for our motors and see if that helps. theres the felpro 1284 (made for lt1's with a thickness of .060. i would recommend this one.) and a felpro cut-to-fit 1245 (made for chevy small blocks with a thickness of .120. this thing is kinda crappy and a fun time trying to trim it down. i dont recommend this gasket, but it is out there.). you might want to explore these options before you decide to shave the intake.

anyways, dont decide to do any work to the intake until youve researched the problem and checked out your motor to see if for sure thats what the problem is. i'm only lending advice and i dont want you hating me if this isnt the answer.

 

the heads, as far as I know, have only been cleaned up and not milled at all. they're LE3 heads. the intake is ported by lloyd and I really wouldnt want to take the chance of ruining it.
I have a fel-pro intake gasket, im not sure which one.

 

my heads are LE3's as well. Lloyd milled them .015. might want to ask Lloyd if its possible that your heads are milled. my intake was ported by Lloyd as well and if it means getting my motor working, i would rather have it milled to get my car fixed. if this is your problem, your going to need to figure out which direction your going to take to get it fixed. even if it means milling the intake.

if your heads are milled, thats a difference of .038. anything over .020 requires something to be corrected to fix this problem.

btw-your intake gasket is more than likely the stock size felpro gasket (which i believe is .040 in thickness). you wont get the other ones unless you specifically ask for them.

 

I wrote lloyd and asked him if my heads were milled, he replied and said .015.

 

well, keep me updated with what your next step is. ill try and help you best i can.

i'd say check the intake gasket and see. if its not the problem, it'll cost you a $17 gasket and a little bit of your time. if it is the problem, might save you some more trouble looking for the vacuum leak and giving you the power that you built the motor for.

 

If the anglarity of the intake is off one side looking decent and the other side looking sooty would make alot of sence, One side would more than likely mate up better than the other , this would throw the other side off even more.

Usually a .010 from the intake end rails and a slight resurface of the intake to head face will do it.

 

Omg this makes perfect sense, this could have been the problem with my car to start, the back intake ports of my heads were all oily and black, while the front 4 were perfect. The car had some blue smoke, and was running pretty slow. I also had an intake bolt hole strip because it wouldnt go in correctly with the way the intake was sitting on the heads. Im gonna slot the holes when i put it back in to see if that fixes the problem.