I was driving through town Tuesday night and when I pulled out from a red light the car was good through 1st gear but halfway through 2nd gear it lost power and sounded like it was only running on 2 cylinders. This has happened to me before a new ICM fixed it so I replaced that still the same thing only running on 2 cylinders. So I replaced the plugs and put in 2 new coil packs, it runs better but it is still missing, you can hear the intake sucking air and you can hear the misses in the exhaust. When I hold my hand to the exhaust tip after a few seconds my hand is black form carbon and smells like gas. I am now thinking maybe the head gasket is blown but there is no antifreeze in the oil and there is no oil floating in the coolant tank. I am out of ideas, and need some help.
We did a compression test today cylinders 1,2,3 were 180psi but cylinder 4 had no compression at all. So obviously there is my problem, I think putting on a new head would be the easiest solution and while the engine is tore apart I might as well put in a new timing set because it will be out anyway and to my knowledge it has never been changed.
I remembered I had a 2.3 head laying back home so instead of searching and spending money on another 2.4 head I am going to modify the 2.3 head. I already have the 2.3 intake manifold and the exhaust manifold that I will have to make a down pipe for but it should all be modified and ready to install within the next week.
So you know that the compression issue is a head gasket or valve seating issue and not a cylinder and/or cylinder ring one?
2001 Olds Alero (LD9)
650 whp / 543 ft-lb
@turboalero
I will soon find out but judging by the smell of the exhaust the cylinder is still pumping fine I think an exhaust valve is messed up staying open and allowing the fuel to be pumped straight into the exhaust without being ignited in the cylinder. I am hoping for the best of a bad situation and I won't know for sure until I get the head off.
