Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack) (Read 4070 times) previous topic - next topic

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Well some may remember that last fall the engine in the '83 took a poop on me, which the end result was a dead block due to Total Seal rings giving up the ghost on me.

Since then I have been slowly trying to get this ed thing back together and it's been fighting me every step of the way.

I sourced a good used shortblock from an 87-88TC over the winter and by late spring I had finally gotten everything together with the old BV head I had.


Well in short order that ran for poop.  Just didn't sound right and I was seeing some weird oil issues.  So I pull the head off and check the flatness...opps...not flat.  There were some curious low spots between the combustion chambers.  So, I pull it apart and have it decked (the had to take .020" off of it....holy cow!).  So I get that back together and it runs exactly the same....*sigh*.  I'm almost ready to pull the head again when I have an epiphany....and double-check the rotation of the dist.  :punchballs: I had it backwards and thus the #2 and #3 plug wires needed to be swapped.  I do that and low and behold...it runs crisp and clean.

Well it runs crisp and clean for a few days.  I was fiddling with it and it began to develop a miss (mind you, the car has not left the drive yet) and then I'm sitting there fiddling with the tuning for the injector pulse parameters....and then all of a sudden the garage is filled with smoke....oil smoke.  WTF?!?!  Some more checking over the next few days reveals that the smoke only comes once the engine gets up to temp (160-180*) and there was some oil leakage from what looked to be between the head and block.  I had put the engine together with some non-undercut ARP studs and never went back to retorque them.  So I tried a retorque, but to no avail.  The oil issue was still there.  shiznit!  The ed studs loosened on the heat cycle and screwed up the seal.  So of the head comes AGAIN!.

This time I double-check the block and it's flat.  I say to hell with the studs and just get some new TTA bolts and another head gasket and button it all back up.  It starts up fine....so I wait until it gets warm....*sigh*..smoke.:toilet: and still oil leaking.  It's not coming from between the head and block though...it's coming from between the head and exhaust manifold.



So I do more digging.  I do a compression check (155-160 across all cylinders).  Then I pull the exhaust manifold and find this...



The #1 exhaust port is COVERED in oil.  It's actually pooling on the lower floor of the exhaust port.  The plug doesn't seem oiled down, so I don't think the intake side is wet.  The rest of the intake and exhaust is free of oil. 

The only thing I can think at this point is that this head is cracked into an oil passage and once the engine warms up and expands, the crack opens and starts pumping oil into the #1 exhaust port.  There is NO smoke until the engine warms up.

So.....my big valve head is dead :(

Seeing as thing is on my last nerve and I'm wanting to get it running and driving with a little cost outlay as possible here is my last option before I toss the 2.3T into the corner of the garage.




It's an old carb turbo head (79-80) that I used for a short while before I took the car off the road for repaint.  It had been "rebuilt" (read: new exhaust valve guides), and I didn't have any issues with it.  It just got yanked when I had it sitting next to the BV head and saw that the one head was actually a BV head (didn't notice it without anything to compare to).  The only problem is that it's STOCK and unported in ANY way.  The seats and guides are good, but I just can't drop it in like this so it's going to get a little work to open things up a bit :hick:.  I'm going to break out the die grinder and do a little bowl clean-up, unshroud the valves, open the exhaust port a bit and do a little polishing.  Then I'll have it decked .010" and put it all back together and HOPEFULLY have it running right again.  It sure as  hell better run right :beatyoass:

This is one of the reasons I won't be at CJ this year (the other is a trip I have the following weekend, and I just don't have the $$)

Anyway, once I get into the head with the grinder I'll post up some more pics.
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo - '85 Marquis LTS - '86 LTD Wagon

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #1 –
 Chuck that really sucks. I've had my own fair share of 2.3t motor problems in the past. That is why I have 4 cracked heads sitting the the shop. All that in search of a good one. Anyhow Keep plugin away at it. I know it will pay off. I thought my T/c wouldn't ever make it back on the road. It did and now it is coming in for some paint. Hope I don't have your problems.
84 Turbo coupe 2.3T Modded with 88 upper and lower intake, 88 injectors, E6 manifold, T3-4 AR.60 turbo, 31X12X3 FMIC, Homemade MBC , Greddy knock off BPV.
4 eyes see better than 2! 
Da Bird!

FreeBird

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #2 –
what about having the head furnace brazed? just an idea.
louie  :birdsmily:
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]       
My famous last words:
It seemed like a good idea at the time.        88TC R.I.P.      88 Sport build in progress

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #3 –
Quote from: dudeman351;163032
what about having the head furnace brazed? just an idea.

Not gonna screw with it.  It's an OLD head that had been beat on for a while.  It had an impact from a piston a few years ago (99-00) when an ARP rod bolt broke, so it probably developed a stress crack then.  It just took a few years before it finally gave way.
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo - '85 Marquis LTS - '86 LTD Wagon

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #4 –
Keep chipping away at it Chuck. It's all we can do :(

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #5 –
Sorry to hear that Chuck.
It looks like you have it under control and back together soon, but if for some reason that head doesn't work out, I have a good stock one that I will donate it you need it.

Brent
:cougarsmily:
1985 Mercury Cougar XR-7 - 5-speed 
One of 1,246 built
 

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #6 –
sounds like you and i share the same luck.
91 ranger 2.3 turbo - nowhere near stock
87 thunderbird turbocoupe
06 pontiac g6 gt
:birdsmily:

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #7 –
good luck with it! hope you get it running better this time around, amn thats one py turn of events!
RIP 1988 and 1990 Lincoln Mark VII LSC
I welcomed the dark side and currently am driving a 2000 Dodge Durango SLT plus, with a 5.9, Code named project "Night Runner"
Shes black on black, fully loaded, with headers, 180 tstat, e fan, straight exhaust into a cherry bomb vortex ler, full tune up, ported intake and T/B, MSD coil, and round aircleaner.
Mods to come: Fully rebuilt and heavily modded 46RE, and a richmond rachet locker.
my $300 beater ;)
R.I.P Kayleigh Raposa 12/18/90 - 2/24/07

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #8 –
It hates you because you painted it Pontiac Blue ;)
Sorry about your luck Chuck.

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #9 –
Quote from: 5.0willgo;163057
It hates you because you painted it Pontiac Blue ;)
Sorry about your luck Chuck.


The new head is blue...and I didn't paint it ;)
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo - '85 Marquis LTS - '86 LTD Wagon

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #10 –
I don't think the 2.3T likes you. It's the cars way of telling you to get that I6 turbo in there;)
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #11 –
I think it is just a test that all turbo coupes must do to see if you love them enough! Once you pass the test everything seems to go your way.
84 Turbo coupe 2.3T Modded with 88 upper and lower intake, 88 injectors, E6 manifold, T3-4 AR.60 turbo, 31X12X3 FMIC, Homemade MBC , Greddy knock off BPV.
4 eyes see better than 2! 
Da Bird!

FreeBird

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #12 –
Quote from: ipsd;163255
I think it is just a test that all turbo coupes must do to see if you love them enough! Once you pass the test everything seems to go your way.


Guess I'm just lucky, out of 14 T/Cs owned, I'm yet to pull a head... Biggest engine repairs were replacing a noisy cam and swapping out a puked turbo... Repl a couple clutches and a bunch of fuel pumps...

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #13 –
Quote from: TurboCoupe50;163264
Guess I'm just lucky, out of 14 T/Cs owned, I'm yet to pull a head... Biggest engine repairs were replacing a noisy cam and swapping out a puked turbo... Repl a couple clutches and a bunch of fuel pumps...


Were you pushing crazy boost levels or were they stock? I'm guessing the higher boost levels messes with 'em.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

The saga of the '83 2.3T (Grab a beer and a snack)

Reply #14 –
Yes you've had good luck with yours but you have still had you fair share of  I'm sure of it. Every car needs to test its owner to see where it stands. The turbo coupes just seem to be a lot more picky than other cars.
84 Turbo coupe 2.3T Modded with 88 upper and lower intake, 88 injectors, E6 manifold, T3-4 AR.60 turbo, 31X12X3 FMIC, Homemade MBC , Greddy knock off BPV.
4 eyes see better than 2! 
Da Bird!

FreeBird