So on Friday when I was driving home from work I was getting back up to speed after the vehicle in front of me turned off onto a side road. I wound it out to about 6k in first, then after a quick shift into second the car started to buck pretty hard. I let off of it and put it in 5th and it seemed to be ok.

Saturday morning I'm heading over to a buddies house to help him move and when I was coming from a stop sign around the corner from his house the car sputtered and stalled out with blue smoke coming from it. I had a hard time getting it started again and had to give it some gas to keep it running, all the while having blue and black smoke coming out from the tail pipe.

I stalled out pulling into the driveway and immediately grabbed my socket set from the trunk. I pulled the plugs and every one was covered in black soot. They didn't smell like oil or gas though. I cleaned them off and it started back up with no problem.

The issue I have now is how it behaves when the car is cold it feels almost like the e-brake is slightly pulled up when I'm accellerating from a stop. Like something is holding it back. Also, I'm getting some hesitation under low boost. I haven't pushed it over about 4k after this happened, so I'm not sure how it behaves under heavier load.

I did a compression test Sunday afternoon and I'm not very happy with the results:
Cylinder 1- 65 PSI
Cylinder 2- 90 PSI
Cylinder 3- 90 PSI
Cylinder 4- 105 PSI

I still need to do a leakdown test to see where I'm losing compression at, but overall it looks grim. What do you guys think? Time for a rebuild?

 

piston rings my guess

 

If it's a street car, rebuild it with 2.3L stroker

 

That's what I'm leaning towards as well, but I still want to do a leakdown to rule out the valves and head gasket.

 

I wish, but seeing how it's my DD I doubt my GF would appreciate me driving her Envoy for an extended length of time while I do the build. And a turn-key 2.3 RR (which would be the route I would want to go) is so damn expensive... More than I paid for the car itself, lol.

 

Well to rule out if its ring related.....do another compression test when the engine is at operating temp but add a cap full of oil, if the compression reading shoots back up to normal psi range then there's a ring/ cyl wall issue.if not its a head/valve issue.....sucks happened to me before good luck.

 

was your compression test done hot or cold? i usually do my compression test with pistons even across the block

 

It was fairly hot, the car had been sitting for about 15-20 mins before doing the test. Even if it was stone cold, the huge differential on #1 compared to the rest of them is a sign of an issue...

I'm going to do the wet test this evening hopefully.

 

hopefully you dont have a cracked piston

 

That would suck...

I would like to get ahold of one of those little cameras like what they use in plumbing to stick down in the plug hole to get eyes on the pistons without pulling the head.

It's a PITA to pull the head, but I just might have to.

 

If those are the numbers you are getting after repeated tests, then there is no need for a camera. It's time to crack that head open.

 

Ok, I did another dry and a wet compression test. Here's the results:

Cylinder 1- Dry 75 PSI / Wet 130 PSI
Cylinder 2- Dry 90 PSI / Wet 175 PSI
Cylinder 3- Dry 95 PSI / Wet 180 PSI
Cylinder 4- Dry 110 PSI / Wet 190 PSI

So... The rings it is then. Time to start ripping it apart.

Anyone know of a decent motor for a good price? Or the best price on a rebuilt kit?

I'll have a better idea on whether or not I'm going to try and fix this engine or drop another one in itafter I get it apart and see what kind of shape it's in.