I would say valvetrain. It's really hard to diagnose a problem by watching a video. The car wouldn't have made it this long on a boogered rod bearing.
However, a collapsed lifter, it could run for years. I'd start with inspecting the valve lash adjusters. If that doesn't turn up anything, pull the head. With the mileage, if it hasn't been done already, it probably needs the timing belts changed anyway.

 

Yeah, one of the mechanics at FFTEC said he is 75% sure it is a collapsed lifter...but he didn't want to tell me that and have it not be. Would a collapsed lifter(s) really make the car run this slow though? I'm talking it feels like it has maybe 140ish crank hp...god awful slow. I don't think it is a rod bearing either, because the car wouldn't have run for this long (almost a year and a half). I had the timing belt and water pump changed when I bought the car, like within a week of buying it.

 

to answer your question I drove a car with bend valves for like a year and a half and it was fine until one day "boom" it went!

 

Okay you have a problem for sure here with not building boost, have you had your car tunned since you bought it? it looks like there may be some mods on the car..

i don't know how everyone thinks its a bunch of bent valves making this noise when your compression is fine.. a compression checker is only 40$ for a nice one. If the valves were bent, you wouldn't be able build compression because air would be escaping through the valve bc it wouldn't be seated right.. Don't get me wrong, you could still get decent compression on the motor and there could be an issue but an easy way to check this would be to do a leak down compression test..

If i were you, i would do the leakdown and compression test myself, if the car seems fine, then go ahead and pay the money to get it running right the way it is first BEFORE you decide to put all these aftermarket parts into the motor.. You will regret throwing money at something that you don't know is going to run right.. i think you could have a bad sensor or your tune could be really messed up, who knows. anyways i hope you find out what the problem is

 

The weird thing about it all is there is NO check engine light on for the problem. It stays off! Also it did have a Xede hooked up to it, but when I took it to FFTEC they uninstalled it and made sure it was running the stock ROM.

 

Man.... You brought it to two of the most reputable shops in your area and you didn't get the problems fixed. Now your on the forums playing russian roulette, with your EVO. **** or get off the pot!! Don't worry about the stupid parts get your car fixed and then make up your mind on what next.

 

You're right, but the thing is I don't know what the problem is and neither do either of the shops! There has only been speculation on what it might/probably be, but nothing to definitively rule it as one thing.

I guess I should just get the head/cams installed and see if that fixes it. Anyone know if I could get away with untuned kelford 272;s for a month or two?

 

there was a check engine light on in the video wasnt there? the bulb could be burnt out you never know. either way the worst thing you could do is modify a car that has issues! that makes no sense to me at all... your best bet is to drop off your car to one of those shops and let them fix it with the money you already have.. it seems to me like you are trying to save money by having them diagnose your car without actually paying them any money to actually take the thing apart and look everything over..

don't be cheap bro, you don't have the money to blow on your car at the moment but it would be better to go to hawaii with a RELIABLE running car then it would to be going carLESS. Get it tunned get it fixed and enjoy it the way it is for a while before you start modifying and breaking more stuff

 

No CEL in the video, and the bulb isn't burnt out because it is on now for the speed sensor...

But yeah, I already ordered the FP Black and it is on it's way. I guess I will get the head swapped on ASAP then, like everyone seems to suggest. If that doesn't fix it then I can always sell my FP Black for cash to do the job for sure.

 

Seriously? Not trying to be a **** but in your OP you said you are short on cash and really really want the car at least running so you went and spent money on a FP black? Why not spend it on actually having the car fixed instead of driving it for a year and a half broken? You don't even know what damage is being done as you drive it now.

You haven't even fixed it yet and you are talking about driving it untuned with cams now. If you are that tight on money that you have to run your cams for 2 months without a tune at all then I would slow down your mod plans. You are asking for more problems.

I understand that you are anxious to get the car back, but focus at the task at hand.

I would in order:
1. Perform a compression leakdown test
2. Check all sensors
3. Take it to a reputable shop and have them do an in depth examination - ie head comes off. You already have another so whats it going to hurt?
4. If you dont have enough money for that then sell some of the aftermarket parts.

Josh

 

np. I was trying to look at it as killing two birds with one stone. Fixing the car, while at the same time improving it. FFTEC told me that they are pretty sure the problem is in the head, they did a compression test and it was good. So I have held the idea that it would be cheaper in the long run for me if I got all of this installed instead of having the head installed, then paying to have the cams, turbo, injectors, etc installed seprately.

I'm short on cash, as far as getting everything I have installed, like dual fuel pump, clutch, rod bolts, but I have enough to get the head installed. The car runs, it just gets no boost whatsoever and has been this way for over a year. I also researched last night and I won't drive it untuned with the cams in.

I think what I am going to do is wait for my FP Black to come in (hopefully in the next 1-3 weeks) and then I will have enough money to pretty much get everything installed. I'm not sure what clutch is in the car right now, but if I don't have enough money I will just hold out on the clutch job until I do...as long as the problem is fixed. If the problem isn't fixed I will uninstall the FP Black and sell it to fix whatever needs to be fixed.

Thanks for all the input though everyone, it has helped my decision making.

 

its your car completely stock right now? no boost controller or anything? if so my idea is (which i really am not sure at all if this part even does what i think it does) but does the car a electronic boost controller ( my evo 8 has a this thing that has a plug and two holes for vac lines right at the driver headlight. no boost lines run to mine due to a manual boost controller tho) maybe it is stuck closed or something.... i think i sound retarded now but owell never hurts to learn/guess

 

It is not stock. I like to "think" I know all of the mods done to it, but truth it I don't. For the first few months I would find something new, but the last time I discovered something that had been done to it was in May. It it basically stock with intake and exhaust. But I also found a switch, which I am wondering was once a map switch. And it also has an HKS Idle Stabilizer hooked up to it, I don't know why. No boost controller though. Stock Boost solenoid.

 

This mentality is why you're having problems. Stop half-assing this stuff. Sure you can get away with it but it will still run like ****, have lots of knock, not idle right and so on.

You shouldn't have driven the car at all with the pipe blown off. And you think it was running lean? You said it was blowing tons of black smoke. That means it was running insanely rich.

Don't get me wrong, I half-*** plenty but you have to know when and where.

 

Get that fixed NOW...if you wait and continue to drive, you might have a lot more damage and if you are already short on funds then you will be out of luck. Also that sounds too loud for lifters.

Any head work done that you know of? If there are cams in it and the lifters were not bled, then you could get ticks. However, noisy lifters do not cause the car to lose major power. I would really get that head taken off and check the pistons to see if the valves are hitting, you will see the marks.