My two cylinder X

C

Caleb X1/9

Low Mileage
Hey guys I'm looking for a little insight regarding some trouble I'm having with my X. This past week I went home for spring break and got the X out of storage and made the 4 hour drive back to school. Toward the end it started pinging a little bit and eventually it started clattering real bad over 1/3 throttle but was fine under that. I made it back to school but now it turns over like it has no compression on the first two cylinders up and then fires right up. It's not doing much on cylinders 3 and four as I can unplug both injectors and it will keep running along on the other two. I'm going to do a compression test tommorrow if the rain lets up and I may pull the valve cover as well and check the valves. I was curious if anyone has ever had trouble with valves sticking or if anyone has ever blown the head gasket between two cylinders on an X without affecting the coolant passages. I'm not loosing any antifreeze and the oil is still clean and full. Let me here your ideas and I'll keep you posted as I check it out.
 
Blown head gasket between two cylinders...

is sadly common. But the compression test will tell all.
 
Thanks for the help
I didn't realize the cylinder spacing was so tight on the X, I can see why they would blow between cylinders. That would explain the loss of both cylinders and the pinging only under medium or more throttle input as the mixture for the other cylinders would be all screwed up. My buddy is going to go get his compression tester tomorrow so I can check it. Strangely it still starts right up on two cylinders and sounds a bit like a subaru.
 
Well... ifin' yur not loosing coolant or overheating... etc...

... and yur compression proves OK... I'd lean toward fouled injectors.

Do let us know how it tests... do a dry and wet test... with the throttle WIDE open and post the numbers here.

Good luck...
 
On a four hour ride after months of storage, I'd lean toward Tony's idea of a fuel issue rather than a blown head gasket.

If unplugging two injectors does not have any effect, then it stands to reason those injectors are not working in the first place.

Use the FI guide http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/fits/index.html#ljetguide and test to see if they are getting an electrical pulse--if no pulse then suspect the FI control box or wiring. If a pulse suspect clogged injectors.
 
Thanks for the insight guys. I'll do the compression test tomorrow if it's not snowing. I'm leaning toward a head gasket failure as I had it running in January and added fresh gas then with some fuel stabilizer and also filled it up with fresh gas before I left. I had also changed all the fuel lines and filter, and drained the tank last summer. I didn't realize that the cylinders were so close together on the X 1/9s. I've done head gaskets on other cars that had a bit more gasket between cylinders and in turn would usually fail near a coolant passage. This particular X has quite a few miles on it, and the previous owner had had some overheating trouble as the thermostat that I replaced wasn't opening all the way. I'm thinking that he probably got it a bit warm and warped the head a bit. I'll know for sure tomorrow when I get a chance to check into it. If it does need a head gasket then I will finally get to skim the head and do a little port cleanup that I've wanted to do for a while. Thanks for your help.
 
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