2001 GSR Rebuild ideas? OEM???

[Winks527]

So I was considering bringing my 2001 gsr to a shop to be rebuilt (don't trust ppl but don't have faith in my skills either). It has 162k as of now still running strong just noticed a slight oil leak on front left of head gasket. Seems like original owner did some head work has comptech cover and what not no idea for sure, .. I was thinking when I get the money instead of taking it apart just for the gasket I might as well get it all done. Prolly going to keep it forever... Daily driver occasional high way pulls and showing my brothers 89rx7 who's boss. Keeping it all motor. So what I was wondering is what parts shouldnt I keep oem? Anything to help the engine be bullet proof and be able to rev it out with confidence and increase power?

 

[Winks527]

Ok so maybe its not a slight leak... even not running it seems to be leaking pretty bad... ill post a picture as soon as I figure out how.

 

[Winks527]

 

[R13]

Learn from me, No matter what you do get ARP head studs or it will just start leaking out that corner again in a few months, Otherwise only info I will say is always go oem on gaskets. :thumbs up

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[Winks527]

Cool thanks I just seen another post with pics looks alot like what im dealing with. So def doing ARP bolts. How much should I worry about this leak?

 

[R13]

How much does it leak? Mine leaked when I got it and I ran it like that for about a year just fine, Just make sure it's always got plenty of oil and keep an eye on the coolant to make sure it doesn't start mixing, The oil will get milky too if it starts mixing.

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[Winks527]

Well I wiped it off where the engine code is 2 days ago to see how much it would leak and there is a light coverage of oil there now maybe a tea spoons worth. I cant figure out how to post the pic from my phone... I think im going to just keep an eye on it until i can get the cash to fix it...seems to be not mixing with the coolant yet.

 

[R13]

Yeah that sounds like mine, You should be fine, You can retorque the head bolts to slow it or even possibly stop it but that requires removal of cams and presents the light possibilty of snapping the old head bolts which isn't super likely but possible never the less.

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[Winks527]

I can definitely see myself snapping them too lol. I'm going to call around to local shops and see about rebuild prices vs just new head bolts and gaskets. If I do go for rebuild should I upgrade anything else like pistons and what not in your opinion? So far I trust your judgement. I just want to do it right the first time.

 

[R13]

Do a leakdown and compression test to give you a good idea of your engines over all health, You can look up videos and stuff on google to explain in detail what those tests will tell you and then you can determine what your car needs from there.

As for rebuild prices I would say to have a shop do it you might be looking at minimum of $1000, I just rebuilt the head on my gsr and with a huge discount from the machine shop and doing all the work myself it still cost around $600-$700 and I really needed to get arp head studs which would have been another $200 but would have saved me from having to buy 2 head gaskets because the first one failed so technically the arp studs would've only cost $100 extra from what I spent.

But yeah, Just do a compression and leakdown test on each cylinder and go from there, Best way to figure out for sure what's bad is to put the cylinder at TDC and hook up an air hose and listen through your throttle body, Oil fill cap on the valve cover and listen in the tail pipe for air rushing out, Oil fill cap will be bad piston rings, Throttle body and exhaust will be bad valves.

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[DonJulio]

I've had a 91 acura legend v6.
Bought at 150k miles, blew oem gaskets.
I've driven it to 355k over a few years worth. I wonder if it's still running after being sold..

The only parts I've replaced at the time were rings, all upper gaskets, and cleaned out the egr plumbing ( which over advances timing and eventually blows the headgaskets), and radiator.

The engine was always in service limits, the bottom end was literally untouched.

I just kept the fluids changed and kept the idle smooth.

When your idle starts getting rough, it's a sure sign something's wrong. Sure you can drive it for awhile, so be it a long while. Overtime all it does is run too advanced or retarded and eventually all the buildup breaks down the motor.

Not to mention I occasionally ran the car hard and redlined like a mofo, which believe it or not is good. The excessive heat helps clear the engine of buildup.

So stomp away on the gas pedal aslong as everything's up to date.
Always check service limits when replacing or adjusting parts, take it to a shop for machine work when necessary.

Your gsr should last awhile stock. Save up for a high performance rebuild instead of just OEM IMO.

 

[Winks527]

Righteous... I don't think I would fail a compression test honestly but that's definitely a good place to start. I feel like the car still has lots of life in it just kinda bummed about the head gasket leak. Id like to get it all done at once even replace the clutch seems like the best way to save money is doing it all at once. So I think i'm going to keep saving and watching my fluids and hopefully I can get it all together before too long. Could this leak be the reason I smell a weird "racing" smell after I get high into vtech? Oil burning on header? Idles perfect no CEL or any other issues just leaking through head gasket. The head gasket doesn't seem oem or even old. I bought it from a guy who bought it from a guy just to sell it so I couldn't find out what was done to it. But its got got a comptech head cover and the camshafts look super clean but who knows for sure prolly just needs new gaskets and like he said some ARP head studs. So maybe I could do that and save for the whole rebuild later.