It all goes downhill at once!

[3X00-Modified]

My issue is that I dont run mine as hard as other do.

Very solid tune, 12.5 WOT and 14-15 cruise

6400 rev limit. Occasionally bounce it off it for a second or so when doing burnouts

6k shifts all day long

And its totally stock, just headers.

Dave was shifting at like 7k. Rodney boosting ALOT.

Mine just gets beat on.

I guess well find out. Too bad i cant get a 3900 for under 300 or I would be putting one of those in.

6750RPM shifts FTW on a 3400 bottom end... LOL, I have it scanned in a bunch of my logs and I do it every time I drive the car. I'm impressed I haven't spun a main or rod bearing yet... But then again who knows what lies in there when I take it apart this winter for a checkup... I know the trans valve body needs attention because my 2-3 shift was just never as firm as I intended it to be.

I wonder if it is just the 5-speed abuse that the engine gets from either wheel hop, or the sheer force it sees from having a clutch rather than the torque converter it was originally designed to be working with.

The world may never know.

Hell it may be the reason they only made them for 2 years they might have found something that we are just starting to get a taste of... I will admit though, the heads flow!

[KFLO 93 GT]

I'm guessing wheel hop is the issue. These engines were hooked up to manual transaxles forever up until 1994 and I don't think anybody worries their about their 3.1.

Also the number of 3400 cars on 5 speeds makes me think it is more of a problem of what comes about sometimes, rather than every time. My 93 doesn't get wheel hop at all, and I'd imagine there are other drivers out there who keep wheel hop to a minimum. Like everybody has said, wheel hop is incredibly violent on front wheel drive platforms perhaps enough to break or crack an intake gasket? I dunno... I have had wheel hop hard enough to crack the case on a transmission though, in a different gm fwd car, so I'd say it could be possible.

[Barry]

I thought about talking to raceland. There coilovers have good reviews with the vw crowd, but most vw's arent performance oriented, they just like to ride low.
The 3rd gen cavalier guys are working on getting raceland to make coilovers for them.
There not ajustable iirc though, just ride height.
The mk4 jetta has the same back axle as us so they got that covered.

As for wheelhop killing the motor, i dont think so. Yes the wheel hop is extreme and violent, I cant see it hurting the motor. Maybe it could kill a timing chain or twist a crank or something. Im pretty sure this is a gasket failure.

But we will see. Ill do a full investigation to prevent this from happening to the new motor.

[Asylum]

Rodney had mentioned to me on a couple of occasions that his engine was hurting, and that it was problematic from the very beginning.

Of course throwing 12-14 pounds or more of boost at the damn thing probably didn't help the situation at all.

That damn 3900 issue keeps me awake at night. Evidently there are a couple of guys on 60* that have figured out the VVT and have been able to lock the cam, and "I think" they are using 3500 intakes.

I just wonder how much more power might actually be there?

[3X00-Modified]

These engines do not share the same gasket issues as the older 3400 though. I ran for 15k on set of GM plastic ones and when I removed them they still look brand new... I would have reused them if I didn't have a new set. I put those in and ran those in pinky till this summer when I did my lifters and swapped in the new metal/rubber felpro ones that came out.

Wheel hop can easily resonate all the way through the engine and beat on a wrist pin or something else... if you got chunks in the oil then something broke good.

[Barry]

I pulled the motor out saturday and took it apart yesterday.

Pulled oil pan of and found a connecting rod broken into 3 peices, piston broken into countless peices, and peices of everything else everywhere.

Then I found the cause. A hose clamp screw? Yes, I found a hose clamp screw in the mess. It was highly polished making me beleive it was sitting on top of a valve for a long time, at least since NE when I last had the motor apart. However, I have NEVER lost a hose clamp screw. So this has either been in there since I bought the motor and finally the stars aligned and it fell through, or theres some foul play involved. The only thing I can think of is when I leave my hood open at car meets and im somwhere looking at other cars, someone could of dropped it in the hole on my intake tube(where the rear breather SHOULD go). Alot of people do dislike my car...

I have lots of pictures but didnt put them up yet. Just broke up with my gf that ive been with for a long time and stuff is bad right now.

[Asylum]

OH man that Friggen SUCKS!!

That thought that anyone would do that intentionally is disgusting.

However I can't see just how it would go from the valve cover breather hole to the combustion chamber or onto the valve. Sounds more like it was ingested at some point when the intake was off.

Of course you may never know, and we all make mistakes and shiet happens.

[KFLO 93 GT]

The good news is that at least your 3500 wasn't just a piece of crap and maybe there is hope for 13s after all.

As for the thoughts of sabotage, that would suck man. If someone did stick it where the breather tube gets its positive vent from I could easily see that making it down through the tb/intakes/head and then the piston. I actually think it would get there fast though.

In other news, how does your clutch look?

[Barry]

I always had 1 valve tap. Just 1 single valve, so maybe that was it? Ill find out when I pull the heads, the valve seat and port should be pretty messed up if this were true.

As for the clutch, it looks okay. The pucks are pretty thin, only a 1/16th or so to go before the rivits touch the flywheel. However, it was probably only a little thicker when I bought it.

Also one of my trans mounts is messed up. Im going to get poly cavi ones and MAKE them work, whatever I have to do.

Right now I have so much school work and I cant even sleep becasue of this gf thing I wont be making much progress...

[Money pit Beretta]

Anyone that does that kind of thing to someone's car should be shot. Hang in there man, you will get another GF and another engine. You will be better off with both.

Life is like a box of poop..... you never know when you will get peanuts. Sorry for the F Gump quote, just thought it might cheer you up a little. I should have used that for my sig(lol).

[3400beretta]

Wow thats crazy Barry.. sucks balls. However, if you're thinking it got in through the hole thats right behind the throttle body, I really doubt it could have been sucked into the engine from there, the neck on the upper intake is on quite an incline, it seems improbable, but I suppose not impossible. What is even more odd is that it actually made it into the cylinder, I guess the threaded part finally wedged itself under an open valve, and it worked its way in. Just another reason NOT to use gear clamps, for anything!

[Barry]

Im talking about the hole in the stock intake pipe where the rear breather plugs in. I had that wide open(stupid I know) just sucking in raw air. Very dumbass like for multipule reasons

I wouldnt put it past the honda people at my car meets. They steal eachothers cars and parts so its not too out of line.


Lets say I did somehow drop the screw in there last time the motor was apart(even though I know I didnt). That was over 1000 miles ago and ive been down the strip 9 times since then! Plus lots of messing around and daily driving. And I havent been to a car meet with my hood open since around that 1000 miles too. So its safe to say that this thing has been bouncing around for atleast 1000 miles, no doubt in my mind even though is seems so insane.

Pulling the topend off after dinnner...

[Asylum]

Well I will never believe it went in through the valve cover. That is almost impossible!!

So it either got sucked into your intake tube, or it was dropped in while the intake was off.

And YES it could bounce around in there for quite a while until it found its way to the valve.

It still sucks to lose an engine that way!

But you have all winter, LOL!

Good luck Buddy!

[Mikey Morris]

Keep your head up. You are a young guy and there are TONS of women out there. Don't fret.

You can pick up another motor anywhere!

[3X00-Modified]

Well I will never believe it went in through the valve cover. That is almost impossible!!

So it either got sucked into your intake tube, or it was dropped in while the intake was off.

Your not listening old man... READ AGAIN

Im talking about the hole in the stock intake pipe where the rear breather plugs in. I had that wide open(stupid I know) just sucking in raw air. Very dumbass like for multipule reasons

The rear breather tube goes TO THE INTAKE... that means there is a hole in the INTAKE TUBE... where if someone dropped something in the that means its IN THE INTAKE to get sucked in to the motor.



Sorry to hear that Barry... best of luck getting a new motor in, and also best of luck with the girls... I know everyone says it, but its true... YOU are young, and you have plenty of time to find the right person. Not everyone hooks up with someone from their school and don't think that's your only place to look. I tried that and it didn't work, I tried a friend of a friend FOR 6 YEARS, and that went to hell when she was in college... then I tried eHarmony, go figure! and that worked And it wasn't till I was 25 that I found her.

Best of luck buddy.