Thread: Stupid DIY mechanics...need machine shop

So...I bought my second '91 eclipse last July, and it ran for about a month. Barely. The guy I bought it from said he had replaced the head gasket because it had apparently overheated. I drove it a little and looking back, I'm amazed that it ran at all...he had left a shop rag stuffed into the air can, and i'd be suprised if he knew what a torque wrench was. Regardless, it finally just stopped running. It overheated and blew off the nipple coming out of the top of the radiator. I resoldered the nipple on and it wouldn't start. 10 psi compression. Every cylinder. I replaced the HG and went to fire it up - nothing. not even trying to fire. we push started it, but had to get it above 30 mph and keep it above 3000 rpm for it to run...as soon as it dipped below 3k the accelerator stopped responding and it died. (above 3k it ran nice tho!! :D ) compression is now at 30 psi in every cylinder. I'm pretty sure the head's warped after the asshat tightened the head bolts in no particular order with a breaker bar. My best guess is that when the turbo starts kicking in, it pushes faster than the leak can expel and it runs, but then when it stops pressurizing the cylinder the leak takes over and it dies.

Now I need a good local shop that will pressure test and/or machine heads. Anyone know of a good shop in the area? I work in Rancho, live in Citrus Heights, but I'll go anywhere in Sac for quality work.

Moral of the story: ask the seller if they know what order to tighten the head bolts in before buying the car they said they fixed ;) I've spent more time and money diagnosing this stupid problem than I spent on the car itself. I could've just gone straight to machining the head or getting another in good condition if i had known.

Im in the exact same position, head overheated, now looking for machine shop to do the resurface and pressure test. I found 3 so far, Cascar, Sac Cylinder Heads, and some guy named John in West Sac. Lol. I just cant pick which one is better or cheaper.

DELS off of bizz 80 and El Camino great work for me in the past and great prices also. I was also recomended to them from this forum.

thanks fellas. I'll check them out.

Sweet dude...they're right down Sunrise from my shop, too.

Comptech, huh? I *did* dismiss them out of hand since they're known for their Honda work, not DSMs...but I'll look at them too.

Good luck with that they are Comptech went out of buiseness. I know a few of the employees bought the LLC and a some other copy right stuff, so they can start it back up later but as of right now nothing.

OMG really? Wow. Never knew. Then again, I never used them when I had my Hondas.