Dan, you were right the first time you responded to my posts. I just found those o-rings today, and changed them into my 1st and 2nd aux valves along with the copper gaskets. I started it up and had some pretty crappy symptoms(blowback through carb, felt like 2 cylinders running). It occurred to me that when i pulled the #1 cylinder, it was lacking an aux chamber gasket. So when i put on the valve train, the rocker was adjusted to the length minus one gasket. So i adjusted that valve and a few others and did a quick compression check, and got numbers into 158 psi. So i started it up again. It worked fine on cylinder 1, but number 2 was still bad. So i just kept swapping in used but cleaned spark plugs till i finally found one clean enough to run. It seems to run great right now, and i just checked the plug after 20 miles, and it's dry and cleaner than when i put it in. I'm optimistic that this means that the fiasco is over, but i'll scope it again on tuesday. If all is not well, then i'll definitely go for the cap and check the wires. Oh, i forgot to mention that this cap has only seen less than 4k miles in those three years, but i'll change it nonetheless if there's a problem. Thanks again for all of your help, especially w/ those gaskets.
-Jarvis

By 79EK1 (63.195.80.15) on Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 06:37 pm:

Jarvis, if the cap is three years old, I would go buy a new one or make sure the metal posts and plug connectors were polished clean. If you have an ohm meter, you can check the resistance of the wires and conectors and see if they're OK. Stock Accord wires aren't supposed to exceed 25,000 ohms from end to end, otherwise the manual says change them. Aftermarket wires may be as low as 50 ohms per foot. Also, since the aux valves come out relatively easily, it won't hurt to change the o-rings and copper washers on those, too. You'll be able to tell if the #2 cylinder is sucking too much oil by looking at the back of the valve face at the stem. The aux valves usually have a bunch of crud on them, but you may notice more on that one than the others. The compression numbers look good.

The intake and exhaust manifolds from the 81-83 Civic should fit the four port 80-81 EK1. I use the EM1 I/E gaskets for my EL conversion head, and before I installed a header, I used the EM1 exhaust manifold on it.

Don't worry about the washers and o-rings, they were extras, and the postage was minimal.

Good luck. Dan

By Jarcaf (Jarcaf) (207.55.238.216) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 11:25 pm:

Hey Dan(or anyone who knows),
Just as an unrelated thought, the EM1 intake/exhaust manifolds don't bolt up to the 80/81 Ek1's do they?

By Jarcaf (Jarcaf) (207.55.238.216) on Friday, September 03, 2004 - 04:08 pm:

Hey Dan, Thanks for responding
I am using the electronic ignition distributor from an EM1. The cap i'm now using was a replacement about 3 years ago, and it's in decent condition. The rotor may be questionable but it looks ok to me. The plug wire for the bad cylinder was just changed with no success, however the plug may have been fouled too much to start igniting again. On the scope, the other three plugs are not fouling and are showing good voltages. On cylinder 2, the signal shown is that of a fouled plug, but looks more normal when i rev the engine. Once that cylinder cuts out all together from fouling, there is no difference when revved. The 13kv reading is shown when the plug wire is removed from the cap. I forgot to check the other cylinders under the same condition, but if the civic is like most cars, that voltage should be around 20,000 volts. I didn't check the battery voltage, and my multimeter is busted.
I ran a compression check(idle throttle) and got the following pressures: 1st crank-80, 2nd crank-120, 3rd crank-135, 4th crank-145 and stays at 145-150. This reading is the same for all cylinders. No leak down test was done, but can be on tuesday along with the battery voltage and another scope. I thought you may be right about the oil, but the plug looks more like gas fouling than oil. There's a good possiblilty that it could be a small amount of oil that causes the plug to miss and after that, it starts fuel fouling from lack of combustion. It could also be a mixed problem, like if that voltage is too low and i'm getting that oil leak.
My Ek1 is a swap w/ a weber 32/36 into my 82 civic sedan that i started restoring last summer.
Are you the one who sent me the gaskets and o-rings a while back? I lost those e-mails so i couldn't find it again once i got 'em in. I only did the 3rd and 4th cylinders unfortunately, so i may just do the 1st and 2nds if i can find the orings. I'd like to send you a paypal to at least cover shipping if you want. They really helped and got rid of the compression leaks and blowback through the carb in cylinders 3 and 4. Thanks for all the help you've given, you're really an asset to this board.

By 79EK1 (63.195.80.15) on Thursday, September 02, 2004 - 10:39 pm:

Hey Jarvis, I have a few questions for you to get some background on the problem. What kind of ignition are you using with the EK1? Have you checked/replaced the distributor cap and the plug wires? Does the plug in the bad cylinder have gas and oil on it, or just gas? When you had the engine hooked up to the scope, did the firing voltages look normal when the plugs were all clean? Have you done any compression or leakdown testing to see if the cylinders are OK? How's your battery voltage at idle?

I'm wondering if you still have oil leaking into the prechamber fouling the plug and causing it to miss, or if you have an ignition problem. Hopefully, we can narrow it down and figure it out.

BTW, did you swap the EK1 into a Civic, or do you have an Accord? Dan

By Jarcaf (Jarcaf) (207.55.238.216) on Thursday, September 02, 2004 - 04:01 pm:

Hey guys,
I recently got my Ek1 engine running finally after a dispute with the aux valve gaskets and a new set of plugs. However, after about 40 miles, the thing regressed back to 3 cylinders. After finding the faulty cylinder, i found the plug to be fouled w/ gas. So i cleaned it up and it ran. After about 5 more miles it gave in once more. So after putting it on the scope, it showed that the cylinder was getting a weak secondary voltage, only like 13k volts when the wire is pulled from the cap. Also, the engine only really idles on 3 cylinders but when revved it goes to all 4 cylinders.
So, are there any components failing in order to have a weak spark at idle on one cylinder but allow for it to run while revved?
Thanks,
Jarvis