Carbon build up and wet piston crown

[Nvy]

So I was testing a tool to extract the spark plugs and had a look with a light and a naked eye in cyl 1. What I noticed is that its almost on top and also that it has a rly nasty carbon build up. Both the spark plug and the piston crown were wet. Having in mind that the compression test last time didnt look so nice, am I looking at engine rebuild?

From what I can read on the stick it doesnt burn oil but the exhaust gases smell a bit more like diesel ones but not petrol and it smokes a bit white when fired up in the morning.

[shnazzle]

So I was testing a tool to extract the spark plugs and had a look with a light and a naked eye in cyl 1. What I noticed is that its almost on top and also that it has a rly nasty carbon build up. Both the spark plug and the piston crown were wet. Having in mind that the compression test last time didnt look so nice, am I looking at engine rebuild?

Sounds like it. Compression figures said it all really.

[thetyrant]

No possible way to know for sure looking through the plug hole but as you know these engines are prone to issues and if you had low compression test its not going to be optimal running but does that bother you?, state of the pistons on both the 1zz engines ive stripped were terrible for carbon build up,  however if it doesnt burn oil and still runs ok just use it until it starts to burn oil, it will eventually if not already...if not your very lucky.

Of course a rebuild is going to make it run nicer but depends if you want to go to trouble and expense, i only rebuilt mine as having a car that smokes and uses oil goes against my OCD....i could of just left both of them as they ran fine otherwise, especially the original engine which has always had regular servicing etc.

[Nvy]

No possible way to know for sure looking through the plug hole but as you know these engines are prone to issues and if you had low compression test its not going to be optimal running but does that bother you?, state of the pistons on both the 1zz engines ive stripped were terrible for carbon build up,  however if it doesnt burn oil and still runs ok just use it until it starts to burn oil, it will eventually if not already...if not your very lucky.

Of course a rebuild is going to make it run nicer but depends if you want to go to trouble and expense, i only rebuilt mine as having a car that smokes and uses oil goes against my OCD....i could of just left both of them as they ran fine otherwise, especially the original engine which has always had regular servicing etc.

I have a turbo kit waiting for 2 years in my basement and I have read that it wont be ideal for knock to have carbon build up on the pistons.

Anyone can share the needed manual to rebuild my engine? Mine came from Germany so its of no use to me

[thetyrant]

I have a turbo kit waiting for 2 years in my basement and I have read that it wont be ideal for knock to have carbon build up on the pistons.

Anyone can share the needed manual to rebuild my engine? Mine came from Germany so its of no use to me

Well thats a totally different prospect then, as you know ive been down this road already fitting a turbo to my original  100k+ miles used motor only to run into issues with oil control etc   you could do same and put up with it/tune around it etc (i couldnt) but it makes sense to refresh the engine before putting into under anymore stress like turbo etc and thats where im at now with my refreshed motor, new clutch etc so all ready for some boost

[Dev]

Every engine except those that use meth/water injection will have carbon build up on the pistons.
Its not a bad thing unless its excessive and its the detergents in fuel that keeps the carbon build up at a minimum level.
    There are abnormal conditions which there is too much carbon build up from oil burning or running rich with incomplete burn and what they tend to do is increase the compression which can cause knock unless the ring packs are compromised. The way you can tell is if you take a long instrument like a thin metal pick and scrape the top of the piston head and physically see carbon flaking off easily. If its hard and imbedded its generally normal.

How do the other pistons look?

[Nvy]

Every engine except those that use meth/water injection will have carbon build up on the pistons.
Its not a bad thing unless its excessive and its the detergents in fuel that keeps the carbon build up at a minimum level.
    There are abnormal conditions which there is too much carbon build up from oil burning or running rich with incomplete burn and what they tend to do is increase the compression which can cause knock unless the ring packs are compromised. The way you can tell is if you take a long instrument like a thin metal pick and scrape the top of the piston head and physically see carbon flaking off easily. If its hard and imbedded its generally normal.

How do the other pistons look?

Went to have a look again and took off all the spark plugs, all seems equally dirty. It will not flake off for sure but I could notice that the pistons had some patches on them so not equally spread carbon. Also noticed all the coilpacks were oily, no idea what has happened but had the rocker cover gasket replaced a while ago. Two of the coils were split so I have replaced them with some that I had laying around.

I think ill measure the compression myself once again and if I am happy with the result will just slap a turbo on it. The last guys who measured the compression were Lexus and Toyota specialized shop(what a joke lol), they did tighten the spark plugs way more than 19nm... Also when doing the wet test they put so much oil that the oil got into the compressor tool. I dont believe them tbh so will do the test once more.

[1979scotte]

Every engine except those that use meth/water injection will have carbon build up on the pistons.
Its not a bad thing unless its excessive and its the detergents in fuel that keeps the carbon build up at a minimum level.
    There are abnormal conditions which there is too much carbon build up from oil burning or running rich with incomplete burn and what they tend to do is increase the compression which can cause knock unless the ring packs are compromised. The way you can tell is if you take a long instrument like a thin metal pick and scrape the top of the piston head and physically see carbon flaking off easily. If its hard and imbedded its generally normal.

How do the other pistons look?

Went to have a look again and took off all the spark plugs, all seems equally dirty. It will not flake off for sure but I could notice that the pistons had some patches on them so not equally spread carbon. Also noticed all the coilpacks were oily, no idea what has happened but had the rocker cover gasket replaced a while ago. Two of the coils were split so I have replaced them with some that I had laying around.

I think ill measure the compression myself once again and if I am happy with the result will just slap a turbo on it. The last guys who measured the compression were Lexus and Toyota specialized shop(what a joke lol), they did tighten the spark plugs way more than 19nm... Also when doing the wet test they put so much oil that the oil got into the compressor tool. I dont believe them tbh so will do the test once more.

It really is hard to find knowledgeable trustworthy help these days.

[Dev]

Every engine except those that use meth/water injection will have carbon build up on the pistons.
Its not a bad thing unless its excessive and its the detergents in fuel that keeps the carbon build up at a minimum level.
    There are abnormal conditions which there is too much carbon build up from oil burning or running rich with incomplete burn and what they tend to do is increase the compression which can cause knock unless the ring packs are compromised. The way you can tell is if you take a long instrument like a thin metal pick and scrape the top of the piston head and physically see carbon flaking off easily. If its hard and imbedded its generally normal.

How do the other pistons look?

Went to have a look again and took off all the spark plugs, all seems equally dirty. It will not flake off for sure but I could notice that the pistons had some patches on them so not equally spread carbon. Also noticed all the coilpacks were oily, no idea what has happened but had the rocker cover gasket replaced a while ago. Two of the coils were split so I have replaced them with some that I had laying around.

I think ill measure the compression myself once again and if I am happy with the result will just slap a turbo on it. The last guys who measured the compression were Lexus and Toyota specialized shop(what a joke lol), they did tighten the spark plugs way more than 19nm... Also when doing the wet test they put so much oil that the oil got into the compressor tool. I dont believe them tbh so will do the test once more.

A bit of patchiness is fine or all black fine also. If your coil packs were oily including the threads on your spark plugs there is a very good possibility that those round gaskets on the valve cover are compromised and leaking oil into the spark plug wells. This can happen if the gasket you replaced it with is not the OEM or a good equivalent. I would get those redone. 
I had this issue with my previous 1ZZ. Also when oil or water enters the spark plug well it creates a condition where the plug becomes cooled similar to adding colder plugs which creates incomplete combustion where it is not enough to notice but it can effect performance and efficiency. Could also cause excessive carbon and emissions. 

Keep in mind and you probably know this but I will mentioned that a compression test is of little value unless there is a clear distinction between one cylinder over the others indicating a significant deviation both dry and wet. A better way is a leak down test.

[SV-3]

Every engine except those that use meth/water injection will have carbon build up on the pistons.
Its not a bad thing unless its excessive and its the detergents in fuel that keeps the carbon build up at a minimum level.
    There are abnormal conditions which there is too much carbon build up from oil burning or running rich with incomplete burn and what they tend to do is increase the compression which can cause knock unless the ring packs are compromised. The way you can tell is if you take a long instrument like a thin metal pick and scrape the top of the piston head and physically see carbon flaking off easily. If its hard and imbedded its generally normal.

How do the other pistons look?

Went to have a look again and took off all the spark plugs, all seems equally dirty. It will not flake off for sure but I could notice that the pistons had some patches on them so not equally spread carbon. Also noticed all the coilpacks were oily, no idea what has happened but had the rocker cover gasket replaced a while ago. Two of the coils were split so I have replaced them with some that I had laying around.

I think ill measure the compression myself once again and if I am happy with the result will just slap a turbo on it. The last guys who measured the compression were Lexus and Toyota specialized shop(what a joke lol), they did tighten the spark plugs way more than 19nm... Also when doing the wet test they put so much oil that the oil got into the compressor tool. I dont believe them tbh so will do the test once more.

A bit of patchiness is fine or all black fine also. If your coil packs were oily including the threads on your spark plugs there is a very good possibility that those round gaskets on the valve cover are compromised and leaking oil into the spark plug wells. This can happen if the gasket you replaced it with is not the OEM or a good equivalent. I would get those redone. 
I had this issue with my previous 1ZZ. Also when oil or water enters the spark plug well it creates a condition where the plug becomes cooled similar to adding colder plugs which creates incomplete combustion where it is not enough to notice but it can effect performance and efficiency. Could also cause excessive carbon and emissions. 

Keep in mind and you probably know this but I will mentioned that a compression test is of little value unless there is a clear distinction between one cylinder over the others indicating a significant deviation both dry and wet. A better way is a leak down test.

Talking of compression testing, here's an alternative 'electronic' method courtesy of the Car Wizard.
Have a look at 8.00 through 11:45 minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIvOMOTD9gg

[Dev]

Every engine except those that use meth/water injection will have carbon build up on the pistons.
Its not a bad thing unless its excessive and its the detergents in fuel that keeps the carbon build up at a minimum level.
    There are abnormal conditions which there is too much carbon build up from oil burning or running rich with incomplete burn and what they tend to do is increase the compression which can cause knock unless the ring packs are compromised. The way you can tell is if you take a long instrument like a thin metal pick and scrape the top of the piston head and physically see carbon flaking off easily. If its hard and imbedded its generally normal.

How do the other pistons look?

Went to have a look again and took off all the spark plugs, all seems equally dirty. It will not flake off for sure but I could notice that the pistons had some patches on them so not equally spread carbon. Also noticed all the coilpacks were oily, no idea what has happened but had the rocker cover gasket replaced a while ago. Two of the coils were split so I have replaced them with some that I had laying around.

I think ill measure the compression myself once again and if I am happy with the result will just slap a turbo on it. The last guys who measured the compression were Lexus and Toyota specialized shop(what a joke lol), they did tighten the spark plugs way more than 19nm... Also when doing the wet test they put so much oil that the oil got into the compressor tool. I dont believe them tbh so will do the test once more.

A bit of patchiness is fine or all black fine also. If your coil packs were oily including the threads on your spark plugs there is a very good possibility that those round gaskets on the valve cover are compromised and leaking oil into the spark plug wells. This can happen if the gasket you replaced it with is not the OEM or a good equivalent. I would get those redone. 
I had this issue with my previous 1ZZ. Also when oil or water enters the spark plug well it creates a condition where the plug becomes cooled similar to adding colder plugs which creates incomplete combustion where it is not enough to notice but it can effect performance and efficiency. Could also cause excessive carbon and emissions. 

Keep in mind and you probably know this but I will mentioned that a compression test is of little value unless there is a clear distinction between one cylinder over the others indicating a significant deviation both dry and wet. A better way is a leak down test.

Talking of compression testing, here's an alternative 'electronic' method courtesy of the Car Wizard.
Have a look at 8.00 through 11:45 minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIvOMOTD9gg

 I often follow the Car Wizard but not in the last two months.
 This method is for quick diagnosis is genius and sometimes taking it to the right guy with the right equipment can save you lots of hassles. I refer people to the dealership with hard to diagnose issues because a master tech is worth it than a shot gun approach of replacing parts.
 
Sometimes if you have good ears you when doing the compression test you can actually hear the bad cylinder by the tone of the thumps when you compare it to the other cylinders.

 
 
 

[Nvy]

So went and did the compression test myself. All cylinders within 10 psi difference so I think its a win, no idea what these guys were doing but they told me that I had around a bar or more difference. Tranny and turbo incoming I guess

Off topic: On the road there was a guy in s2000 ap2 waving, made me smile for sure.

[Carolyn]

So went and did the compression test myself. All cylinders within 10 psi difference so I think its a win, no idea what these guys were doing but they told me that I had around a bar or more difference. Tranny and turbo incoming I guess

Off topic: On the road there was a guy in s2000 ap2 waving, made me smile for sure.

Out of interest: What pressures did you get?

[Nvy]

So went and did the compression test myself. All cylinders within 10 psi difference so I think its a win, no idea what these guys were doing but they told me that I had around a bar or more difference. Tranny and turbo incoming I guess

Off topic: On the road there was a guy in s2000 ap2 waving, made me smile for sure.

Out of interest: What pressures did you get?

165/160/165/170. Didn't do a wet test because I was happy with these results.