89 corolla sr5 help! speed and gas!!!

[CodyjCA]

heres my short story:

last year i got my first car, 89 sr5 rolla, automatic, and it started out getting like 290 miles on a tank, fucking ruled, but now i only get like 190 b4 my fuel light turns on. I dotn know whats up with that, also the car is pretty damn slow at accelerating from a stop, i want to make my car faster cuz i just cant really handle that slowness, what do u recomend would be the best modifications for the price, i was thinkingh about booting up a header from ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2461316217
do u think that would be a good start?
driving up in the mountains = flooring constantly just about.
So my main concerns are gas mileage, why did it go down so fast,
and whats the more effienct way to make it faster, im a newbie when it comes to cars and i really would like to learn moe about fixing up cars so dont get too technical, just tell me what u guys would do, thanks a thousand!

~Cody
aim=codyj ca

[CodyjCA]

Oh yea, i cant belive this slipped the last post, 2 of my 4 spark plug chambers fill with oil, i pull the plug wire out and theres all kinds of oil in there, any idea what causes this? does that mess up my preformance"?

[|PuNiSh3R|]

Uh do I even HAVE to tell you what is wrong? First off, 290 is pathetic.. A GOOD 4AF should be seeing 360-450mpt..

Your engine is shot. The oil is because the piston rings are blown.. You aren't getting compression in those cylinders which is why it is suck ass to accelerate.. Go ahead and pull your oil cap off.. take a wiff.. The oil is gonna wreak of gas..
You would have to take the cylinder head off.. drop the oil pan.. pull the pistons and rods.. Put on new piston rings.. Probably get the cylinders honed.. I'd recommened getting the crank checked for trueness, to make sure that the rod journals are perfectly round.. I'd also recommend replacing valve seals.. Fuck just do a complete rebuild and bring the 4AF back to brand new condition..
A complete major rebuild kit everything you would need would cost 300-400 bux..
I know for me, all the machinist work was going to cost another 400.. that included checking and polishing the crank, rods, getting the block bored and honed .030" over-bore.. cylinder head resurfaced.. 3 angle valve job.. hot tanking and whatever else.. quite extensive but the engine would have been brand-fucking-new.

Yup.. oh and keep an eye on your oil.. I bet you are going through a quart every couple days.
About the oil, since the piston rings on those cylinders is shot.. oil is just slipping right past the pistons and right into the cylinder.. called blow-by. It'll KILL your performance plus I bet when you get on the peddle your exhaust smokes like hell, huh? and when you start your car...

[toyotaspeed90]

no... the oil is shot seals on the valve cover where the spark plugs go down... i had the same problem on my #3 cylinder on my 4a-fe.... when i pulled it all apart it was the seal on the valve cover..... (meaning.. the oil was on the top of the spark plug... not where it actually screws into the head or any on the tip where it sparks).....

[CodyjCA]

yea the oil is on top of the spark plug, SOMETIMES when i start the car a cloud of smokes comes out, also i did a compression check and they are right on, all constant.

[CodyjCA]

my oil level stays pretty constant

[|PuNiSh3R|]

Hmm.. but that doesn't answer the bad gas mileage now.. and what is "right on" for your compression check? DId you smell your oil.. it should have a little bit of a gas smell.. that would be alright for an engine of it's age.. but it shouldn't be a really deep smell.. I bet ya anything you got some valve stem seal or piston ring problems coming on. The 4AF in good health will give 400mpt .. even driving "spirited".. That is how it started for me.. I bought the car.. it was stock drove fine.. I was lucky to see 260mpt even if I was nice with the peddle.. La la la.. did some mods.. well what the holy fuck do ya know.. now I only get 220mpt.. and it just kept getting worse and worse.. till now I get like 160 if I'm lucky. I'd be happy to pull my 4AF apart and find that everything was ok.. but I know I won't.. gonna rip the pistons and and find some major cylinder wall scoring... Probably a missing comp ring as well.

[|PuNiSh3R|]

Nor does it explain poor performance.. so sorry, try again.

[toyotaspeed90]

Originally posted by CodyjCA
yea the oil is on top of the spark plug, SOMETIMES when i start the car a cloud of smokes comes out, also i did a compression check and they are right on, all constant.

again.. i had the same problem.... i haven't researched what caused that... but basically either a chipped valve (or one not seating perfectly right) while the car is off or a slightly bad seal when the engine is cold allows a tiny bit of oil to get into the chamber....

[CodyjCA]

so how should i fix this problem?

[CodyjCA]

what exactly should my compression be?

[|PuNiSh3R|]

Here are the numbers.. 142 min, 179 std. and 192 max. Taking into consideration the age and mileage of your engine you should be in the 153-165 range .. I'd consider that good. When you do a wet comp. test (drip a tablespoon of oil into the cylinder you are testing) The readings shouldn't rise more than 2-4PSI. If they do.. you have bad.. something or other I forget.. do a google search for more information or maybe someone who knows more about the subject will pipe up.

[|PuNiSh3R|]

Here
http://www.dsmgrrrl.com/FAQs/compression.htm

[CodyjCA]

do u think rebulding my carb will increase my mpt?