And change the oil immediately. The intake cleaner will have found it's way into the crankcase. One member reported that all the seals in the engine were ruined by a much smaller amount of cleaner. He had to take the engine apart and replace them.

 

Thanks for the previous responses... Back to it,

Mechanic reports compression and leak-down test "pass", so it seems the bottom half is hopefully okay.
86,000 miles, Trifecta tuned, but I don't feel I hammer it, daily driver (pre-covid)

Based on that, they've made more serious quotes for what they recommend. I don't know about "handsome" Oldblue, but I'm not handy/brave enough to dive into engine work, so I would be paying someone.
Once they actually ran the numbers, cost is higher than their earlier SWAG.

Option 1: Pull the head, send to machine shop for clean/resurface/valve grind/test/whatever needs doing. No evidence yet of timing problems, but replace timing while it's open and apart. With parts & labor, estimate $3630
Option 2: They're worried that if the top end is all rebuilt, with a turbo motor, may put strain on the bottom end if it's at all worn, so also quoted an engine swap with a remanufactured engine, 3 year/unlimited mile warranty, $5200

Both of those numbers are large, but I do still love the car and it's still a great fun/practical mix.
Would a new engine make it last forever, or have higher probability of success that everything is back to normal?

Also, given the amount of gunk they found when trying to scope the valves for carbon deposits, I'm wondering if I do this what can I do to make sure things stay cleaner long term?

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

Check the ZZP site, a new LDK or LNF engine would answer the call, or is your mechanic not willing to allow you to have the engine shipped to his shop?
Our RJ swapped his LNF out for a LDK , perhaps he’ll chime in here and give details and advise, was it worth it?

 

My opinion, it's a great deal. Around $2K for a new upgraded engine with spark plugs, oil filter, and every sensor included. I also got the Opel fuel injector rail, and an ECM tune.

That being said, if the compression and leak down tests show nothing is wrong, then what is the diagnosis? What's really causing the issues? Gunked up valves, if they were the cause, would show as poor compression, and leakage past the intake valves.

 

is the car put back together and running? if so, any way to post a vid of what the noise is?

 

Thanks All,
Wow that LDK is a great deal compared to a reman LNF.

@RJ_RS_SS_350 I admit, the diagnosis is a bit unsatisfactory: After checking many things, and cleaning everything they can get to, or spray crud to, and no codes, and only evidence of anything wrong the gobs of stuff they could see/find when trying to scope it, the conclusion was next step was to pull the head to really find what's inside, get the machine shop to test everything, and since I'm not doing the work, the labor to get that far is most of the way to just cleaning/servicing the whole head and/or this engine swap idea.

These guys have been good in the past at finding what's wrong, and I trust them. I considered a 2nd opinion but hard to find a shop I trust to get any new information from. And if the conclusion is an LDK is the most cost effective way to have a brand new car, spending more money on diagnosis may not be worthwhile.

I currently have a Trifecta tune, I assume that wouldn't apply/work with a completely different motor? Even if it didn't, I'd want to keep their auto-tranny tune. I'll have to ask Trifecta if that's possible.

@fst100 car is running. Hard to describe the noise other than, "louder than it should be", and "not as smooth as it should be". power is also subtly inconsistent, under consistent load (slight hill, steady throttle), tranny lock-up converter hunts a little bit, and I can see the RPM go up and down - I've been assuming this is due to an inconsistent power output from the motor. Tranny has been serviced and fluids came out clean.
I'll try to capture the sound, but since it's not "in your face" loud, we'll see...

 

The tune would be in the computers so you should still have it after you swap engines, not much difference in them, tune wise.

 

Looking back, I don't see a report on the condition of the flex pipe.

 

Before the latest round, I did take it back asking them to double check the entire exhaust system, because to me it did really sound like a small exhaust leak. They went through it again and reported back, "definitely not exhaust", but that's all the notes I have.

 

I don’t see anything about cracked charge pipe or intercooler