Hi all, I have a 1989 suzuki swift GLX (wagon) that getting a engine for it has been a big cluster #$%k.
Let start with saying that I order the engine back in the middle of September. I order the one year warrantied engine instead of the head and block sub sections from a place online and spent a few extra dollars so I would not have to deal with head gasket, timing components etc. I gave them the year, model, make, trim package and even the vin number so that there would be no confusion on the engine I needed. So a month goes by and the engine is delivered to my door as expected and within a time period that I have had other engine show up so I figured so far so good.
I unwrapped the engine to put it on a engine stand and to put my valve covers and other misc hang on parts. But low and behold the engine head does not match the engine I had. The distributor section was vastly different not to mention the differences in the intake area. So I call them and they are like please send me the engine back as well as the old engine so we can match it up. So just before Halloween I sent the engine back along with my engine (they paid shipping but I paid for packing and other misc stuff to mount the engines to the crate). The old engine was shot with bad pistons and a very messed up head.
I then half joking with my wife, at the shipping yard, said I will probably see this engine about christmas. When December rolled around, I was getting a little frustrated but was very calm ( I work with computers everyday and I have kids so I am a pretty easy going guy :)) called them and they said that the engine was just rebuilt and they were shipping it out on Friday. They ended up shipping it on Wednesday the following week but still they got it to me and It was before the Ohio winter had really set in. So I was happy, I unpacked the engine again to put it on the stand and Guess What! It was the exact same engine they sent me before. I could not believe it! So I called again and said well guess what, the engine that is supposed to match mine is the same engine that you sent me the first time. They did some checking and said they would send me out the correct head and gasket set to correct the problem that the engine rebuilder for my engine was off till the first of the year and that he was not aware of the head differences and he rebuilt the head but did not transfer them and shipping picked the engine up and shipped it to me. I was like sounds good, at this point I just wanted this thing to run, get me the head and I will do the rest. I have put a many the head on a engine so not a big deal. The head did show up the next day. I put the head on the engine but when I went to match up the timing components they did not match and somewhere along the line they got shipped to engine rebuilder. So off to the local junkyard to pick me up a set. I got them put the engine together and put it in the car. I may also mention that winter set in by this time and we had about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground but it was still in the 20-30's so I could still work in it. It was the weekend before christmas I may add, exactly what I wanted to do with my sons first christmas. I did all the engine assembly in a warm dry basement before dropping it into the car. I bought oil (they recommended, nothing special just not synthetic) and got the vehicle up and running. I did 750 miles local driving under 50 mph, stop and go, some cruising but never more then a few minutes at the same RPM till and at a 1000 miles did a oil change to my normal synthetic that I use with all my other engines. I usually always used synthetic during my break in period on all my other engines but they said no.
Everything was running great then at about 1250-1300 miles I began to notice a miss not a big deal at first but slowly it got worse till I decided to pull the plugs (now at about 1700 miles, I do a 100 mile commute to work) All plugs look clean except for one that was a complete garbage (black burned carbon all over the plug and completely fowled out). I decided to immediatly do a complete plug replacement and I also change the wires as well. I changed the plugs, rotor and cap at engine assembly but the wires were less then a year old so I used the old ones. I also did a compression test. The engine read close to 150 acros the board with the exception of that same cylinder that was having problems and it read 90. So something is up. I ran the engine with the new plugs and it seems to run fine. I checked the engine after about 200 miles and the plug has minor blackness on the plug but no where near fouling and the compression for the cylinder was up to 120 +.
My question is what should I do? (keep in mind that in ohio 2 nights ago low was in the negative double digits)
Is it normal for new engines to foul out a plug during break in period?
Is this sudden snap in the cold that we have recently got to be blamed?
Is it the synthetic oil?
I have replaced three rebuilds and more then I like to mention junkyard motors over the years and have never experienced a fouled out plug during breakin. I usually use synthetic oils at break in so I am really feeling the oil is to blame.
Should I drive it and see if the engine was not fully broken in and make sure the plug is clean after every couple hundred miles and see if it breaks in a little more when it warms up?
I have a year warranty on this engine but I am half afraid to see when I would get the engine back form the rebuilders.
Anyways thanks for your ear or any suggestions you can provide, Chris