Update to my 32v saga. PCV or some real bad? Oil in cylinder, mod guys please read!

[dville_gt]

Well, pulled upper intake on the 97 cobra, lots of oil in the bottom of the manifold (towards the back, pictured below). Got the rail pulled and pressurized the fuel system (thanks ford for not locking the injectors in place allowing them to shoot out when the rail is lifted). The injectors do not seem to be leaking. I stuck my pen magnet down in the bad cylinder and it appears that the fluid might actually be oil (mixed with some fuel), not coolant.

Now, if it were not for the fact that all the other cylinders seem dry I would suspect the source of the oil is probably from the bottom of the lower intake, and the source of that oil is probably the crappy fram pcv valve that somebody used. But since only one cylinder seems to be affected I am really only left with 2 ideas:

1- the pcv valve is pulling oil into all cylinders, this in particular cylinder got so washed down that the plug stopped firing and it just got worse and worse while the others were still firing and burning off the excess, thus why the car developed the stutter that had me tracking/taking it apart in the first place. This would obviously be ideal, I'd just pull the lower, clean the imrc plates, install an oem pcv valve and be done.

2: blown head gasket/cracked head/worn valve guides/seals or bad rings. This would obviously be bad, but it would explain the pooling of oil in this cylinder. Would have expected to see the car smoking or showing some other signs as the problem developed vs just a random stutter during acceleration, but I've been wrong before.

So I guess my only option at this point is to do a compression/leak down check and see if there is a problem with this specific cylinder. Only problem is I dont have the gauge. I assume I can probably pick one up at harbor freight for a decent price but with how deep these cylinder wells are I want to make sure whatever I get will work with the 32v cobra motor.

Any input/things to check/experience with similar problems/etc? I am at a loss here and since this is her daily driver I really need to make some headway.

Thanks.

[dville_gt]

Oil in bottom of lower intake

[dville_gt]

more oil in lower intake

[dville_gt]

What I assume is the crappy Fram brand PCV valve that I read is terrible for these cars, doesn't look oem, especially since some dbag mechanic who put it in capped off the top of it with a screw!

[dville_gt]

Bottom of upper intake is nice and oily. Unfortunately only one cylinder seems to be oily as well which kind of kills my PCV theory on why this one cylinder is full of oil.

[Captain Crawfish]

you really need to do a leakdown on each cylinder which might indicate bad rings seals etc. the oil on the bottom of the intake is normal mine was the same way when i took it apart. whats really ugly is when you take the lower off youll see what leaving the secondaries closed most of the time does. the valves get so carboned up they wont even close. how many miles are on that engine?

[dville_gt]

Long block was done 60-70k or so ago. Car has been through 3 motors that we know of. She bought it at around 70k with a fresh engine, seized up at about 150k, new long block at that point, car has just over 205k on it now. I'd assume most of the accessories were reused each time (mind you all of this occurred before I came on the scene.


Anyone know which of these compression tools would work with the 32v?

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=Compression+test

[Captain Crawfish]

the harbor freight kit will work but the fitting is a pos and wont work. i had to go up to oreily to rent their kit and use the fitting to screw into the clylinder heads. ive been there before with one of those motors and they do get expensive when you start buying stuff for them. hopefully the low end is good with no bad rings etc only a leakdown will tell you for sure.

[Captain Crawfish]

just rent the oreily compression tester and swap the fitting on the china harbor freight one.

[turbostang]

What I assume is the crappy Fram brand PCV valve that I read is terrible for these cars, doesn't look oem, especially since some dbag mechanic who put it in capped off the top of it with a screw!

You've answered your whole inquiry RIGHT here if this picture is truly what it indicates.

Based on this statement alone, the PCV system is completely disabled by the PCV valve bieng capped. NO crankcase pressure will be eliminated and therefore it has to go somewhere - into the intake tract, cylinders, gaskets.. everywhere.

My initial guess is that the PCV valve leaked, or was improper for that car and the 'mechanic' discovered it as a vacuum leak, he plugs it,realizes it runs correctly with it plugged and sends it down the road.

Again, I'd do a leakdown at the VERY least and replace the PCV valve and be done with it.

[dville_gt]

You've answered your whole inquiry RIGHT here if this picture is truly what it indicates.

Based on this statement alone, the PCV system is completely disabled by the PCV valve bieng capped. NO crankcase pressure will be eliminated and therefore it has to go somewhere - into the intake tract, cylinders, gaskets.. everywhere.

My initial guess is that the PCV valve leaked, or was improper for that car and the 'mechanic' discovered it as a vacuum leak, he plugs it,realizes it runs correctly with it plugged and sends it down the road.

Again, I'd do a leakdown at the VERY least and replace the PCV valve and be done with it.

the pcv valve in question looks like this:



and the top barbed part of the pcv valve is capped, the lower (larger) barbed part of the valve connects to the intake, and the bottom of the pcv slides into a grommet on the valve cover. the pipe that connects the pcv to the intake was soaked with oil on the inside.

all of this would make me feel better if it were not for the fact that only the one cylinder has oil in it, all of the others are dry. obviously i need to perform a leakdown and see what's going on, but does it make any sense to believe that the one cylinder could have just been fouled due to the oil and thus was not burning it off?

here is a picture of the plug from the cylinder in question vs. a plug from another cylinder.



another strange part is that i am not even totally sure that the fluid is oil, best i can tell it looks like oil that is diluted with fuel or something (which makes sense). again, i am probably going in circles until i can put a gauge on that cylinder.

[turbostang]

OK, now I see - it's a universal type valve, he just rigged a 'cap'.

Regardless, those two plugs have a VERY small difference, that could be from fuel flow ALONE. Burning oil should be fairly obvious, heavy ash/deposits, wet threads (which look bone dry in the pic)etc.

One thing that looks out of place, those plugs look like they have a HUGE gap, that will damn sure make it do some wierd shit.

It's difficult to e-diagnose, but Again, leakdown, PCV and tuneup and roll with it.

[dville_gt]

Ya, the gap on the plugs did look rather large to me as well, I'll put a gauge on it later and see what it is exactly, I believe the 4.6 dohc calls for a .054 gap.

Most of the time if this were somehow coolant wouldn't you expect to see the plug nice and clean along with the top of the cylinder (which is covered in carbon). that has been my experience with blow headgaskets in the past, then again i've never blown a headgasket so bad that it'd fill up a cylinder with fluid, most of the times i have dealt with them they have been just a slight leak that would pressurize the coolant system and cleaned the hell out of the cylinder, then again i know that they can blow multiple different ways.

[turbostang]

Ya, the gap on the plugs did look rather large to me as well, I'll put a gauge on it later and see what it is exactly, I believe the 4.6 dohc calls for a .054 gap.

Most of the time if this were somehow coolant wouldn't you expect to see the plug nice and clean along with the top of the cylinder (which is covered in carbon). that has been my experience with blow headgaskets in the past, then again i've never blown a headgasket so bad that it'd fill up a cylinder with fluid, most of the times i have dealt with them they have been just a slight leak that would pressurize the coolant system and cleaned the hell out of the cylinder, then again i know that they can blow multiple different ways.

If it were coolant, You should see a pretty distinct green tint to the plug - also, the idle and driving would be real 'fluttery' sounding and a very obvious dead cylinder.

FWIW, I've had those plug wires go bad where they'd arc down inside of the cylinder head to the walls - which obviously, made it run like hell.

[aggie97]

OK, now I see - it's a universal type valve, he just rigged a 'cap'.

Regardless, those two plugs have a VERY small difference, that could be from fuel flow ALONE. Burning oil should be fairly obvious, heavy ash/deposits, wet threads (which look bone dry in the pic)etc.

One thing that looks out of place, those plugs look like they have a HUGE gap, that will damn sure make it do some wierd shit.

It's difficult to e-diagnose, but Again, leakdown, PCV and tuneup and roll with it.

They actually don't even look like the same type of plug...