4th of July Engine Fun

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WYSpider
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4th of July Engine Fun

Postby WYSpider » Tue Jul 05, 2016 7:50 am

15 miles from home and I get a whiff of burning oil. Once I get home, I pop the hood and see plug #1 and plug #2 have decided to go swimming: the recessed area plug #1 sits in is completely full of oil, plug #2s area isn't that far behind.

Power wash the engine, blow dry it, run the engine with the car parked and see nothing. Take it for a spin (70 mph in 5th) and discover oil is starting to collect in the low area near head bolts #9 and #10 (front of car, nearest coolant tee).

Head was rebuilt 16k miles ago, torqued to factory specs, haven't adjusted the values (and suspect it's too late at this point haha).

Hoping I have really, really good luck and it's just a head gasket, suspect otherwise.

Don't have pictures to share. Car is garaged 6 hours from where I type.

What are your thoughts?

p.s. earlier this year, maybe 1k miles ago the engine was pulling hard in 4th gear and there was a single jerk, like the ignition cut out, it hasn't recurred and the car has been running great until now.

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RRoller123
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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby RRoller123 » Tue Jul 05, 2016 7:59 am

Not from the Cam Boxes?
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AriK
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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby AriK » Tue Jul 05, 2016 8:00 am

Before you suspect a head gasket check cam seals, they may be leaking and blowing oil toward the head.
If you are banking on good luck hope for cam cover gasket(s) or oil cap seal.
Bet you wish you're not 6 hours from your car now, huh!

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WYSpider
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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby WYSpider » Tue Jul 05, 2016 8:58 am

Yeah, I definitely wish my car wasn't a 6.5 hour dive away. Lol

My first thought was oil cap seal. After power washing, I did swap out the oil cap with a spare I carry in the trunk that has a new seal. No dice.

So possibilities include:
- cam cover gasket(s)
- cam seals
...

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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby aj81spider » Tue Jul 05, 2016 4:38 pm

I had that exact problem and it was the valve covers. Make sure you haven't torqued your valve covers down too tightly (they will warp - ask me how I know). I also had an issue where I had the cork valve cover gaskets - those leaked as well. Switched to rubber gaskets, finger tight on the valve cover bolts + 1/2 turn and the leak is gone.
A.J.

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2006 Corvette
1981 Spider 2000 (sold 2013 - never should have sold that car)

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WYSpider
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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby WYSpider » Wed Jul 06, 2016 7:47 pm

aj81spider wrote:I had that exact problem and it was the valve covers. Make sure you haven't torqued your valve covers down too tightly (they will warp - ask me how I know). I also had an issue where I had the cork valve cover gaskets - those leaked as well. Switched to rubber gaskets, finger tight on the valve cover bolts + 1/2 turn and the leak is gone.
Jon Logan did rebuilt with rubber gaskets. I have some laying around. I'll replace them, torque to your specs and keep my finger's crossed!

BammBamm
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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby BammBamm » Fri Jul 29, 2016 2:09 pm

I had the same thing happen but it was the seal on the oil filler cap. only at high rpm would it leak.
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WYSpider
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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby WYSpider » Wed Oct 12, 2016 1:42 pm

Not the oil filer cap gasket or the valve/cam cover gaskets. Pulled the covers, placed them on a flat surface, and used a feeler gauge around them. Don't think they're warped.

Time to power wash the engine again...

klweimer
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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby klweimer » Thu Oct 13, 2016 8:14 am

You might check your crankcase ventilation system. Possible pressurizing of the crankcase forcing out oil? Check head bolt torques? You might run a compression test to see if anything looks funny there.
Kirk

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WYSpider
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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby WYSpider » Fri Oct 14, 2016 10:46 am

Thanks Kirk, those are all good ideas.

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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby seabeelt » Mon Oct 24, 2016 1:23 pm

+1 on the bypass pressure. If you pull the hose off the air breather, you should get some air and noise from the hose. If not most likely the flame retardant wire mesh thing is plugged up
Michael and Deborah Williamson
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WYSpider
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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby WYSpider » Thu Nov 10, 2016 9:47 pm

Flame retardant wire mesh is clear.

Did the dye / black light combo tonight. Looks like it's the front cam seal on the exhaust side. A new area to learn about. :)

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WYSpider
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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby WYSpider » Tue Apr 11, 2017 6:10 pm

Looks like the existing front seal behind the cam wheel is red rubber/hard plastic. This was installed by Jon Logan several years back and now it's leaking. Is this a common front seal?
http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u48 ... kysno4.jpg

Here are the ones I got from AR:
http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u48 ... 0lyn8s.jpg
http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u48 ... dqfyjf.jpg

So the question is: can I install the AR cam seals without removing the cam housing?

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Re: 4th of July Engine Fun

Postby aj81spider » Wed Apr 12, 2017 10:28 am

I changed my exhaust cam seal without pulling the cam housing. I think the intake would be the same. Here's my story

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=26797&p=209556&hilit=cam#p209556

I think I had to pull the radiator to do it but it wasn't that bad a job - I'm pretty much a novice mechanic.
A.J.

1974 Fiat 124 Spider
2006 Corvette
1981 Spider 2000 (sold 2013 - never should have sold that car)


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