96 4.0L motor prob

[MartyD]

OK, I need some help. I have a 96 Sport 4x4 with about 126k on it. About 5-6 weeks ago (maybe 1.1k miles) I had an oxy sensor changed b/c my check engine light was on. When I got it back friom the dealer and drove it home the check engine light came on again! I took it back and they told me there was a 12% compression loss in the #2 cyl, and the reason it had not triggered the light before was an upgrade to the computer program (sounded like dealership b/s to me). They also claim not to be able to tell me where the compression loss is without tearing the motor down. There is no noticable water or oil loss, and the truck only blosw a little more white smoke than usual on start up on a COLD morning (which i havent had since right after this happened). The motor idles a bit rough and hesitates when it's cold, but runs pretty good once it's warm except for o bit of power loss. I'm driving it back and foerth to work now, but dont trust it on a longer trip as the check engine light stays on and I wouldn't know if there was ANOTHER problem. The dealership wanted to put in a new motor for $5K (more dealership b/s!!). I just want to fix what ever is wrong. Can anyone offer suggestions on where I should go from here? I'll have to have almost any major work done, as I have some health probs and can't do heavy duty wrenching anymore .

 

[Alec]

Take it to another dealer.

Sounds like a head gasket to me.

 

[MartyD]

TY Alec, that was one of my guesses too. I've had trouble with the service dept.s in the 2 Ford dealerships closest to me, so I guess I need to extend my range a bit. (Btw, my other guess was a exhaust valve). Does everybody agree with Alec's diagnosis (my guess is they will ). TY everybody for all help rendered!!

 

[Alec]

Keep in mind that's a "best guess" at this point.

 

[raginraj]

Check around locally for a shop that works on Ford's but isn't in anyway tied to the FordMoCo. A kinda mom & pop operation where you can trust the mechanics to be good honest people. I know it can be hard to belive such places still exist but they are out there... and it's not just in Podunk, U.S.A. The best bet is if you know someone at the shop personally or you can drop a name which will make you more than just the average customer.

Good luck.

 

[pmcmaster]

If youve got a low compression you put a couple of spoonfuls of oil in the cylinder, run the compression test again, if the compression comes up better for a few seconds then its rings. Water in sump oil= head gasket leak to oil drainage well. Engine boils up =head gasket leak to cooling system. Else could be burnt valve. If you get smoke when you open throttle up then prob rings. If you get smoke when you let throttle off then can be worn valve guides or knacked valve stem seals.
Best of luck.

 

[MartyD]

I don't really get any smoke, and have seen no evidince of water contamination in the oil. If I can I'm gonna pull the plug out of that cylinder and see if it show sighn of fouling. I don't know if the dealership ever really did a compression test. They got the compression loss from a computer code. I really appreciate all those who have offered help on this so far, and would also appreciate any further input on this problem. TY

 

[MartyD]

Thanks to those of you that tried to help me with this this. I FINALLY broke down and took it to a local shop. I was close to right, I had a bad INTAKE valve, also one of the heads was cracked. It wasn't cheap but it's fixed now and runs good. Toward the end of the period when I was driving it with the problems unresolved it developed a whine that increases with speed. It grows to pretty much of a roar at interstate speeds. Still trying to track this one down...
If it's not one thing it's another, ah well...