burning oil..... but only when stopping fast. | Ford Explorer Forums

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burning oil..... but only when stopping fast.

MARKVII

Member
Joined
February 27, 2005
Messages
12
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0
City, State
Edmonton Alberta
Year, Model & Trim Level
'92 Eddie Bauer
Hey guys, I'm new on the board and really happy be here. I'm also on a Lincoln board for info with my Markvii LSC and I know how valuable your info can be :)
The problem I'm having (well actually two) is/are: 1) ever since removing my catalytic converter a couple of weeks ago I'm noting whenever I brake hard or turn hard I get blue smoke from the tail pipe (A LOT). When it's idling, revved, driving down the street or highway it's fine. 2) for the last 3 years the temp guage goes almost to the end of the scale, stays there for about 4 seconds and drops back to normal. It does this about 1 every 10-15 minutes of running. I've changed the t/stat and even thought it might be intake gaskets so I changed them but still the same. When I leave the rad cap off there are always bubbles coming to the top no matter how long I leave it run.
BTW it is a '92 Eddie Bauer with 285000 km's on it and always maintained top notch.
I'm beggining to think a new engine is all that will fix it but I'm hoping it might be something simpler (read..cheaper!) LOL
Any info or ideas would be appreciated.
 



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Have you done a compression check on your motor?
 






I've seen a Crown Vic do this before. It ended up being clogged return ports in the head. When stopping, the oil on top of the head would rush forward and get sucked up through the PCV valve into the throttle body. Check the PCV valve and see if it looks oily.
 






WOW! You guys are fast!!

I haven't done a compression test but when I had the intake off last fall I changed the plugs at that time and they were all good, didn't really even have to change them.
The PCV thing almost sounds logical, I'll have to give that a look.

OH YEAH, one thing I forgot to mention. This thing pings like crazy and I have to use premium fuel and when it's hot out and I'm pulling my boat I have to add octane boost. There are NO mods on this engine, all stock.
 












Well, actually blue smoke is oil... black smoke is running rich and I am using premium fuel already with worse results as I go down in grades... Sorry but thanks for the thoughts :)
 






lonestar said:
I've seen a Crown Vic do this before. It ended up being clogged return ports in the head. When stopping, the oil on top of the head would rush forward and get sucked up through the PCV valve into the throttle body. Check the PCV valve and see if it looks oily.

Can you please inform me more about this issue here, I burn a quart every 375 miles and I never really notice it buring oil and My PCV is very oily.

P.S. I replaced both heads in the last 10,000 miles
 






chances are that it was burning oil the whole time but you did not notice it because the cat was getting rid of the smoke. but yes blue smoke is oil
 






Both burning oil and bubbles in the coolant are signs of a blown headgasket (a $30 part, that takes hours to install). In addition to a compression test, you might want to perform a leakdown test on any cylinders that have lower compression than the others.

A leakdown test injects compressed air into the cylinder while the valves are closed (at TDC), and the air will escape via your problem.

Also, take a look at your plugs, if you have a bad head gasket, there is a chance that one or two may be in significantly worse shape than the others.
 






as far as pinging, clean your mas airflow sensor. that should fix all your pinging prolblems. i would also take a good look at the spark plugs they will tell you what is going on
 






If you're running high octane to counteract pinging, you're using a bandade that is making the problem worse. Pinging is often caused by too much carbon buildup in the cylinders, which can be caused by many things including running too high and octane.

Try running a can of Seafoam through the intake. Do a search on here for testamonials/how-tos on Seafoam.
 






My truck did a similar thing with the temp guage oscillating, it'd go way up, you'd hear a funny gurgline noise and it would come back down to normal. A new thermostat and intake gaskets didn't help. Eventually replaced the heater core and it never did it again. Just a thought, and its cheap and easy.
 






that could have just been an air lock that you removed when replacing the core...just a thought.
 






I don't know, I tried really hard to bleed all the air out of the system on several occaisions. But either way for 20 bucks and 20 mins of work I was happy.
 






MARKVII said:
1) ever since removing my catalytic converter a couple of weeks ago

Well that right there is enough to make your truck run poorly. Or more poorly than it was already. If you have a bad head gasket, which it sounds like you might, removing the cat will only add to the problems.
 






All good points to follow up on. I will go through them and let you know. Just a point though... my engine runs better with better fuel economy and more power since removing the cat, but your right it probably was burning the oil all along but didn't know it.
I kept the old cat though just in case as it's not plugged and looks in quite good shape.
 






Problem resolved!!

Well, found out today what's been happening with my temp spiking, oil burning and pinging problem!! I have a cracked head and a badly worn valve guide! I goes from the valve spring area down part way into the water jacket into the combustion chamber!! Not only is it sucking oil into the combustion chamber throught the guide but it's also creating a vacum leak which causes pinging and when the casting heats and cools it let's compression into the cooling system causing it to spike in temp and push antifreeze out. Oh, and the worn guide is at the front of the block so when stopping quickly more oil rushes to the front and gets sucked in through the guide.
I found a cheap used engine I'm dropping in this week and I'll overhaul the original one and put it back in later. I'm going to port and polish the heads but what else can I do to boost power? Any thoughts??
 






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