Exhaust sucking air in...oil leaking by cylinder 6 & manifold

[CTroxtell]

Well I got to tinkering with my X trying to figure out whats going on with it and I got to checking things and my exhaust is sucking air in. I can put my hand up to the tailpipe and every few milliseconds its like I am patting it, it sucks air in and from what I've read that is not a good thing. Its ran crappy for a while but the last week its really went south, going uphills is sad...it drops speed and chugs even worse. I pulled plugs 4,5,and 6(the 3 on the driver side) and the 6th cylinder at the back of the engine when I pulled it out has a oily residue on it and you can see oil on the manifold which I don't remember seeing before, the other 2 plugs were a light colored white.

 

[wood1]

When was the last time you did a tune-up? Plugs, wires, fuel and air filter. You may have a bad plug wire, bad plug or just a bad cylinder caused by low compression as it sounds like you have a miss.

It also sounds like the valve cover is leaking right next to that cylinder, that is why there is oil on the plug and exhaust manifold there. The oil runs down on the plug in the cylinder head's plug well and down on the manifold. While you are in there a compression test might tell you something. You need to check all the cylinders and compare them. Post your results.

The hand in front of the tailpipe does't mean much other than maybe you have a miss (dead cylinder) or you are just feeling the individual exhaust pulses from the cylinders when they fire.

 

[CTroxtell]

Plugs and wires were changed about a year ago or so, fuel filter about 9 months ago, air filter...not changed in a couple of years...knocked the little bit of dust out of it. The intake manifold gasket blew around a year or so back so I changed that and the valve cover gaskets. I rented a compression tester from Autozone today, hopefully I'll get off work early enough tomorrow to test the cylinders. About 6 months ago when I pulled the plugs and checked them it was the #5 plug that was wet and it seemed like it was coolant...seems like coolant keeps coming up missing still as I fill up the radiator and the overfill to the cold line and it disappears.

 

[wood1]

As you mentioned #5 cylinder, that indicates a loose lower intake manifold. Try tightening the bolts again. Can be done in about 5 minutes without removing anything.

 

[CTroxtell]

That was what was happening 6 months ago when it was running badly, I checked bolts and everything was tightened to spec now #5 is dry and #6 is wet. The symptoms are really strange as I used to get 350 miles a tank(300+ I remember at least) then it dropped to 300 and now its down to 225-250. Out of the blue it used to run right for a few days and get 300 and it would go right back to poorly running. Used to also pop while under acceleration especially going uphill, when it popped it was like the engine was shut off for just a millisecond. Check engine light comes on and off fairly regular while driving especially while accelerating, codes come up with a 121 - TPS out of self-test range, 124 - TPS voltage higher than expected. I have replaced the TPS when I first got the TPS message.

 

[wood1]

Have you checked your fuel pressure? Popping is usually a lean situation maybe your fuel pump is going out. Not sure what to say about the TPS. You checked the codes lately and that's what you got?

 

[CTroxtell]

Okay...well that would of been nice to of known that night I was coming home and I turned the corner and the fuel pump died on me...so that issue is fixed so that's why I don't hear no more popping. Last time I pulled the codes it keeps pulling the same TPS codes even after I clear them and take it for a test drive, so something isn't playing nicely under the hood.

 

[wood1]

Got a buddy who could lend you his TPS? Or hit a junk yard and grab one. If it claims it's the TPS then change it. Maybe the replacement failed... you can check them with a multimeter. You should search TPS, I read a great thread the other night explaining them in detail.

 

[CTroxtell]

Well I did a compression test...wasn't looking too bad at first then..

Here is the read out

{Firewall}
0 180
160 140
180 120
{Front of truck}

 

[wood1]

Yikes!

You have to pull that head to see what it is. Could be a head gasket but usually if the HG lets go the head cracks on these engines. I very-much doubt that the piston/rings would be bad enough to not give some compression.

I just replaced my heads last week, got them from Clearwater Cylinder Heads on EBay for 175 ea. complete. For that price change the heads rather than try to fix them. I figured it is only a '93... still has lots of good years left in it.

I'd be interested to see what the compression is when you shoot some oil in the cylinder first then take the reading but really, why bother. You will see what the issue is when you pull the head. Hope your piston is intact and it's the head.

 

[CTroxtell]

Well that's about the reaction I was expecting...as I turned the engine over you could see the needle move a little but it wouldn't hold any pressure. In order to see the head I have to pull even more off then the intake manifold don't I? Guess I'm going to be out of work for a bit...is it safe to keep driving it at the moment?

 

[wood1]

To remove the head you will have to remove the lower intake manifold, exhaust manifold, etc. I guess, if you unplug that injector you could drive it. At least then raw fuel wouldn't be running into the exhaust. That will burn out the converter. Certainly isn't going to hurt it any more than driving it before did. At least the engine oil won't be diluted by the raw gas getting past the rings for that cylinder too.

If you could find someone with a boroscope you could make sure that the piston was in good shape at least, then you would know without pulling the cylinder head that you just need new heads...

 

[CTroxtell]

This sounds like its going to be a fun job already, especially the exhaust manifold..I've read that the bolts for it like to break off when trying to remove them. Well I don't know anyone with a boroscope which would be nice. Guess its done fairly good considering its had this problem for over a year, kept trying to figure out why my X wasn't running right.

 

[wood1]

I cut the bolts off at the exhaust flange (cutting torch) leaving the manifolds attached to my heads. The same could be done with a die grinder and cutting disk. I stuck the head in a vice and removed the manifold bolts with an impact gun, I cut the flange studs off flush and drilled them out with cobalt drill bits. Then when I put it together I just used bolts, washers, lock washers on the flanges... no issues, no fuss.

 

[CTroxtell]

Is there any easy way to go about this? I would hate to tear into this and find out something else needs replacing and not have it. 261k plus miles on my X, whats your suggestions? I'm guessing this is my heads and I would need 2 of them? That is $510 with shipping for both of those plus I'm looking at the cost of all new gaskets, I'm just trying to figure out what my best option is. I was concerned with that one cylinder being down to 120. I think my servos in the tranny along with the governor needs replacing on top of this.

 

[wood1]

That's them, a gasket kit, water pump, thermostat, rad hoses, heater hoses. Do both heads. Fix the trans. Tighten the bands, change the fluid/filter, rebuild the VB and replace the governor if it needs to be. It's not an old truck.

 

[CTroxtell]

Any idea on average what this is going to cost? Any special tools I must have? Is this Victor gasket kit a good one? I have sockets, wrenches, universal joints and a few odds and ends. Rear main seal is leaking...looks like exxon valdez when I park in someones driveway (well its leaks a good sized puddle at least). Is this job something I could tackle by myself?

 

[wood1]

You will need a torque wrench, scrapers and general sockets/wrenches.

Rear main requires the removal of the transmission.

Victor Reinz or Fel Pro gaskets are great. You could get Ford but likely you will pay much more. I used Fel Pro.

With the heads, water pump I think I was a bit over $1100 in total.

 

[wood1]

Oh, I also bought a couple cheap scotch pad kits that came with mandrels for a drill. The discs were about 1 1/2", must have been 5 per kit. I used them to clean the block mating surface. Very handy as this surface has to be very clean. You also need a shop vac to clean off the block, pistons, lifter valley.

 

[CTroxtell]

Whats the purpose of the new water pump? Just to ensure your new heads don't get toasted? Did you rebuild your vb within your $1100? Well I have torque wrenches, the shop vac I do not have. Not sure I will be able to pull the tranny by myself, or get it back on once I have it off by myself without a tranny jack.