Oil everywhere!

[watermellon]

I need help. I was driving my '93 Festiva and it stalled after driving about a block. I restarted it and it stalled again. I then noticed oil streaking up the hood from the front of the car. I lifted the hood and there was oil everywhere. I was more concentrated on the driver's side but there was also oil on the drivebelt, spark plugs, on top of the engine, and even on the grille and from there dripping onto the bumper.

I dunno, does all that oil mean my car is kaput? Or does it mean a ring is gone, or the oil pump broken, or gasket shot? I have no idea! I'm not a mechanic, but i do like trying to fix my car it I can. If anyone can give me any advice I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Is the oil fill cap still in? Dipstick?

 

[watermellon]

Yes, the oil filler cap is on and is tight, and the dipstick is in place.

 

[Joe Dirt]

I'd check the oil filter bung to see if something let loose, then probably move on to the pan and block for something that may have extricated itself.

 

[watermellon]

It's been raining every evening since my last post and I hadn't any time to work on my festy. Well today I cleaned up the engine again and drove it a few blocks. I then lifted the hood and there was quite a bit of oil that had leaked out from the valve cover and was sprayed about by the fan. The valve cover gasket leaked a lot of oil, you could see where it was running out, then traveling down to the plugs, transmission, drive belt, and other areas. On that short 5 - 6 block round trip, there was even oil on the fan shroud...I assume it got there by the spray caused by the radiator fan.

I'll attempt replacing the valve cover gasket tomorrow since its forcast and supposed to rain anytime now.

My fesitva is fuel injected. Is there any special precautions I should take when I replace the gasket? I've never done one before and I'll be relying on my Hayne's manual. It can be pretty vague at times and the pictures aren't always the best. So if anyone has any tips, I'll read and use them. Thanks

 

[watermellon]

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I installed a new gasket and drove the car a few times. I never went over 60km/hr and the gasket never leaked. It seemed like everything was OK. THEN...

Today its LEAKING AGAIN! I was on the highway and the car felt somewhat sluggish at around 80km/h (about 50 mph). I pulled over and sure enough the valve cover gasket was leaking and oil had been splattered all around. I was able to drive the car home at 50km/h.

The manual said to torque the bolts 44-80 inch pounds. I torqued them at 65. I'm not sure but could the problem be that I didn't torque them tight enough OR could there be another problem? Do I have to remove the gasket and re-clean the valve cover and then replace the gasket with a new one OR can I just try retightening the bolts without replacing the gasket?

 

[rookieshooter]

I had a problem like that a few weeks ago. Oil everywhere, but it was not the valve cover.
The large vacuum line to the PCV valve located in the valve cover was loose around the side that goes to the carburetor. So the engine was not breathing right and built up all this pressure and blew out oil everywhere. Check the PCV by taking it out and shaking it and listen for the check valve to rattle. If no rattle replace, then make sure all the associated lines from the valve are tight with no leaks. I have a feeling this is your problem.

 

[watermellon]

thanks, I'll check that out.

 

[Turdle]

First!!!!
Check the compression on all cylinders. I suspect huge amounts of blow-by, and no compression on at least one of them. Do this before spending another penny on the car.

 

[watermellon]

It's been a while but I finally tackled my festiva again. I didn't do the compression test yet though.

I removed, cleaned, and re-installed the valve cover gasket. Replaced the pcv valve with a new one, checked and cleaned the hose attached to the pcv valve and checked and cleaned the other long larger diameter hose leading from the v.c. to down the backside of the engine. I also cleaned the 2 small short hoses that connect the large air vent to the v.c.. And I replaced the oil filler cap with a new one.

After everything was put together the v.c. gasket still leaked a little bit. Also there was oil in the large air vent that connects to the air filter chamber. There was also some oil in those short hoses that go from the large air vent to the v.c. And there was some oil sitting at the mouth of the throttle body.

Well, I think its time to do what Turdle said..."check the compression". I haven't done it yet because I wanted to try the other things first AND more importantly I've never done a compression test before. It sounds intimidating. But... it has to be done. Can anyone direct me to a "how to" sticky for doing a compression test?


Curious. Joe Dirt, you said check the oil filter bung. What's that? Is that the rubber seal on the oil filter? If that's that, I did check to see if the oil filter was leaking. And it's not. Its tight and dry. If it's something else I'll check it. thanks.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Your thread was moved into the Ford/Lincoln/Mercury section. The Technician Corner section has a thread on testing compression.

 

[Turdle]

Take out the spark plugs.
screw the compression gauge tip into the #1 spark plug hole

crank engine over until the gauge jumps about 5-6 times.

record the reading-

release the pressure on the gauge, remove, and repeat for the remaining cylinders.

 

[rookieshooter]

Just curious, you mentioned that the VC leaked a little bit. Is this now less then it did before? And the oil that you found in the hoses and vent, was this cleaned out before you replaced the parts or is this just residual oil that was there from before you replaced part? If it was all cleaned before and there is still oil then the problem is not fixed. Or could it be fixed and this is just old oil but you still need a valve cover gasket?
Sounds like something is better?

Or in other words is it as bad now when driving as in your OP?

I need help. I was driving my '93 Festiva and it stalled after driving about a block. I restarted it and it stalled again. I then noticed oil streaking up the hood from the front of the car. I lifted the hood and there was oil everywhere. I was more concentrated on the driver's side but there was also oil on the drivebelt, spark plugs, on top of the engine, and even on the grille and from there dripping onto the bumper.

 

[watermellon]

Before I replaced the v.c. gasket (first time), the oil was leaking quite bad. Real bad in fact...it was even leaking at idle speed. Now it only leaks when I get up to highway speed. And yes, I did clean the air vent and tubes before replacing the gasket. After driving it at highway speed for about 5kms there was a little puddle sitting on the lip of the air filter housing and the air vent tube had oil in it as did the hoses coming off of it. The accordian portion of the air vent tube had little puddles in every "valley".

 

[Joe Dirt]

The bung would basically be the threaded doohickey that you screw the oil filter onto. I had a neighbor that had one leaking on his Festiva. Don't know if it was a doubled-up o-ring on the filter or the assembly being loose/compromised, etc., but he replaced it and it was fine after that. Just a thought...