oil leaks and compression readings?

[spec]

My 91GL with 168k miles on it leaks oil like a sieve. I'm not sure where it's leaking from, because the fan blows it all around the engine bay. With it now clean I should be able to see, but is there any common areas to look. I don't think its a valve cover gasket, but it does look like its more on the drivers side... even the battery gets oil on it!

BTW. I did a vaccum test on it, and it holds steady at 22 inches. Tomorrow I'll do a compression test... what's a good reading to get with these 1.3l engines.

[FestivaBiker1971]

sounds like a head gasket. ruptured oil feed passage. outside corner of the block. good reading? 95-125 psi w/ the throttle blocked open. higher is ok. more importantly, are all cylinders within 10percent of one another

[spec]

hmmm... how is doing a head gasket on these? They look pretty simple, but looks can be decieving!

[FestivaBiker1971]

if you can change a timing belt, you can do a head gasket on an EFI festy. don't remove the intake or exhaust maniflods from the head. just disconnect the exhaust pipe and connections to the intake, remove timing belt and valve cove (may require tb removal), drain coolant and disconnect hoses, remove head bolts, and, wha-la! remove head and maniflods as an assembly, clean all surfaces, install new gasket and reassemble. most important part, TORQUE ALL FASTENERS! WITH A TORQUE WRENCH! NO GUESSING! otherwise, head can distort, ruining head and causing more leaks. check your distributor seal first, the o-ring may just be dried out and cracked.

[spec]

that doesn't sound bad at all.. although Id rather not have to change it at all. Anyway, who makes a good head gasket (kit) for this engine. I see felpro is a lot more then others!

[FestivaBiker1971]

felpro is worth the money. i've never liked mccord, victor, or detroit. felpro is an oem for ford (so is victor, but that explains alot of leaks recently).

[spec]

Here are some surprising compression readings!

1: 215psi
2: 100
3: 125
4: 150

2,3 and 4 I can see, but how the hell can #1 be that far over 200? And I did it with two seperate guages twice. Vaccum is still a steady 22"s.

Any ideas?

[aithanmier]

while your at it put a new head on it. rebuilt ones on ebay are like $100. if your car has 168k you might as well. i have no clue about that compression reading though.

[Festy46]

It's possible you may have a heavily carboned engine and the valves are leaking on 3 cylinders and only one is holding all the compression. Did you hold the throttle wide open and do the same number of revolutions of the engine for each cylinder check? Try pouring about 2 tablespoons of clean engine oil in each of the low cylinder's' spark plug holes. Do the compression check again. If the compression comes up by at least 20 lbs. or more, your rings are bad. If the compression doesn't change the valves are bad or you could possibly have a leaking head gasket.
John

[darkdan]

If the wet test makes it go up then it may not be bad rings, but just dirty rings.

a piston soak with lube control from www.lubecontrol.com or using www.auto-rx.com may help.

If they're physically damaged or worn...sorry.

[FestivaBiker1971]

i agree with John, sounds like #1 is heavily carboned. Do what he recommended, adding two tablespoons of oil into each cylinder and retest. Ha shte car been sitting for a long time? If so, then the rings could very possibly be stuck (like mine were, 4 years under a tree). If this just started recently on a running vehicle, I seriously doubt its stuck rings, but anything is possible. And Dan, sorry, no offense, I don't buy into the snake oils some folks sell (ZMax, Slick50). I have no idea what the quality is of the two products you recommended, but that's only because I've never used them. I prefer a 50/50 mix of Mercon ATF and WD40 (I know what's in them). Fill your cylinders with that, and let it sit overnight. leave the plugs out, crank it to get the oil out (it will shoot everywhere so put rags over the holes), put the plugs back in and drive the piss out of it. It'll smoke like a freight train for about 5-10 miles. Drive it hard till it gets to operating temp, then park it and shut it off. Let it cool down and recheck you compression. To clean up carbon on the piston/cylider head combustion faces, I mix up 3 quarts of HOT water (boiling if you can get it, helps emulsion) and a quart of ATF. Shake this vigorously, should look like a strawberry milkshake. Start the car, hold it @2500rpm, pull off a small vacuum hose (you'll need to extend it before you start) and stick in the 'special sauce'. Let it suck all of that through, shut it off, let it get cold. Drive the piss outta it later. Inside of the combustion chambers are always clean and shiny! Chances are though, you need some serious repairs.

[darkdan]

auto-rx is made from organic esters. Esters are wonderful little detergents. Esters are additives in synthetic motor oils like AMSOIL, Mobil1, Red Line, and Royal Purple.

Auto-RX gently cleans engines. Especially ring packs and bearing journals. I've used it on several cars and so has VaderSS from this board.

Lube Control is a light solvent and an anti-oxidate. I haven't used it yet, but I do use Fuel Power (their fuel system treatment which is wonderful).

Both sound like snake oil, but I can find 100 guys that will back me up that they work. If you'd like to know more or read about it all day long you can check out the forums at www.bobistheoilguy.com Including several tribologists and Terry Dyson (the foremost expert in used oil analysis).

ATF is rich in disperants, but light in detergents. It also has no solvency to remove and dissolve carbon.

If a piston soak or PCV system cleaning needs to be done with OTC products I'd recommend seafoam. I used to use it all the time before I started using fuel power. It will free stuck ring packs (not completely clean them like auto-rx and maybe lube control). It will also dissolve carbon on the tops of the pistons if using the either method.

If you do a piston soak be sure to change the oil afterwards.

Don't expect miracles, physical damage is very likely.

[FestivaBiker1971]

Cool! Thanks Dan. That's why I like this place. I can always get an education.

[darkdan]

The thing though is a piston soak is an overnight thing.

AutoRX is a 6500 mile commitment. =)

Piston soaks work, but I wouldn't use atf+wd40. I'd use either LC or Seafoam ( www.seafoamsales.com )

[spec]

I'll try the seafoam, but I'm also going to try retorqing the head. Not sure if that'll make a difference, but what can I lose (for the oil leak).