Whoops... Ran my Festy with too much oil...

[93L]

I accidentally added about a quart too much oil during my last oil change. :nono:

Didn't realize I had done so and promptly handed the keys to my '93 L 5spd over to my mom to take the car to the pharmacy a mile or so away.

An hour later or so she calls me from her mobile, saying that she had pulled over due to the car not running correctly and white smoke coming out from under the hood. :cry_smile:

It didn't take me long to realize that I had refilled with too much oil during my last oil change. I released some excess oil, however the car is still not running well at all. It starts fine, idles fine, has good oil pressure and does not overheat. I let it idle for about 15 minutes after correcting the oil issue and noticed after it first started a fine white smoke coming out of the exhaust. After a little while (10 minutes or so) the white exhaust smoke was only a small puff every now and then.

I thought at this point the car was OK and took it for a test drive down my street. My poor Festy had basically no power at all and could barely make it back home. Still idling fine etc.

What have I done to my poor car? It was running flawlessly before this.

TIA

93L

[kayweb]

Pull your spark plugs, check for fouling.

[moz]

Sounds like a head gasket or cracked head.
My old car did almost exactly what you're describing on 3 different occasions.
1st time was a cracked head, 2nd and 3rd time it was a broken head gasket between cyl 2 and 3.
Easiest way to tell I to do a compression test or open the radiator cap (when car is cold), let the car idle and see if you can see bubbles foaming up at the radiator.

There might be other causes to your problem, but I can't think of them right now. See if anyone else jumps in

[93L]

Pull your spark plugs, check for fouling.

Not sure what fouling is, however I have already replaced the spark plugs today and it didn't help at all.

Sounds like a head gasket or cracked head.
My old car did almost exactly what you're describing on 3 different occasions.
1st time was a cracked head, 2nd and 3rd time it was a broken head gasket between cyl 2 and 3.
Easiest way to tell I to do a compression test or open the radiator cap (when car is cold), let the car idle and see if you can see bubbles foaming up at the radiator.

There might be other causes to your problem, but I can't think of them right now. See if anyone else jumps in

I just tried the radiator bubbles test and got no bubbles. Thanks for the ideas guys.

[bravekozak]

Ditch the B3 and drop in a B6. Your troubles will disappear. Gentlemen, we have the technology. We can rebuild her. I am not joking. Get on the phone and see who has got a Mazda 323 1.6L engine. Based on the symptoms, I wouldn't waste a minute or one penny trying to figure it out. You will always regret not doing what I just told you.

There's one in Green Bay, Wisconsin and another in Columbia. South Carolina. Where are you located? Your location profile is missing!

Here you go!

[MasterTec]

I'm thinking your catalytic converter may be contaminated with oil. Remove the oxygen sensor at the manifold and take it around the block. Yes it will be VERY LOUD but if you notice a return in power then you have a restricted exhaust.

[blkfordsedan]

What exactly do you mean by "too much oil"? Are we talking 1 quart or 5 quarts over full?

[navdoc101]

He said "about a quart" overfill.

[lessersivad]

I'm thinking your catalytic converter may be contaminated with oil. Remove the oxygen sensor at the manifold and take it around the block. Yes it will be VERY LOUD but if you notice a return in power then you have a restricted exhaust.

I would say this is a good possibilty.

[93L]

I'm thinking your catalytic converter may be contaminated with oil. Remove the oxygen sensor at the manifold and take it around the block. Yes it will be VERY LOUD but if you notice a return in power then you have a restricted exhaust.

I'm going to try this out once I can find an appropriate size wrench that will fit down in there

[Movin]

geeze..have you wiped all the oil out of the air filter and plastic tubes yet?

[muleskinner]

geeze..have you wiped all the oil out of the air filter and plastic tubes yet?

I agree, clean up everything, clean out everything, check the catty.

[93L]

geeze..have you wiped all the oil out of the air filter and plastic tubes yet?

It has a cold air intake/ricer gigantic filter and didn't see any oil in there.

I agree, clean up everything, clean out everything, check the catty.

Going to do this asap and report my findings.

Thanks everyone.

[FestYboy]

I'm thinking your catalytic converter may be contaminated with oil. Remove the oxygen sensor at the manifold and take it around the block. Yes it will be VERY LOUD but if you notice a return in power then you have a restricted exhaust.

bingo

[FestYboy]

I'm going to try this out once I can find an appropriate size wrench that will fit down in there

typicaly 22mm....