Issues with New Surf Blue Car

[bolokid]

So during Madness this year a 91 Surf Blue came up for sale in my area. The seller stated that the car had issues but it looked too good to pass up so I bought it sight unseen.

Issue #1 is blow by. The engine has a major amount of blue by, so much that the intake hose from the air filter to the throttle body has so much oil in it that I was able to "pour" it out. I pulled the PCV valve and it rattles freely but I cleaned it anyway. I took a compression check and each cylinder was 140-150. I squirted oil in each cylinder and did a second compression check which resulted in a gain of 2 pounds in each cylinder.

What should I look at next?


Issue #2 is that the car drives along fine for 15+ minutes and then quits. It just dies, no missing, no sputtering it just dies. If it sits 15-20 minutes it will start back up and run like a champ until it decides to die again. I swapped out the coil and associated parts (ICM and little black square) with one that is known to be good. It still warms up and quits.

The last time it quit the friend who was there to tow me pulled the coil wire and shorted it out as I attempted to start the car. There was no spark coming out of the coil.

Distributor?

Thanks.

[ryanprins13]

Issue #1 is blow by. The engine has a major amount of blue by, so much that the intake hose from the air filter to the throttle body has so much oil in it that I was able to "pour" it out. I pulled the PCV valve and it rattles freely but I cleaned it anyway. I took a compression check and each cylinder was 140-150. I squirted oil in each cylinder and did a second compression check which resulted in a gain of 2 pounds in each cylinder.

What should I look at next?



Thanks.

Clean out the intake tubing and manifold with seafoam or throttle body cleaner. Then you can make a block vent like i did which is a lot of work.
or buy an oil seperator, charlie has talked about them in other threads
Use a catch can which is a poor choice in cooler months.
Get rid of the pcv system and just run hoses down below the car so the oil blows onto the road.

However- thats good compression for that much blow by. That could just be years worth of buildup? Its also very odd that your compression didnt increase more with the oil. Perhaps the valve stem seals are leaking.
If you are able to do a leak down test you will be able to find where the blowby is happening. With that compression test i doubt its the rings. If its the valve stem seals then they are fairly easy to replace and the problem is solved.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[bravekozak]

Remove valve cover.
Remove baffle plate from valve cover.
Post a picture.
Clean if blocked.

The standard.
You can see the twisty path the air has to travel to get from the intake hole to the PCV valve.

[91green]

So during Madness this year a 91 Surf Blue came up for sale in my area. The seller stated that the car had issues but it looked too good to pass up so I bought it sight unseen.

Issue #1 is blow by. The engine has a major amount of blue by, so much that the intake hose from the air filter to the throttle body has so much oil in it that I was able to "pour" it out. I pulled the PCV valve and it rattles freely but I cleaned it anyway. I took a compression check and each cylinder was 140-150. I squirted oil in each cylinder and did a second compression check which resulted in a gain of 2 pounds in each cylinder.

What should I look at next?


Issue #2 is that the car drives along fine for 15+ minutes and then quits. It just dies, no missing, no sputtering it just dies. If it sits 15-20 minutes it will start back up and run like a champ until it decides to die again. I swapped out the coil and associated parts (ICM and little black square) with one that is known to be good. It still warms up and quits.

The last time it quit the friend who was there to tow me pulled the coil wire and shorted it out as I attempted to start the car. There was no spark coming out of the coil.

Distributor?

Thanks.

Not certain about the first issue but second issue sounds like the distributor , had same issue with my first festiva would run till it got warm and then just die. Let it sit for 30 mins and would start no problem.

[bravekozak]

I searched on Google for "engine dies when warm".

This guy thinks it's the ignition coil.
Cool the coil only and see if it starts.
Put a freezer CoolPak against it, or blow compressed air on it.

This guy thinks it's the fuel.
Loosen your fuel cap and see if it stays running when warm.
Inexpensive test.

Make sure your engine grounds are clean and tight.

[bhazard]

Swap the dizzy

[bolokid]

I will pull the valve cover and look to make certain nothing is plugged.

I will swap in another distributor to confirm that is the problem. Is there anyway to replace "whatever it is" that goes out in the distributor?

Ice pack on the coil is easy to do and a good suggestion.

I will keep you posted on progress.

[Rick the Quick]

Sounds like my '93. The distributor would be my guess as to it dying. I replaced mine with a $25 junkyard item and that fixed the problem. It will be much easier and quicker to replace the distributor then attempting to repair it. As for the smoking......I replaced the pvc, cleaned the baffle in the cam cover and replaced the valve stem seals to no avail. I tried to bypass the pvc system and ran a vent directly under the car just like my '60 Chevy did and it made no difference. BTW the compression readings were all decent with #3 being a little low. I don't remember the exact figures. I even pulled the head to replace the head gasket as I suspected a leak between an oil gallery passage to cylinder #3 combustion chamber. I did find that #3 cylinder was .020" oversize. The tip off was a symbol (diamond) stamped on the deck of the block and a corresponding symbol stamped on the piston top. I got out the diigital calipers and measured and to my surprise #3 was bored oversize. The cylinder walls all looked good with no scoring. I checked the head for straigtness and all was well. I put it back together and once again no change. I even suspected stuck piston rings because I had been told the car had sat for several years. On two occasions I drove 'er til she was good and hot, pulled the plugs and squirted either Seafoam or Marvel Mystery oil into the cylinders and let it sit 24 hours, again to no avail. In my opinion the only thing that could have caused it to smoke as bad as it did was oil control rings. An engine can have good compression but it also needs functioning oil control rings to scrape the excess oil off the cylinder walls. Looking at the spark plugs and combustion chamber I suspected #3 was the culprit. I am amazed that 1 bad cylinder could create the smokiest car I have ever owned or maybe have ever seen and let me mention the fact I have been driving since 1972.....LOL. Did I ever figure out? No, I came across a '91 Capri XR2 and yanked the B3 out. All I need is the time and money to finish it correctly. Good luck on your '91.