Oil on Spark Plug tip

Deathacus · Sep 22, 2025

Welp, buck me. Those Satandamn cylinder 5 exhaust spring keepers. Just yeeted themselves across the driveway. Like, they wern't under spring tension or anything. They. Just. Bucking. Jumped.
Wasted a hole hour looking for those sons of bitches, they arn't anywhere on the frame that I could see. Magnet didn't pick them up from the gravel. My sore back and bruised ribs hurting worse now. What the Buck?!?!?!?!
Now what?

luigisho · Sep 22, 2025

Verify with local Ford dealer if this part is correct. I just did a quick part # search. If so, they are cheap and in the supply chain.

E1FZ-6518-A

Deathacus · Sep 27, 2025

Hmm. Do the actual valves need compression to seal? Like, if it gets pressed down a little while doing the springs, will it not seal again without the cylinder making compression?
I've got my leak down guage hooked up but cylinder 6 is showing like, 60% leakage. I havn't had the springs off yet but have tapped them with a hammer, they might have been on the intake stroke when I took the cams off but I don't remember.

Deathacus · Feb 25, 2026

Aww jeez. Has it been this long since I touched this? First time she's missed CiderFest.
Is there anything else I should look for while I'm in there? Like, is there a way to know if the valve guides or the springs are bad or out of place? Like, should I be able to wiggle the valve stem in the guide at all? I know they arnt known to be a big problem but I like pouring all my OCD into this

I keep having wierd swings between being paranoid that I'm gonna make a good motor worse and believing things are gonna be fine even if I try to screw it up.

Deathacus · Mar 15, 2026

Getting the last few now. Putting my stethescope on one of the exhaust valves and hward the tinniest of hiss. Granted, I did break theseal and push it down when trying to take off the spring with 30lb from the compressor, but i juiced it up to over 100lb and was able to get it to stay closed (a first). I'm also concerned with of the buckets. I'm conused about the "service limit" as listed in the book:
Diameter (std.) 31.970-31.994mm
Clearence to bore .024-.036mm
Service Limit .07mm
One of the buckets measured ~31.960-~31.980 in the middle, but towards the top was as low as 31.940. Would that be considered OK? I don't have a tool to measure the clearence but I did measure the diameter with a Harbor Freight caliper and it....is smaller than the bucket. Okay, either my tool is crap or typical Ford is defying the laws of physics again.

Kindof in a hurry to finish this as I got two weeks to get it inspected, the muffler is still in the trunk, and now my Kia has a dying starter. I need a drink.

At least one of the seals was in fact tearing apart so I guess I did justify doing this crap.

Update: Heard that hissing, albeit quiter on the intake valves of another cylinder

Deathacus · Mar 22, 2026

Does this look bad?

BaySHO Performance · Mar 22, 2026

Deathacus said:
Does this look bad?

Rod bearings look fine. They would need replacing only if copper is showing through. Camshaft wear OK. That tensioner doesn't look too bad, either. Would need replacing once the rivets are touching the edges of the guide.

Deathacus · Mar 30, 2026

It doesn't start.
She tries to crank but labors a lot, like a dying battery. And that's with a jump starter. Hecc, only had the battery on a trickle charger for what, like 6 moths? Sometimes has a ping or a pop like something is trying to ignite. Inspection runs out in less than 36 hours and the Kia's starter ain't getting any healthier. I'm running on 3 hours of sleep. my knees are sore. I'm just about out of beer. This little pony wasn't wired to deal with this crap.
Now what?

BaySHO Performance · Mar 30, 2026

A trickle charge for 6 months is an awfully long time. If you don't have cables to jump start the car using another battery, remove the battery and take it to a parts store to have it load tested.

Deathacus · Mar 30, 2026

BaySHO Performance said:
A trickle charge for 6 months is an awfully long time. If you don't have cables to jump start the car using another battery, remove the battery and take it to a parts store to have it load tested.

Well, I did try with a 50A jump/charger, as well as dad's truck. Maybe it just didn't like being hooked up to a Chevy?

Jokes aside, the, we'll say 'lumpy' consistency of her struggling didn't quite seem like a battery. Like it wasn't just slow then slower. Erm, I did put a few drops of Seafoam down the intake holes when buttoning her back up, and, I dodn't no wh y Ididth hat?? did I flood it maybe? I tried cranking her for a bit without the CCM fuse (and thus, no fuel) to try to clear her out.
Maybe I shoulda opened with that?

BaySHO Performance · Mar 30, 2026

Gas may have gone bad after 6+ months, especially if you didn't have Stabil fuel stabiliser in it. You might try some fresh gas.

Deathacus · Mar 30, 2026

Well, charged battery didn't work. Can't test it at work because I need to drop it off at the inspectors before the stores open. I did have stabil in the gas, but I can still try adding something fresh. Any other ideas? Time is running out *quick*

Deathacus · Mar 31, 2026

Added some new gas, rerecharged the battery *and* simultaneously jumping her with the Kia. Ooh, she sounds like something, for a brief moment she was running. Not smooth, not fast, but something sure as Celestia was igniting

Deathacus · Mar 31, 2026

She's starting to crank healthier now, but still not starting

Brought the battery to work, Midtronics JDT-1 tester shows 798 CCA and 12.98v, after this morning's experiment.

Deathacus · Apr 2, 2026

Tried to check timing, but my timing light won't fire. Tried to check spark, inline tester is not lighting. Seems like she's struggling to get spark, but I'm still getting the occasional ping while cranking. Especially as soon as I stop cranking. I've checked the grounds going to the DIS, missing one single bolt on one for the front stays, but the crossover bolts are tight and the wire on the rear stay in on.

zoomlater · Apr 2, 2026

Do you have all four screws securing the DIS to to the crossover tube

Deathacus · Apr 2, 2026

Yup. I did just run a test and got codes 111, 211, and 542

I already replaced the crank sensor last year, and she was running just fine before I started this Death forsaken valve seal job. Didn't touch anything down there.

BaySHO Performance · Apr 2, 2026

Try doing the Probst DIS tests. Do you have plenty of heat sink grease on the back of the DIS to stop it overheatng?

Deathacus · Apr 3, 2026

Thanks! Looks like the DIS passed all of those test and still no start tho...

Deathacus · Apr 3, 2026

Going thru the book now, got here:

Key off.
Disconnect Powertrain Control Module (PCM). Inspect for damaged or pushed out pins, corrosion, loose wires, etc. Service as necessary.
Install breakout box, leave PCM disconnected.
Disconnect ICM (Pins 7-12).
Measure resistance between Test Pin 16 at the breakout box and IGN GND circuit at the ICM (Pin 7-12) vehicle harness connector.
I got at least 2000k Ohm on pins 8-12, only pin 7, the ground looked okay. So it seems like a wiring issue? What is the procedure to find this? I have the wire diagrams.

Oil on Spark Plug tip

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