Main Seal Leak causing mass smoke?

[GreenLanternSHO]

Hello
As some of you now, my 94 mtx sho has been putting out alot of smoke during heavy acceleration when the engine is warm. My father was a auto mechanic for a good 10 years, not including all of the other projects he has done on his own time, and he seems to think that the main seal is bad, and oil is dripping down onto one of the cats or part of the exhaust and thats what causes the smoke.. the oil burning on the hot exhaust. Is this a possibility? As i said, my father is smart when it comes to engines, but he has never worked with a sho motor so any help would be muchly appreciated
NOTE: We have basically ruled out the oil pressure sender or piston rings as the guilty party

 

[SHOtimer]

Well, it depends on where the smoke is coming out from. If it is coming out of the exhaust itself then it isn't the front main. If it is coming from out from under the car, then it could be a possibility. The smoke from the main seal is most often noticed at idle at a stop, since it can rise then obviously. But, it is not enough to produce a noticeable amount out from under the car while accelerating unless the seal is totally gone... Some higher mileage SHO motors just do that, does it hurt performance, is it running well?

Doug

 

[GreenLanternSHO]

Well, When I had no pipes on it, it was still doing the same thing. The performance doesnt seem to be that bad but, it had this problem when i bought it a couple of weeks ago. Im just hoping its not piston rings so i dont have to tear it apart.

 

[sho_bc]

my car has a slow oil loss and mild smoke when stopped after being run for a while. definately oil burning on the cats (smell is horribly obvious). i'm going to be changing out the front main seal (w/ some help from a few guys up here) fairly soon. while in there changing it, if you have the time, you may as well do the cps, waterpump, acces. and timing belts. not too much extra time i think. lol, if you feel like waiting a month or two, i'll let you know.

 

[Dr. Tweak]

Yes, it could be the front main seal, it could also be one of the camshaft seals.

They guide to changing them is on my website, http://www.shophoenixproject.com/

 

[GreenLanternSHO]

just a note, my oil consumption is probably 300 miles to the quart

 

[Gen2Gen3WhatNxt]

Could this potentially catch the car on fire? say if it is driping oil fairly steady.
This is the problem that made me put my 94 in storage. I really dident want to be driving around and then !be on fire!

Im thinking about takeing it into the ford dealer, what do you think they will Quote someone for that main seal job?

 

[Dr. Tweak]

$1000

LOL

Why take it to them? Take it to someone else, the Ford dealer doesn't know any more about SHOs than a good mechanic...

 

[sho_bc]

$1000

LOL

Why take it to them? Take it to someone else, the Ford dealer doesn't know any more about SHOs than a good mechanic...

yeah, about there . figuring for ~$80/hr shop time, ~8hrs (depends on how slowly/quickly they work), some extra stuff that you don't need or parts they break..... you know the routine. or you can do it yourself. take a day or two when you don't need to drive anywhere, and do it then.

 

[GreenLanternSHO]

yea, the smoke is seriously that bad.. When i get on it the only thing i can see from my rear view mirror is a cloud of smoke, a main seal job would be much cheaper to do on your own a motocraft main seal couldnt cost more than 50 dollars id say probably around 25, and its not that hard of a job, but then again my father used to be a mechanic so..its all good

 

[sho_bc]

front main seal is $7. its the labour that makes it cost so much. its a royal pain to get to the seal.

as i said earlier, you might as well do the cps, timing belt etc while you're there (unless they've all been done recently) to save yourself the trouble of having to take it all apart again.