Overheating, Oil in plug wells WTF!!!?

[shooff2332]

I was driving my 91 yesterday, when i went to mash on the gas there was no response. About a quarter of a mile later it stalled and i coasted to a stop. Mind you the whole time the temp guage NEVER went past half way. The engine was extremely hot and would not restart. There was also smoke/steam coming from the back/passenger side under the hood - right where the front passenger side strut is. I got it towed home and popped the hood. We got the engine cooled off and it started i then put coolant in - which seemed like alot, but the radiator was not leaking. It was idling really rough, like it was missing. So what the **** i thought, i looked under the hood to check the plug wires and sure enough 3 plug wires had been blown off the top of the plug, 2 in the front and 1 in the back. The 2 in the front had oil in the well, so i pulled the wire off the 3rd plug in the front and there was oil in that well too. When i pushed the wire back onto the plugs and restarted it, it ran and idled perfect - like there was nothing wrong with it. I am thinking valve cover seals? It is going into the shop tomorrow - i just want to get an idea of what i am expecting or what/why this happened. Thanks

 

[hawkeye18]

Sure sounds like you blew out valve cover seals. Why is another question. The smoke may have been oil dripping/pouring onto the cats and smoking up. You will want to check your oil. You may be low... as for why you blew out the seals... I'm really at a loss. Maybe somebody that knows a little more about engines?

 

[shooff2332]

Yeah i think your right about the oil. I checked my oil and i was a quart and a half low. That would definately explain the smoking. I dont know either how or why i blew the valve cover seals, let alone the boot for the plugs actually getting blown off the plug? Maybe the seals were just bad and/or worn out as i think they have never been changed, i bought the car in march of 07 and the guy said the 60k maintenance was never done. The car has 82000 ACTUAL miles. Does anybody have an idea how much this is going to cost me to get the valve cover seals fixed?

 

[hawkeye18]

well, in order to replace the valve seals (~$70-80 at advance auto), you have to take the intake off (.5-1 hr), take the valve covers off (.5-1 hr), install seals, replace valve covers, replace intake. All told, it took me about 4 hours to do it myself the first time with hand tools. It took about 2.5-3 the second time. If you have a shop do it, I'd be looking at around $300 in labor. I guess. I've never taken mine to a shop!

 

[WILL SHO U]

It is way cheaper to DIY im no SHO-Genius, but the shop wanted $200 (average from 4 diff shops!) to change a crank pulley, all said and done it took less than 30 min and $15 deposit on the puller. All-in-all I would do it yourself. SHO Phoenix Project has a great guide for the Valve cover seals, heres the link: http://www.shophoenixproject.com/upper60k/upper60k.htm.



P.S. Might as well do the plugs and wires while your in there.

 

[hawkeye18]

p.s. you might as well check the valve lash while you're in there... do the whole upper 60K and sleep better at night.

A clogged PCV system, or what passes for a PCV system, will cause your engine to blow seals out at full throttle. If your valve cover seals were the weakest ones, then ****... just be glad it wasn't a rear main seal! ...but you might want to check all your seals while you're at it, make sure you didn't blow any others out!

Spray engine with engine cleaner 'til it's nice 'n clean, take a drive... observe where oil leaks. let us know if there is any.