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Had a 3.1 twist the camshaft in half due to that gasket leaking. Threw misfires for cylinder 1 plus you could physically feel it until it cleared its throat of the coolant that was collecting in the cylinder overnight. Once cleared, it ran just fine. Eventually though, the coolant snaked its way to the cam bearing and seized it. Took me a while to actually figure out that the cam had snapped. Not something that happens every day.
The gasket isn’t THAT hard to replace once you’ve taken it apart. Reassembly is pretty straight forward as long as you don’t have any issues with stubborn bolts/fasteners.
Had a 3.1 twist the camshaft in half due to that gasket leaking. Threw misfires for cylinder 1 plus you could physically feel it until it cleared its throat of the coolant that was collecting in the cylinder overnight. Once cleared, it ran just fine. Eventually though, the coolant snaked its way to the cam bearing and seized it. Took me a while to actually figure out that the cam had snapped. Not something that happens every day.
The gasket isn’t THAT hard to replace once you’ve taken it apart. Reassembly is pretty straight forward as long as you don’t have any issues with stubborn bolts/fasteners.
SOLVED!
It took long enough, but I got it figured out. Ready for the answer? It was the Heater! Confused? Not exactly where you’d want to look, but when it gets cold outside and the heater decided to quit working, I had to figure out what was going on in a hurry…I need that HEAT!
Seems that I never truly understood the vacuum schematic for the vacuum lines for the heater controls, and neither did the guy that installed the V8. I had the vacuum ball hooked up to port that supplies vacuum to the heater control valve, and the heater control valve connected to the vacuum source ( engine ) which apparently was using too large of a vacuum hose. The large vacuum hose allowed the heater control valve to stay open because it was ..leaking vacuum! When I installed the proper sized hose because the original valve had broken and was leaking like a sieve, it closed the valve and turned off my heat. I was scratching my head at that one for a while…I just had heat before I “Fixed” it. Of course, what really had me scratching was the fact that the service engine soon light was coming on and going off randomly, and if I raced the motor under load, I’d start to get heat ( loss of vacuum allowed the valve to open up a little and allow heat to the core ).
Totally a LOL moment. I’m relieved it ultimately ended up being something so simple…but who’d think to look there for a vacuum leak?
SOLVED!
It took long enough, but I got it figured out. Ready for the answer? It was the Heater! Confused? Not exactly where you’d want to look, but when it gets cold outside and the heater decided to quit working, I had to figure out what was going on in a hurry…I need that HEAT!
Seems that I never truly understood the vacuum schematic for the vacuum lines for the heater controls, and neither did the guy that installed the V8. I had the vacuum ball hooked up to port that supplies vacuum to the heater control valve, and the heater control valve connected to the vacuum source ( engine ) which apparently was using too large of a vacuum hose. The large vacuum hose allowed the heater control valve to stay open because it was ..leaking vacuum! When I installed the proper sized hose because the original valve had broken and was leaking like a sieve, it closed the valve and turned off my heat. I was scratching my head at that one for a while…I just had heat before I “Fixed” it. Of course, what really had me scratching was the fact that the service engine soon light was coming on and going off randomly, and if I raced the motor under load, I’d start to get heat ( loss of vacuum allowed the valve to open up a little and allow heat to the core ).
Totally a LOL moment. I’m relieved it ultimately ended up being something so simple…but who’d think to look there for a vacuum leak?
I just found a set of numbers I pulled from freeze frame data you might find interesting/telling_x000D_
_x000D_
PO174_x000D_
TPS% 22.4_x000D_
RPM 2180_x000D_
Load 20.4_x000D_
MAF 5.91_x000D_
MAP 14.8_x000D_
Coolant 145F_x000D_
LTFT 25_x000D_
STFT 0_x000D_
LTFT2 25_x000D_
STFT2 0_x000D_
Speed 73mph_x000D_
_x000D_
( gotta say I’m happy I can chuHave you tried to remove the throttle position sensor to see if it sits all the way flush, or is that with it off already?
Most automotive shops will start you out as a lube tech ( oil changes, etc ) and slowly work you up the system. The best thing you can do for yourself in the mean time is to keep watching videos like Eric’s and Scanner Danners vids, do as much reading on these forums and other types to learn some of the nuances to repairing cars in general.
If you want to impress a potential employer, having a strong grasp of the terminology and a good solid grasp of the type of knowledge one needs to even begin working on cars ( like simply knowing righty tighty, lefty loosey- unless you are a 1960’s Plymouth lug nut )
I’ve actually been looking at cars in that range, up to 2000 dollars. What I’ve found is that you are going to get find cars with an excess of 200k on them but run well still, bad body damage, or some phantom problem the owner doesn’t want to deal with.
Personally, I like the cars that have a potential problem and craigslist ads help the savvy buyer decide whether it’s worth looking at or not.
Here’s things I look for.
If the car is TOO CLEAN, then it means they are trying to cover something up.
If the owner says the fix is only a hundred bucks, then why didn’t they put the money into it and sell it for more?
I’m wary of how an ad is composed when describing a problem. For example, I read one ad that spoke of all the new parts put into the car. The list was an obvious laundry list of parts thrown at the car to fix a larger problem ( Ie. new thermostat, radiator, hoses and they say it needs a new water pump otherwise it’ll overheat in a couple of miles….)
flags go up for an over heated motor, potential head gasket/cracked head issues unless a visual inspection of the car indicates coolant leaking out of the weep holes for the water pump .
I am also wary of any car that is for sale cheap with high miles when the seller doesn’t know anything about the car and is reselling it because they got it “in trade” or whatever other reason that it came into their possession.
Most cars will hit 280-300k if they aren’t smoking, overheating and still produce decent power and have a little maintenance done to them. If the car has a timing belt, it’s not a bad idea to replace the timing belt unless the owner provides receipt of one being done if the mileage is over 100k. Transmissions will last a long time, but you want to smell the dipstick to see if you can detect any “burnt” smell coming from the fluid after taking it out for a test drive. If the shifts are smooth at a normal pace, but firm when the pedal is depressed you are generally in good shape. If the shift from 1st to 2nd is harsh no matter how hard you push the accelerator, that’s a flag. Something is wrong with that transmission.
Now the kicker. If you have a particular vehicle in mind, say a VW Golf, go drive one out of your price range and use that as a measuring stick against the cheaper more “experienced” versions in your price range to determine the overall health of the car.
I’ve actually been looking at cars in that range, up to 2000 dollars. What I’ve found is that you are going to get find cars with an excess of 200k on them but run well still, bad body damage, or some phantom problem the owner doesn’t want to deal with.
Personally, I like the cars that have a potential problem and craigslist ads help the savvy buyer decide whether it’s worth looking at or not.
Here’s things I look for.
If the car is TOO CLEAN, then it means they are trying to cover something up.
If the owner says the fix is only a hundred bucks, then why didn’t they put the money into it and sell it for more?
I’m wary of how an ad is composed when describing a problem. For example, I read one ad that spoke of all the new parts put into the car. The list was an obvious laundry list of parts thrown at the car to fix a larger problem ( Ie. new thermostat, radiator, hoses and they say it needs a new water pump otherwise it’ll overheat in a couple of miles….)
flags go up for an over heated motor, potential head gasket/cracked head issues unless a visual inspection of the car indicates coolant leaking out of the weep holes for the water pump .
I am also wary of any car that is for sale cheap with high miles when the seller doesn’t know anything about the car and is reselling it because they got it “in trade” or whatever other reason that it came into their possession.
Most cars will hit 280-300k if they aren’t smoking, overheating and still produce decent power and have a little maintenance done to them. If the car has a timing belt, it’s not a bad idea to replace the timing belt unless the owner provides receipt of one being done if the mileage is over 100k. Transmissions will last a long time, but you want to smell the dipstick to see if you can detect any “burnt” smell coming from the fluid after taking it out for a test drive. If the shifts are smooth at a normal pace, but firm when the pedal is depressed you are generally in good shape. If the shift from 1st to 2nd is harsh no matter how hard you push the accelerator, that’s a flag. Something is wrong with that transmission.
Now the kicker. If you have a particular vehicle in mind, say a VW Golf, go drive one out of your price range and use that as a measuring stick against the cheaper more “experienced” versions in your price range to determine the overall health of the car.
If it uses a half a quart between oil changes, I wouldn’t be concerned. As far as problems with an engine that has overheated, it depends on the extent of the overheating. First place to look at is the first few rows of fins on the radiator. If the radiator is new, then you can’t get any info there. If the top few rows of fins are missing, look like they are about to fall apart, or look significantly different than the lower part of the radiator, then the engine has likely been run with low coolant for a significant period of time…those top rows were getting steamed to death.
Otherwise, a loss of coolant, misfires, the engine generally running a little “off” are some signs of an overheated/damaged motor as seals, piston rings, etc will have taken some damage from overheating. Seals cooked, rings over expanded, cylinder walls scored…things like that.
Compression testing each cylinder would be a good start to see the overall health of the engine, but a pressure test on the cooling system would probably be the first thing I’d have done to see if everything in the cooling system is still holding together strong.
Johnzcarz, I was looking at that kit potentially as well, but I’m concerned about that bladder being able to fit into the small opening in the Ford Explorer radiator I just installed. The opening is just tiny!
I’d really appreciate if you could maybe explain what the different fittings that come with it actually do, might be enough to help me pull the trigger on it. I don’t work on a lot of different cars and I usually buy domestics, but on occasion I have to deal with an import for a friend or neighbor.
At the very least, if you could tell me the smallest diameter the bladder fits in, that may be all I really need to know in regards to the Ford. I’m sure it’ll fit on my Chevy.
I just want to make sure that if I buy a kit, it’s going to cover the basics ( chevy, ford and Chrysler ) and be able to work with traditional radiator cap style systems as well as reservoir cap style systems like a lot of the newer cars seem to be going towards.
I’m looking at the same thing with my wifes 5.0 Explorer. It’s leaking oil onto the catalytic converter and causing the wonderful smell of scalded oil. The PCV valve is located right in the back there ( hard as a beaver to get at too! ) and I can’t see in that area enough to see if perhaps that was causing the problem. Not a job I really want to do, but I don’t want to risk a car fire either.
[quote]SHIFTS DELAYED OR ERRATIC (SHIFTS ALSO HARSH AT TIMES)
1. Fluid Level Low/High. 1. Correct fluid level and check for leaks if low.
2. Fluid Filter Clogged. 2. Replace filter. If filter and fluid contained clutch material or metal particles, an overhaul may be necessary. Perform lube flow test.
3. Throttle Linkage Mis-adjusted. 3. Adjust linkage as described in service section.
4. Throttle Linkage Binding. 4. Check cable for binding. Check for return to closed throttle at transmission.
5. Gearshift Linkage/Cable Mis-adjusted. 5. Adjust linkage/cable as described in service section.
6. Clutch or Servo Failure. 6. Remove valve body and air test clutch, and band servo operation. Disassemble and repair transmission as needed.
7. Governor Circuit Electrical Fault. 7. Test using DRBAlso, rebuilding an alternator can be a PITA. I just tried doing my wifes explorer as the bearing went out and it was a 10 dollar fix if I could get it apart.
I got it apart, it more pieces than it was supposed to…it has a remanufactured alternator in it now for $140.
IF you decide to go ahead, my advice in disassembly…remove everything you can down to the basics ( no plastic covers, etc ). Heat up your oven to 400F and put it in there for 10 minutes.
Using a deadblow hammer, wooden hammer or careful tapping with a ball peen hammer, strike the hot alternator around the perimeter lightly to loosen the corrosion. Use a little penetrating oil after the oven if you’d like.
HERE’S THE RUB. Don’t hit it too hard or you’ll end up with a broken alternator. Only tap it around the perimeter to loosen it up. Then take your larger hammer swings on the mounting points which are thicker and can take a few beatings. You are going to try to rotate the two halves back and forth until it comes apart. Don’t forget to have some old winter gloves or something to hold onto the alternator while you are doing this as it will be pretty warm.
DO NOT strike the shaft, you won’t get anywhere with it and you are going to likely damage something in the process.
Good luck.
Frustrating, isn’t it? I’ve got the lean bank woes as well, and mine showed up after playing with my intake horn, MAF and ducting to my air cleaner. It ran great before, never threw any codes. I messed with that and it threw both 174 and 171 at me. At least you have higher fuel trim number that actually seem to point at something like a vacuum leak. My number seem to change depending on when I pull the code. I’d clear the codes and wait for the light to come on and take the freeze frame data again and see if it is triggering the codes with the same conditions. Mine will throw the code under various loads from light to medium and once at idle ( the first time ).
I tried propane around the intake with no luck. I’ve been watching my fuel mileage as well, and mine will run 13mpg on one tank, then 15 on the next, then maybe 13 on the next tank, then 12 and then back up to 15mpg. It used to be a solid 15.5mpg.
What about the coolant sensor? Is there any chance that something may have affected that with the swap of coolant, like the old dexcool on the sensor not liking the a reaction to the green stuff and causing some sort of problem with the sensor reading correctly. I’m just trying to think outside the box since the only thing you did was swap coolant types and then started throwing codes.
How soon did it start throwing the code after the change of coolant?
I do have to say, if it was something that gradually got worse, there’s a chance that the intake gaskets are getting corroded away from traces of the old coolant and the new coolant reacting…it seems the most plausible. The coolant sensor by the thermostat would just be a lucky stab in the dark, but probably a cheap and easy one…would at least eliminate it.