Been chasing down a weird issue with my car. Finally figured it out.....I hope.
Lots of condensation, some oil from the PCV (done that since I put on the Trick Flow Minifold......No baffle under the PCV screen...just a small ledge to hold the screen in place) and apparently a faulty/leaking fuel pressure regulator combined to make what can only be described as really muddy and thick light colored coffee in my vacuum lines ( not that there's very many of them:hick: ).
I was stumped for a little while as my dipstick was clean and devoid of any water. Draining the oil upon an oil change last week confirmed this. Vacuum is good in park, in drive, under load and deceleration. No oil in my coolant. No loss of coolant. With the amount of goo that was forming in my lines; if it were coolant I would have deffinetely had noticed a drop in the level. Hell I even hooked up clear tubing in the vacuum systeem to see what the hell was going on. Unfortunately, it was in vain without putting a load on the engine and actually driving it.
I pulled the regulator today.
Disassembled: From left to right is basically how it goes together.
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/DSC05639.jpg)
Behold the pinholes in the diaphragm.....
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/DSC05624.jpg)
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/DSC05630.jpg)
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/DSC05627.jpg)
The upper portion shown here was full of goo and straight water and absolutely reeked of raw unburned gasoline.
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/DSC05634.jpg)
The lower portion had signs of the goo. Apparently; both sides of the diaphragm had been trading a bit.
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/DSC05633.jpg)
The lower portion side of the diaphragm:
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/DSC05632.jpg)
Now I just have to finish throwing it back together.
I have a plan for the PCV valve and the lack of a baffle. It involves 2 washers and a slight modification of the PCV screen itself.
Also take note: Here's an example of how a baffle should be done. This is the Edelbrock manifold
(http://image.mustang50magazine.com/f/9325334/138_0308_14z+ford_mustang+intake_manifold_oil_baffle.jpg)
Hopefully, this will keep my petroleum based part of the goo problem under control between the 2 fixes/modifications.
Anybody got any ideas concerning water that is not coolant? Again -- no issues show up on a vacuum test.
And just to let everyone know. My fuel pressure read fine and the car was being fed properly at RPM's as well. The 255 pump may have saved my motor in this case.
If there was any gas leakage through the diaphragm, it would have been clean, not filled with condensation... Normal for both sides to have a heavy gas smell...
Does that intake have a heat riser??? If not, likely the condensation is the result...
No heat riser.....
I'm curious.....why the goo on all faces of the diaphragm then?
Top, bottom and in between?
I have another issue now. Front right rail hold down bolt refuses to thread all the way. I get it to about 5/16" from snug and it stops dead. Looks like the bottom of the heli-coil gave out....I'll put a nut and washer on it for now to s it up, but I guess I'll be fixing that in the future...
It's always the littlest things on fox bodies that give the biggest fits.....
Beats me, but in a gas vs goo match, gas is going to be the winner...
Just wet a Q-tip with gas and see what happens to the goo...
Let's see if this will alleviate some of the oil in the PCV line....
Washer with 3/16" hole on the bottom.
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/DSC05642.jpg)
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/DSC05643.jpg)
Little bit bigger hole up top.
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/DSC05645.jpg)
Should slow it a little bit I would imagine.....might be a quick fix for you Cobra and Typhoon intake manifold guys as well.
I put a bigger baffle on my cobra haven't had a problem yet.
???
Bigger how? I can't quite grasp what you mean....Can you elaborate for me? :)
do you still have the vac canister hooked up?
Nah....I never did that. I would have if I was gonna do the Speed density computer swap. It would have needed the extra vacuum. Never got around to it (way too much going on) and I have something new in the works come February anyway....
On a side note, if you leave a plug wire loose on the cap and start the car you get a funky light show on the ignition coil! :hick:
Maybe I'll make it loose again and make a vid of it....:D
i cant get my head around this thread.
Your vac starts at the engine block and all lines including HVAC source here.
gas and water dont mix but gas does float atop of water. water in the tank since the pump is low?
I had a random thought,
Your fpr could act like a pump itself in the opposite train of thought. The diaphram moving might be able to pull bursts of suction on the path to the hvac inside the car or perhaps the cruise diaphram.
the hvac inside the car is subject to heater core condensation as well as the various air duct paths.
this one is tricky. I would get the far end FPR vac line termination located to a different source all together if possible.
Done :D
Nothing is within 6 inches of where the PCV line goes into the intake manifold now.....Gotta drive it now and see what happens....
FWIW the vacuum tree at the firewall has remained bone dry throughout this incident.
well then,,,,
that tells you something. The HVAC nor the Cruise diphram isnt suckin water in.
the odds of this were slim in the first place.
I guess you know now where to look next.
Time to disconnect the fuel rail feed line, ground the tan light green wire on the eec test conn, turn on the key and fill up a nice purdy and clear glass.
let it sit for a couple days and then shine a yellow light in the back of the glass to more easily see the separation of water to fuel.
next would simply be condensation in general.
I had another thought...do you use gas treatment of any kind or have you in the past weeks / months?
No, I've not been driving the car much as of late. Just too cold. The past few occasions where I did it was unseasonably warm and there were no signs of water. So far this does in fact appear to be a case of condensation at below freezing temperatures.
ever notice how cold the fpr gets during normal operation? I wonder if a cover or a huggie so to speak on the fpr would prevent condensation on the inside of the FPR.
something like what is on the round thing above the ac compressor.