ugh..
(http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/7707/grrrv.jpg)
Grr...
(http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/5226/ughuc.jpg)
Not looking good there at all..
I REALLY need to rebuild or replace this engine soon. =\ Hope she can make it through the summer. :punchballs:
Just when I thought she was okay for a while too. Any thoughts/suggestions? :shakehead
Looks like leaky valve cover gasket. Thats pretty darn easy to fix.
Yeah, that gasket is definitely bad. I'm not too worried about replacing that part but its that milky colour that worries me. I was afraid it might be something more serious going on in there.
I'm no mechanic btw I just fix things with lots of instructions and advice, and some trial an error often. :D
That milky oil is not leaking out of the valve cover...that's just oil and water mixing on the surface of the intake. Unless your dipstick or the inside of your oil cap is covered in the stuff, it's nothing.
Go to the Ford dealer and get:
-F57Z-6584-A - Ranger v/c gasket
-EV127A - turbo-specific PCV valve (Take it out of the box, try and blow through the small end. If you can, hand it back to them and have them get you another)
Don't get any other v/c gasket for a 2.3... period.
why the ranger V/C gasket? is it a thicker gasket? or a different meterial?
Whew, good. Oil cap is nice and normal looking inside, just good coloured oil. I must have had pooled up water in that spot from where I washed it. Gotta love a good panic attack to wake you up in the morning. :D
Thanks for the advice. I'm definitely following it. :bowdown:
Because it is the best one available.
Rubber-coated, steel core, infinitely reusable. You could even pull one from an engine in the junkyard and use it trouble-free. Mine has been used on 2 engines, and been off and on 6-8 times at least. No leaks.
The Fel-Pro ones are , and don't even get me started on the cork ones.
Nice. :) I'm gonna knock this out ASAP. I just got my VA check and I'm gonna head over there right now. :D
Parts ordered at the dealership. None were in stock but I'll have them by Tuesday. :)
are you going to HO or staying original? Because When my engine gets dropped i will sell it really cheap. holds good oil pressure and all, no leaks. oh and the HO intake manifold and original cam,crank, everything will be up for grabs, im buying all new stuff.
Hey,
If I go 5.0 I'll be looking for an HO engine for it. Are you talking about selling an HO engine or a regular Tbird 5.0?
Going 5.0 HO. In the meantime, picked up my parts for this yesterday and am going to start on it in a few minutes when I wake up more. Weather is not going to be nice to me this week so I might skip a lot of the polishing I was going to do and just try and get it done today rather than paint the valve cover and stuff. We'll see, all depends on how quickly I can progress on this since I've never done it before.
Go slow while tightening down the v/c, esp over the front tower. That is the only tricky part with the Ford v/c gasket. You just want to make sure it stays where it's supposed to as the bolts are snugged down.
Also, did you check your PCV valve you picked up. You should NOT be able to blow through the small end.
Thanks, Chuck! Yeah I checked the valve, trying to blow through the small end of it is futile. :D They gave me the right one.
*goes to start*
All apart now. Cleaned and ready to put the new gasket on. I took pics of my cam while I was at it to show the wear I was talking about. It's actually not too bad for that many miles on it but it is no doubt worn and making my car kinda weak (among other things). At least she runs though. :) Engine itself has been good to me in this car. It's just everything around it that hasn't. :rollin:
Gonna touch up the valve cover while I've got it off. Sand the shiny parts to make then shine again, touch up the black paint a bit, and clear enamel on it all. Going to sand off some surface rust in a few ugly spots while I can get to things easier too. Due to that I might or might not get to putting it back on today.
Storm is brewing outside so I decided to clean up my mess and put stuff inside the garage and cover up things. I got a little bit done today (I know, I'm slow lol).
(http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/6450/camms.jpg)
(http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/7695/camecu.jpg)
(http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/7070/valvecoverbefore.jpg)
(http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/4954/valvecoverwip1.jpg)
After a bit of sanding and polishing. Still have quite a way to go here. Some more polishing and lots of cleaning - have only touched the polished part so far. Will touch up with some black hi temp paint I have and then use some hi temp clear engine enamel to finish it up. Not killing myself too badly on it. This engine will never be show quality or anything but I just want it to look a little nicer.
I will work on the cover some more in the garage later and then finish up everything else in the morning. I decided not to worry about polishing the rest of the stuff in the engine bay for now. I have to have it back together tomorrow so I don't want to have it unfinished before I go camping.
If that old v/c gasket was the type that had little grommets at the holes, make sure none are stuck into the bottom of the v/c.
It wasn't, was flat. :) I will make sure to look for any debris in the holes though. I also checked that the cover sat level and wasn't warped in any way too and it sits level so that is fine as well.
All fixed!
Thought I was going crazy earlier btw and felt like an idiot because I couldn't locate the PCV valve. Resulted in looking in my Hayne's manual.. low and behold, the '86 HAS NO PCV! :D So that I just left in the box until I decide what to do with it. New gasket is awesome! Much better than the old and zero leaks. Took the car for a spin around 6:30pm and drove around for a while. Did a couple hard pulls with it to bring forth any leaks. First pull, no issues - but wow she is pulling strong tonight. Second pull, left a burned rubber trail from first through second gear and then cruised down the road I notice smoking - HELLO LEAK. Drove it back to the house a couple miles away and checked the exhaust for smoke - no smoke - checked under the hood to find oil all over everything on the drivers side near the firewall dripping all over the bellhousing below.. Checked all the connections again, and degreased it with my cleaner and sprayed it down clean and started her back up and observed.. no leak... rev'd it up a bit several times including one hard one to 4500 or so.. no leak.. close the hood, hopped back in and drove her down the road a few miles to my grandparent's house.. floored it twice and ran through a gear or two on the way to replicate earlier.. got there.. no leak. *shrug* Cleanest I've ever seen the engine bay in the car. Drove her back home just now.. no leak. :) Whatever it was that was loose is fixed now.
Really happy with it. Sadly.. I have a newfound problem but its kind of funny.. :rollin: Driver's side window almost got stuck down on me a minute ago, had to really pull and fight with it to get it up, looks like something is wrong with that window now, lol. Probably off track a bit or something isn't quit right with the regulator. I'll figure it out later. Funny though consider the passenger side just got fixed a couple days ago. At least when things break they get a newer part. That's always been my motto with this car.
I'll post the new cleaned engine bay pics in my Freshen Up thread since it is more relevant there.
Wait? What? The 86 TC
most definitely has a PCV valve.
See the attached pic...that is the PCV. Take the one out of the box and install it there.
Whoa.. my Hayne's manual is funky. oo I'll do that first thing in the morning. Thanks for showing me that! Goes to show experience is better than a book. :hick:
If you read the first page in that haynes manual they say our tc's have a 2.5l 4cyl lol at least mine does. check your dipstick tube where it goes into the engine block when i replace my vc gasket it wasnt in all the way.
..wow.. :rollin: yeah, I think I'm not gonna use that particular guide for that again without asking here first. "83-86 Models No PCV" my *** :punchballs: I had it in my hand too is the dumbest part. lol I'm an idiot. :hick:
Yeah, that space between the dipstick tube was a pain in the butt, I pulled it aside with a wrench and a bungie cord (the one I use to hold that dipstick down all the time anyway) while I worked there.
New PCV valve intalled, lol... :D
I'll put this pic here anyway:
(http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/8999/cleanedenginebay1.jpg)
Well, with a proper, working PCV valve, you shouldn't need that bungee cord to hold the dipstick down...
Finally.. thank god lol :D Thanks for all of the help, Chuck! I really appreciate it!