Big Big Problem?

Why guess leak it down

 

Plug hole being full of oil just sounds like the valve cover leaking to me. What type of dyno and what were the results?

 

If it was just the hole in the camcover thru which the plug goes, just a leak in the o-ring that seals the cover. Very hard to get right. If the cavity was full of oil, it may have leaked into the cyl when the plug came out and subsequently fouled the plug, throwing timing and mixture off. Recheck the plug and make sure the cyl is clear. Sh*t happens.

 

and that can cause missfire which would explain some issues above 6000rpm i think the op said

 

bruce what you doing for lunch sunday...I'll be in torrance...El Burrito Jr. next to little co of mary hospital????

 

Sorry I missed you...that darn thing called "work". Dayum. I have some new lies that need tellin'. Guess I'll wait til the thing at Vince's.

 

Some would argue that accelerating from 40mph to 1,112mph in only 18.3 seconds is pretty impressive.

On a more serious note, good luck tracking down the cause of that oil-filled plug hole.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

If the oil was on the outside (top of the spark plug) it would come from a pinched/bad valve cover gasket. It may cause intermittent or weak spark to that cylinder which would also allow the plug to foul, since the plug depends on spark to keep itself clean.

Note: this is before the awesome exhaust

 

I hope is nothing really bad ...

 

I'd like to hear Enginefixers take on this post...I have a personal interest in this thread. He's getting ready to do my car. What kind of warranty were you given on his work...I am not bad mouthing anybody so no offense intended in any way, but curious as to if Gary stood behind his work IYHO? Lets face it for what it's costs to have work done, it shouldn't leak or have issues that soon after a major rebuild. Am I wrong to assume that? I know these are finicky cars but if a gasket is installed properly and it wasn't reused (god forbid) it's shouldn't leak for some time. Mine didn't leak at all when I took it in, I think I'd be a tad upset too if I had to go in again so soon afterwards because something was missed or not done right...anybody would be. That's why you pay a professional...right?

It'll be interesting to see the future comments on this post...I hope Efixer chimes in, not in defense, but to explain how it could have happened. Gary has a good rep here on Fchat so I'm hoping there's a reasonable explanation...so sorry to hear of you having trouble BTW.

 

Give him time, he might not have seen the thread yet.

Let's also remember it may be difficult to hypothesize without examining the engine first-hand. It's also all too easy for us armchair mechanics at our computers to get carried away with our own diagnoses and begin pointing fingers - so... remember to be calm everyone.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

I want to be VERY clear that I am NOT firing shots across the bow...and yes I know Enginefixer doesn't spend a lot of time here these days with his garage full of cars, he's got lots keeping him busy right now. I also want to state that my post was not a finger pointing post. To tick off the guy getting ready to do my car wouldn't be a good move on my part. I'm just wanting to know how this could have happened so soon after rebuild as I am about to undertake a major also and am not rich enough to have to do it a second time. I heard Gary was good from other posters which is why I took it to him. I stated in my post "not to defend but to explain what could have happened". That's a reasonable statement from one getting ready to spend thousands...I'm not publicly throwing rocks. I have not heard the other side. I want to be clear about that but I have no past dealings with engine fixer and the best way to know what you'll get is knowing past results. I have no doubt that he knows his stuff or my car wouldn't be there now.

 

Don't worry, you and I are on the same page.

I think it was me who wasn't being clear. I've seen far too many minor/unrelated incidents get totally blown out of proportion on MINI forums when a mechanic logs on and goes: "what the hell, 50 posts of speculation?" and didn't want to see anything like that sort of unnecessary fall-out here. I was trying to add to your thoughts rather than respond to them - just pre-empting any chance of unnecessary pile-ins.

I think Gary's reputation is more than safe.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Yes we are on the same page and yes things can snowball fast. I am glad you said something before other may have taken it the wrong way. I saw Gary's shop, it's top notch and there are many great posts confirming his abilities and reputation. I in no way want to start an unjustified snowball in his direction. Once he sees this post, he'll tell us what could have happened.

Sometimes things happen for no reason but if everything was replaced it shouldn't leak...and the OP had a pretty good leak going from the sound of it. That's not being accusative, just what the OP said happened. Without having more information pics ect there is no way to make an informed determination as to why it happened.

 

+1 ........

 

If it is a camcover O-ring, it would probably have taken longer for a symptom to show up than just the run-in time any tech would have given it. A few hundred miles or more. The resulting leak would have been undetected until the wire cover was removed and the wire was disconnected, so I think it would be somewhat unrealistic to say the tech "should have known or found it". This is probably an item all should check a few hundred miles after the cam covers have come off. "Post-service inspection", if you will....

 

Bruce,

I would not do that. The wires are acutally quite delicate. They are only crimped on and you should see how much force you have to put on some boots to pull them off some plugs. I have actually broken those really expensive units and I am not ham-fisted. The OP has to let us know what does "oil in the plug hole" mean? oil in the cylinder vs. oil above the plug valley...Huge difference. There could be witness oil leaking at the cover joint and if it is so messed up you can't tell just throw a guage on that one hole and you will know. And people blow motors all the time not saying the OP did that. I know a particular racer on a particular car that is on engine 3, one in the car when purchased done blowed up he thinks well it was old. Then #2 built by a "star" balanced blueprinted paid big bucks also done blowed up. Then one new GM crate (as in pretty hard to blow up), well, done blowed up too! The old one lasted the longest 2 races I think. Must be the mechanic's fault or the tuner, or ?????

 

Let's not all forget we are on the same team. The brotherhood has to exist to allow all of us to keep our cars going. I don't think anybody is burning any bridges here at all. We all feel your pain...if one of us bleeds, we all do. We all try and watch out for each other, that's what brothers do....we freak when our babies bleed oil. Totally natural response...I'm sure Gary will have comments when he sees the post. He has the same passion for these cars as we do...a little oil goes a long way. Look at the gulf...OK that's a bad comparison THAT'S a lot of oil ;-(

 

Ok,
I'm here now.
Bob, sounds to me like a simple leak of the cam cover o-ring, I wouldn't get in too much of a panic. From what we've discussed before, the engine ran way too good for too long to be much more than that. IE: 140 mph and running all the way to 9000 rpm at Road America last year. Simple 1/2 hour fix at the most.
It's natural to assume the worst when finding a problem.
If the plug/wire was saturated, it could kill spark to that cylinder and cause slow revs. Even if there was no miss fire at lower revs, you have to remember, as revs go up, the more stressfull it is on the ignition system.
I went up to Wisconsin nearly 10 months ago ( 1000 mile round trip and 2 nite hotel stay) to address an oil leak that Bob had at that time, problem fixed and no other issues found at that time.
If there is a leak at the cam cover o-ring, I'm sure Bob will contact me and we'll deal with it then.
The biggest issue is, when you have engines shipped in from all over the country and have to rely on someone else to remove/re-install the engine, you don't get the chance to look for oil leaks or other issues first hand. As soon as some of the work clears out of my shop, we'll be working full time to get our engine dyno set up to test EVERY engine we rebuild, not only to get horsepower numbers, but also to ensure proper break in, correct running and to detect leaks, etc. These engines run so much on the fine line, that after a complete rebuild, if the rest of the engine management system is even somewhat questionable, it can cause fuel wash and failure of the new rings/ liner coating. Proper break in is also another problem to deal with also. Too many people want to dump synthetic oil in their engines way too soon, if there was ever a problem of something being too good, synthetic oil is it. I've built too many race engines to know that if synthetic is used too soon, ring sealing becomes a major issue- it's like having glazed cylinder walls, the rings just won't seal to it if not broken in right.
I can't wait until I actually get the chance to dyno test an engine removed from a running car, then rebuild it and re-test it along with Dave Helms connector kit to show just how much better a PROPERLY running engine is. Like Rifledriver said before, 75% or better of the people with these cars wouldn't know if it was running on 7 cylinders or 8.

 

Yes, sounds like it should be an easy fix.

And Bob, I know it's a bit of a drive but my offer still stands if you want to spin the car up on our Dynojet.