nphinc Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Hello all, haven't been in here in quite awhile. 2010 TC has 97k on the clock and until now nothing more than routine maintenance. Changed oil 3.5k ago. Nothing unusual. Running rough today, engine light comes on, then blinking. Pulled P301 code, #1 cyl. misfire. Pull coil, plug well partially filled with coolant. I did change the valve cover gasket & plugs at around 92k. May need to pull head. Anybody in here have experience with this job? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtn Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Done it in my Escort. Was a simple and straightforward job with the Haynes repair manual (couldn't imagine doing it without one) and the right tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G B L Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 (edited) mrtn was your escort gas or diesel ?, Escobar ( Help Replacing Piston Rings Thread) has done it in the last week. The plug well had coolant in it before the Plug was pulled out? That suggests that the fluid came from some where other than the Cylinder head gasket.Are you sure that it was Engine Coolant ? Did you clean out the well and pull the plug, was the electrode wet? Was the coolant low? The Misfire could come from water leaking down into the plug well from some where else. Sorry to ask so many questions, but any kind of water in the plug well could cause a Miss Edited March 27, 2016 by G B L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nphinc Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 G B L, I had the common experience of oil in the #1 & 4 plug well back toward end of year. That's when I replaced the valve cover gasket, installed new plugs. I was on a trip when truck started misfiring then. Pulled into a parts store off I81 in VA, pulled coil & cleaned up all the oil in the #1 well. Cleared code, finished a 2k mile roundtrip. Today, truck started misfiring bad, MIL blinking. As mentioned earlier, P301 code, figured I'd find that original coil just gave out. Go to pull coil off, brass insert just spinning around. I wasn't going to trust it since I had a brand new one from previous trip but never installed it. Dremel cut coil off because bolt can't come out. Ok, I can replace with a 59.00 Focus valve cover instead of 110.00 TC cover. When I pulled the coil there was a lot more water in there than oil. Pulled dipstick...let's just say I'm not hopeful. Too much rain to be screwing around today. Is it possible for coolant to make it's way into oil from bad cover or perhaps valve cover gasket failed on #1 side? I immediately assumed the worst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtn Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 mrtn was your escort gas or diesel ? Gas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G B L Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 (edited) Absolutely if you are getting water in the Plug well and the Valve cover is not good or the plug tube seal is bad then water gets into the oil from the valve cover . are you loosing coolant from the Radiator and expansion tank? Was it raining when you had the miss? mrtn thanks , was the EU engine a twincam 2.0? Edited March 27, 2016 by G B L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nphinc Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 G B L, I didn't note any oil in coolant in expansion tank at this point, but the tank is kinda opaque. No rain this morning when it was missing. I'm going to drain some coolant from rad to see if there's any oil in rad. You've given me some hope it's the valve cover, so I'll pull it off in the next few days and have a look. It needs replaced anyway. I'd only been in there one time before so wasn't sure if there were coolant passage ways. I'm going to order for a new cover from TASCA. I ordered a door lock cylinder and air cleaner hose from them. Prices weren't bad compared to dealers. If you care to point me to a less expensive parts house I'd be grateful. This couldn't have happened at a less opportune time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G B L Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 I don't think the oil is getting into the coolant , wondering if the coolant is getting into the oil. The valve cover has an outer seal and three plug tube seals. I water is getting into the plug area of the valve cover and it leaks into the Plug well it could get into the oil and cause a miss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtn Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 mrtn thanks , was the EU engine a twincam 2.0? Didn't go that well, it was a carburetted 1.3 OHV (Kent). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nphinc Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 I don't think the oil is getting into the coolant , wondering if the coolant is getting into the oil. The valve cover has an outer seal and three plug tube seals. I water is getting into the plug area of the valve cover and it leaks into the Plug well it could get into the oil and cause a miss G B L, first, thanks for hanging with me. Just drained coolant, no oil. Drained oil, no water. When I pulled dipstick it definitely had the look of water & oil. I'm very familiar with it having went through the flood here in Nash. When I changed the VC gaskets back in December I really didn't take a look at the head or VC much. I cleaned the area up, put a new gasket on with RTV in the prescribed areas & torqued it down. I bought the TC about 5 years ago with maybe 24k on the clock. I remember pulling the coils & generally poking around under the hood to familiarize myself with it when I first got it. The #1 well had a lot of "rust" in it, the other 3 were clean. Cleaned up in there best I could but never pulled the VC. Would check it periodically but it wasn't until road trip back in December enough oil had collected in well #1 to start shorting coil. I've got a new VC coming this week. When I change it out I'll look very carefully for cracks, etc. I'm curious what coolant passage ways are to the left of #1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtn Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 You get the emulsion foaming in the oil when you take lots of short trips and the oil never really heats up. The formed condensation combines with oil and looks like you had a head gasket problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G B L Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 (edited) nphinc I think that the area between the cams has the ability to collect water , once you know that you are not loosing engine coolant then you can look for the water and how it would be getting into the area of number one spark plug. A cooling system pressure check could either confirm that no water is escaping or let you know that it is a problem. I have seen some water related problems due to water getting into the temp sensor in the Channel between the Cams. The boot on the coil seals the plug well and if that was faulty it would allow the water to get in. Seal of the VC at the plug well would definitely account for the oil. Looking forward to the up dates. mrtn the last time I worked on a Kent series engine it was in a Bobcat, and before that there was one Sailboat Auxiliary Kent series engine. We stopped seeing those in cars with the first Series Fiesta's. There were also a few Pinto's with the Kent, But I am now showing my age You are right on about the sludge that forms when the oil is not fully heated on short trips Edited March 28, 2016 by G B L mrtn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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