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That's just dumb. That will never stick to Mike's head. :notnice:
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? lol
 
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Different day,...Different dilemma.

I took the car out for his third drive today. Today I intended to roll into the throttle to see if the car would go into boost.

I did, It does.

No sooner did it do that however, it rattled. I lifted as soon as I heard that.

I know that it went into boost, because I heard the BOV whoosh when I lifted.

I did not attempt that again. I drove the thing back home and removed the plugs.

# 6 looked normal.
#5 was soaked in oil.
#4 was wet.
#3 looked ok.
#2 looked ok
#1 looked ok.

So #5 then. So freakin wet with oil it was all the way up the threads into the gasket. No real evidence that it had been firing, although it had to because the engine did not run like it had a dead cylinder. I'm sure that because of this dead pup though,..this is probably why I got my rattle.

Here's my thought for tonight. Hoping that I'm not gonna have to dig into this engine.

#5 was the cylinder (and to a lesser extent, #4) that the valve cover gasket had leaked so bad that there was oil pooling arount the base of the spark plug. I'm hoping that that oil had seeped down around the threads and soaked that thing from the top down, as opposed to the other way. If that plug oil fouled as a result of that VC gasket leak, then I'm pretty sure that an overnight bath in lacquer thinner for the 6 of them, a plug swap, and 10 more minutes of run time will tell the tale.

Whether or not I'm screwed.

The rest of the day before all of this I spent chasing my tail trying to fix the fuel sender thing. I bought a drop in sender like what a drag race fuel cell uses. I modified the top of the tank to allow me to bolt that thing in from the top. I bought one that was supposed to be 70 ohms full, and 10 ohms empty....typical old school ford sender impedance. My gauges allow me to set a dip switch to accommodate all four of the common fuel level sender impedances as well. I knew that I had done that when I assembled Winkin a long time ago, but nonetheless took the whole damn instrument cluster apart to check to be sure that I had.

I did.

I checked impedance at the wire that came from the sender.

I get nothin.

I replace the battery on my multi-meter and re-check.

I still got nothin.

So then that leaves me A. facing a tank draining ordeal and a tank drop,...or...........B.I cut the trunk floor to expose that sender, and make a cover plate to "fix" the hole when I "fix" the damn sender.

I choose B.

When I expose the sender. even at the top where the wires are I still got nothin. I think surely my damn multi-meter isn't broke....I go check one of the resistors I have laying in a drawer.......works fine there.

So I remove the sender.

It comes apart, so I take it apart. It's basically a tube w/ a float that moves up and down in that tube. IOt looks like this:

$_35.JPG


After I get the damn thing apart I see nothing loose or broken, but it still dont read. I flip the float around, put it back in the tube, and check the thing again.

10 ohms.

I flip the thing over on it's head and check it that way.

69 ohms.

That float was in upside down. Now the damn this is registering.

I reinstall the sender,.....all the while checking to be sure that the damn thing still says 69 ohms..It does the whole time. I put my gauges back in and turn the key.
The fuel level gauge reads the exact same "89" that it read when I decided to take this whole mess apart, and cut my trunk floor open.

Dammit.

I don't know if I've done anything. Maybe the piece of junk has been working this whole damn time...maybe the tank is 89% full.
(It sure looked that way when I removed the sender).

I think I wasted the whole damn day.

For nothin.

Then again,....maybe I've got a broken ring,....maybe I've got a valve stem seal that isn't seated,.....maybe............
 
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Different day,...Different dilemma.

I took the car out for his third drive today. Today I intended to roll into the throttle to see if the car would go into boost.

I did, It does.

No sooner did it do that however, it rattled. I lifted as soon as I heard that.

I know that it went into boost, because I heard the BOV whoosh when I lifted.

I did not attempt that again. I drove the thing back home and removed the plugs.

# 6 looked normal.
#5 was soaked in oil.
#4 was wet.
#3 looked ok.
#2 looked ok
#1 looked ok.

So #5 then. So freakin wet with oil it was all the way up the threads into the gasket. No real evidence that it had been firing, although it had to because the engine did not run like it had a dead cylinder. I'm sure that because of this dead pup though,..this is probably why I got my rattle.

Here's my thought for tonight. Hoping that I'm not gonna have to dig into this engine.

#5 was the cylinder (and to a lesser extent, #4) that the valve cover gasket had leaked so bad that there was oil pooling arount the base of the spark plug. I'm hoping that that oil had seeped down around the threads and soaked that thing from the top down, as opposed to the other way. If that plug oil fouled as a result of that VC gasket leak, then I'm pretty sure that an overnight bath in lacquer thinner for the 6 of them, a plug swap, and 10 more minutes of run time will tell the tale.

Whether or not I'm screwed.

The rest of the day before all of this I spent chasing my tail trying to fix the fuel sender thing. I bought a drop in sender like what a drag race fuel cell uses. I modified the top of the tank to allow me to bolt that thing in from the top. I bought one that was supposed to be 70 ohms full, and 10 ohms empty....typical old school ford sender impedance. My gauges allow me to set a dip switch to accommodate all four of the common fuel level sender impedances as well. I knew that I had done that when I assembled Winkin a long time ago, but nonetheless took the whole damn instrument cluster apart to check to be sure that I had.

I did.

I checked impedance at the wire that came from the sender.

I get nothin.

I replace the battery on my multi-meter and re-check.

I still got nothin.

So then that leaves me A. facing a tank draining ordeal and a tank drop,...or...........B.I cut the trunk floor to expose that sender, and make a cover plate to "fix" the hole when I "fix" the damn sender.

I choose B.

When I expose the sender. even at the top where the wires are I still got nothin. I think surely my damn multi-meter isn't broke....I go check one of the resistors I have laying in a drawer.......works fine there.

So I remove the sender.

It comes apart, so I take it apart. It's basically a tube w/ a float that moves up and down in that tube. IOt looks like this:

$_35.JPG


After I get the damn thing apart I see nothing loose or broken, but it still dont read. I flip the float around, put it back in the tube, and check the thing again.

10 ohms.

I flip the thing over on it's head and check it that way.

69 ohms.

That float was in upside down. Now the damn this is registering.

I reinstall the sender,.....all the while checking to be sure that the damn thing still says 69 ohms..It does the whole time. I put my gauges back in and turn the key.
The fuel level gauge reads the exact same "89" that it read when I decided to take this whole mess apart, and cut my trunk floor open.

Dammit.

I don't know if I've done anything. Maybe the piece of junk has been working this whole damn time...maybe the tank is 89% full.
(It sure looked that way when I removed the sender).

I think I wasted the whole damn day.

For nothin.

Then again,....maybe I've got a broken ring,....maybe I've got a valve stem seal that isn't seated,.....maybe............
Well crap mike that sucks. Since you have an access whole now, is it possible to left the sending unit up a bit to see if the guage changes for perceived fuel amount?
 
That sucks, Mike. Hope you get the monster sorted out.

You definitely know how the " project " thing goes. Always something lurking around the corner....just waiting to make you have to do more.

The Gila Monster always keeps us in suspense.

You need a TV show....or at least a YouTube channel. You and Dave... It would be better than watching 99% of the car shows on TV.
 
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That sucks, Mike. Hope you get the monster sorted out.

You definitely know how the " project " thing goes. Always something lurking around the corner....just waiting to make you have to do more.

The Gila Monster always keeps us in suspense.

You need a TV show....or at least a YouTube channel. You and Dave... It would be better than watching 99% of the car shows on TV.
Hey, I appreciate the flattery of connection n with the monster, but mike is the Monster Master. Dave just pawn in big chess game of life
 
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What method did you use to cut the trunk floor? I've been wanting to do this just to avoid ever having to drop the tank again.
The method that throws the most sparks.

Where there are gasoline fumes.

And the possibility of blindly cutting through the return hose.

I used a cut-off wheel. It's all you can use when you're cutting through sheet metal and you dont know how deep the cutting blade can extend beneath.
 
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Which brings me to this:

I contemplated posting the last update as a separate thread so I could solicit the largest cross section of opinions as to the possibility that the oil dripped down from above on the spark plug in question. But after looking at it determined that it was update material, and thought to myself that the only people that would offer an opinion anyways were the few that watch this thread anyway so I posted the dilemma here.

Annnnnnddd... I get nothing.

Not even a SWAG.

(Stupid Wild Assed Guess)

Maybe if i posted a pic of an idea for some letters that I might put on my hood?;)

Ok I'll do that.

Here goes:



Hey,...I got an idea for the color of my spark plugs. I was thinking I'd go with the standard blackish-brown color but lately have started considering the greenish-gold hue associated w/ wet engine oil. Problem is I really don't know how best to apply it.

I could allow the valve cover to just leak, and hope that the plugs would get their color that way, but I dont know if engine oil can leak past the threads of a tightly screwed into the engine spark plug.


WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK???
 
Which brings me to this:

I contemplated posting the last update as a separate thread so I could solicit the largest cross section of opinions as to the possibility that the oil dripped down from above on the spark plug in question. But after looking at it determined that it was update material, and thought to myself that the only people that would offer an opinion anyways were the few that watch this thread anyway so I posted the dilemma here.

Annnnnnddd... I get nothing.

Not even a SWAG.

(Stupid Wild Assed Guess)

Maybe if i posted a pic of an idea for some letters that I might put on my hood?;)

Ok I'll do that.

Here goes:



Hey,...I got an idea for the color of my spark plugs. I was thinking I'd go with the standard blackish-brown color but lately have started considering the greenish-gold hue associated w/ wet engine oil. Problem is I really don't know how best to apply it.

I could allow the valve cover to just leak, and hope that the plugs would get their color that way, but I dont know if engine oil can leak past the threads of a tightly screwed into the engine circumstance.


WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK???
I think it's possible Mike. there is only one way to tell however. a leakdown test is in order my friend.
 
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The method that throws the most sparks.

Where there are gasoline fumes.

And the possibility of blindly cutting through the return hose.

I used a cut-off wheel. It's all you can use when you're cutting through sheet metal and you dont know how deep the cutting blade can extend beneath.
I figured as much but was hoping there was a 1% chance that there was another way that wouldn't be so frowned upon, haha
 
Which brings me to this:

I contemplated posting the last update as a separate thread so I could solicit the largest cross section of opinions as to the possibility that the oil dripped down from above on the spark plug in question. But after looking at it determined that it was update material, and thought to myself that the only people that would offer an opinion anyways were the few that watch this thread anyway so I posted the dilemma here.

Annnnnnddd... I get nothing.

Not even a SWAG.

(Stupid Wild Assed Guess)

Maybe if i posted a pic of an idea for some letters that I might put on my hood?;)

Ok I'll do that.

Here goes:



Hey,...I got an idea for the color of my spark plugs. I was thinking I'd go with the standard blackish-brown color but lately have started considering the greenish-gold hue associated w/ wet engine oil. Problem is I really don't know how best to apply it.

I could allow the valve cover to just leak, and hope that the plugs would get their color that way, but I dont know if engine oil can leak past the threads of a tightly screwed into the engine spark plug.


WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK???

I think you need a scope to look in the hole and make sure the piston isnt damaged for some wild assed reason. Assuming that checks out, I'd check the valve seals. Assuming that checks out, go with the VC gasket theory, I just think that is unlikely as a culprit.
 
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I put the cleaned plugs back in the engine this morning. I'll run it for ten mins tonight when I get home tonight, and pull the plug. If it's wet, I'll leak it while the engine is hot.
If it leaks acceptably, then I'll pull a VC.
I'll know tonight
 
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You have a bunch more engine building experience than I do mike.

But since you want a reply, no matter how ignorant, no, I don't think enough oil could have possibly slimed down around your spark plug to cause that problem. I suspect that you might have thought that was a swag, but you are willing to entertain any thought that doesn't call for tearing apart your top end. I can't blame you either. That's got to be a little frustrating.
 
You have a bunch more engine building experience than I do mike.

But since you want a reply, no matter how ignorant, no, I don't think enough oil could have possibly slimed down around your spark plug to cause that problem. I suspect that you might have thought that was a swag, but you are willing to entertain any thought that doesn't call for tearing apart your top end. I can't blame you either. That's got to be a little frustrating.
Yes,...thats what it is actually. Clinging to the false hope that somebody's gonna come on here with a " oh that happened to me and" story to alleviate the fear that I got something big wrong in cyl 5.

Right now, I'm still pulling at straws. I do believe that oil couldve dripped down from above. Or, I also believe that I'm gonna see an intake valve seal off of its seat. I also could believe That that cylinder didn't have the boot on the plug, and it wasn't firing, allowing the oil to accumulate, right now, I will believe just about every other possible scenerario Except a broken ring.

I do not thing the rattle hurt anything. There was nothing on the plug, and the engine still make a steady 20" of vacuum at idle. It would not do that if there was a hole in the piston, or a badly compromised ring seal....
At least that's what I think....
 
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