QuestionThe car's timing chain cover is no longer on the vehicle (was that way when I purchased it) is there a way to verify the valve timing without it? Also, could there be blowby from the head gasket if the bolts came un torqued? As a side note, the vehicle had a blown head gasket when I bought it, so I did replace the gasket. There seems to be some white colored smoke coming from somewhere between the intake and exhaust manifold under the heat shield that seperates the fuel rail from the exhaust. I thought this was just some oil on the engine burning off, but could it be an indication of a head gasket exhaust leak, and if so, could some of that blow back into the valve cover and cause the pressurization?
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Followup To
Question -
I would like to thank you for your assistance in my previous question. I was able to get the timing correct (I believe) and I did restore power to the vehicle. However, last Thursday the car left me stranded on the side of the road. I was climbing a hill and the power completely dropped off, would not accelerate at all and when I got it off the side of the road it died and I could not restart it. Now I am seeing a strange phenomenon, it appears that somehow I am pressurizing the engine to include under the valve cover with exhaust gases. After a few minutes of idling or when I rev up the engine the valve cover fills with exhaust smoke and eventually puffs off these gases like a pressure relief valve through the oil fill cap and air breather assembly. When this occurs it kills the engine and makes it difficult to restart. Also at one point I would swear that the valve cover acted like it was under vacuum and tried to pull the oil fill cap out of my hand when I went to reattach it. I have checked compression and it stops after about 3 cranks just above 120. I am completely at a loss and other individuals I have spoken with on this issue are also stumped. I would appreciate any assistance you may be able to provide me. Thank You.
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Question -
I have a 1987 Chrysler LeBaron Turbo with the 4 cyl. 2.2 L engine. The car has NO power for acceleration. When I step on the gas nothing happens and it takes a long time from stop to gain any speed. What could be the cause of this?
Answer -
Hi Keith,
There are many possibilities. To begin with, how do things stand with ingnition timing (12 BTDC with coolant temp sensor removed (located on thermostat box) and engine warm) and spark plugs less than 25k miles on them? There is a good self-test you can do: readout the engine controller for the presence of any fault codes that it might have recognized. Just turn the ignition key "off-on-off-on-off-on" and leave the key in the on position (perform this manouever within a 5 second elapsed time,'on' means the run position of the key, not the starter position). You then watch the "power loss" light to start flashing, pause, flashing, pause, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause and make a mental or written note of those numbers. The last two sets of flashes will be 5 in each (that means the readout is complete). You can either write me back with the numbers or go to http://www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html
for a listing of the meaning of the codes. They don't tell you exactly what to do but tell you what part of the engine control system might be at fault. You might want to repeat the readout to make sure you have the counts correct.
The last things you might want to consider: the fuel filter which is located under the car, in front of the gas tank on the passenger side. Have a rag handy to absorb the gas which is under slight pressure when you first open the fuel line. Also, a cylinder compression test might tell you about the condition of the valves and piston rings which are suspect in an engine of that age. Finally, the turbo system might be at fault, but this is a part with which I have no experience. I have a 2.5 non-turbo from '89.
Roland
Answer -
Hi Keith,
Several ideas come to my mind.
First: did you ask the the engine controller to readout the fault codes by flashes on the "power loss" light, and did you get anything other then 55? How about doing it now and see if anything different has been stored? It is important to verify that nothing is wrong with the sensors, as far as the controller can see.
Second: I assume that you haven't done anything with the timing belt in the recent history, but none the less it would be good to look at the condition of the belt and also to verify that it isn't badly frayed and about to break which could also cause the timing of the ignition or the valves to jump to a new setting which is non-functional.
There is one way to check the valve timing that is pretty straight forward. If you can get the engine (using the starter motor) to stop (or move it by hand if you have a manual trans by putting it in top gear and push the car until the you are) at TDC on #1 (which is TDC on the flywheel scale with the rotor of the distrib also pointing to the #1 post of the dist cap) then with a flashlight look in the hole on the upper cover of the timing chain area (the right hand end of the engine, looking across the car to the left, you'll see a hole in that cover) and see if you can see centered in that hole an oblong cut-out in the sproket that drives the cam shaft. If not then the valve timing is out of step. I would even, if that looks o.k., take off the upper cover and inspect the timing belt (two nuts on the end of the valve cover, one bolt about midway down that holds the bottom and top covers together; you don't have to remove the bolt just loosen enough to allow the upper cover to slide up from the joint; it is a 10mm bolt head I believe because I just did this myself a couple of days ago). Make sure the belt isn't fraying and that the ridges look solidly attached to the backing.
Third, recheck the ignition timing once you get it to run again. Maybe the distributor rotated, or the intermediate shaft that is driven by the timing belt (if that were frayed) and times the distrib could have jumped a tooth on you. I assume that you are using a timing light and that the coolant temp sensor was unplugged and the engine was warm when you last set the timing? Is the distrib clamped down tight?
The symptom you describe could be the result of very early timing causing ignition to occur when an intake valve was not completely closed and thus blowing exhaust gases in to the intake manifold and presurizing the valve cover via blowby or thru the pcv valve.
So it has to do with timing of the valves or timing of the ignition.
Roland
AnswerHi Keith,
Yes, a head gasket leak can cause pressure from the cylinder action to pressurize the crankcase (if the leak is between the the cylinder wall and an oil galley) or the radiator (if the leak is between the cylinder wall and a coolant passage) and it could also cause a leak of fluid into the cylinder (white smoke out the tail pipe) or a leak of fluid out the edge of the seal between the head and block (white smoke where you descibed it to be). Did you test for compression on all 4 cylinder's; if not do so. You might try retorquing the head bolts (loosen all slightly to less than 45 ft-lbs (start at the outside upper left corner and go counterclockwise to the middle), then tighten all to 45, then tighten all to 65, then tighten all 1/4 turn, using pattern shown in manual (basically starting in the middle and going around clockwise). It might work, give it a try.
