Hey guys,

I think my 2.0 w/d-jet is needing a help. It eats a lot of oil and smells bad from the exhaust pipe. And the gas mileage is bad, too(17miles/gal).

I might have to find a rebuilt or a good used motor when the original motor is out of the car.

Now, what should I visually check when I buy a motor?

Thanks in advance,

kkid

How old are u Kid

I am old enough to drive a car.

Other than finding a running replacement motor that you can listen to (and smell), about the only test you can do on an un-running motor is a cylinder leakdown test.

About the only way to really know what shape a used engine is in is to tear it down and look.

Stu

Burning or leaking?

OK. How much oil is it using (quarts per tankful of fuel)? What color is the smoke (white or black)? There are few visual checks that help identify the condition of the engine. Leaks? Overall appearance? History? Compression and leakdown test results? (Both of 'em!) Seeing/hearing it run is a plus, driving the donor car before you buy the engine is even better.

Black smoke, especially accompanied by a 50% drop in fuel mileage indicates to me a bad MPS or excessively high fuel pressure. Likely the former.

The Cap'n

Thanks, I found a rebuilt 2.0 motor for sale locally today and it is less than $3K. What should I expect from that price?

A 12,000 mile warranty.

Seriously, who built it?

I think it's burning and I don't see any sign of leak on the garage floor. But it's weird that I see oil on the #4 spark plug thread. What does it mean?

What's hella oil? Should probably stick with conventional oil and maybe it wouldn't burn it.

"Hella" is a California term for "hell of" basically meaning a lot of... no not Hella like the lenses A lot of my friends have moved out of state and get kicked frequently for letting that term slip.

It uses about 1/3 quarts oil per tankful of gas and the exhaust gas has no color as it smells bad. It doesn't smell so bad when the motor is just started. I don't have leak test result but had tested compression and it showed decent result about an year ago.

Just tested the MPS and has no leak so far(no change from 20psi in 5 min). The fuel pressure is 29-30PSI according to the cheapo inline gauge. The motor was rebuilt about 35K miles ago.

Will post the motor run on youtube later.

Thanks

Hella NorCal. Hella hells yea.

It's funny because when i saw the title of the post i thought to myself "He's probably from Oakland" ...

Since he is in Oakland, I would suggest taking the car to McMark at original customs in Sonoma, he might be able to fix yours or help you find a reliable used motor or build you a new one.


Jeff

Do ya say it too Ahndy? I'm definitely guilty.. valley child.


Take it to McMark.

"California term"? I've lived here nearly all my life and I've never heard it used except on internet forums.

The Cap'n

Cap'n - I respect the hell out of you but this is a kind of a "new age" term My folks sure don't say it. Maybe more a Nor-Cal term

Lots of places oil will leak and burn off on the heat exchangers. Looks like a smoker going down the road. Might not be as bad as u think but u need expert advice.

Sorry, but none of yous guys are in the REAL NorCal. I'm hella further north than y'all are.

BTW, the kid that wanted to make "hella" officially mean 10 to the 27th power is from HERE (well, 25 miles from my house).

So. . yous guys (or y'all) from down south there in Oakland or SF wanna see where Nor Cal REALLY is, crank up the 914 and visit me in Weed.

Man kids up here use the hell out of the term hella... For what it's worth, course I'm kinda young.

Hi guys!

So I jacked up my car and took some pix. I see some oil here and there on the bottom of the motor. The worst is #2 cylinder which has an oil caramelized exhaust stud that is I think dripping some oil onto the heater branch piece. Overall, I see oil leak from all cylinders on the mating seam with the case. The oil cooler looks dry but I see slight oil in the front of the case.

#2 exhaust stud and nut w/hella caramelized oil
Click to view attachment

oily push rod tube
Click to view attachment

here is an oil. too.
Click to view attachment

other stud is clean but oil is visible on the copper exhaust gasket
Click to view attachment

other bank looks clean at a glance but...
Click to view attachment

#3 has a leak as #2
Click to view attachment


So what do you guys think?

Thanks,

kkid

That's normal and its not going to be loosing that much oil from those leaks. Do a leakdown test.

Thanks woody. That's what I thought.

But today I got a new finding.

One(for #4 cylinder) intake manifold hose is totally oil soaked and seeping. Other 3 are bone dry.

What does this suggest?

Thanks,

kkid

Could be blow-by (compression getting past worn rings, which carries oil with it). This would cause pressure in the case, which comes oil the oil fill tower and goes through a hose to the intake. You could pull off the hose from the oil fill tower and clamp it shut, then run a new hose from the oil fill tower to an empty gatorade bottle with some holes in it. This will catch the oil vapor and allow you to see how much is being blown out (assuming you secure it so it doesn't fall over while driving).

Seems to be a term used by clueless folks who wear their baseball caps backwards. Not all that many of them around here. The goat ropers keep 'em away.

The Cap'n

I never wear my baseball hat backwards.

That's hella dumb.

If you averaged 25 mpg (which you state you don't) then you'd average about 400 miles to 1/3 a quart of oil, which is well below the factory limit of 1 qt of oil consumption for 500 miles.

If you are only getting 17 mpg, I'm going to guess you have an over rich fuel issue that can cause premature engine failure. So check you fuel system.

Thanks Mark! This is interesting. I'll give it a shot when the weather permits.
Are the holes in the bottle to condense the vapor?

Yeah, but this spark plug didn't tell me it's a rich running. What do you think?
Click to view attachment
On the other hand, I don't really trust my fuel pressure gauge because I toyed the back screw once before.

This is a good chance to get a new fuel pressure gauge anyway.

Thanks,

kkid

It's hard to tell from the pic, and unless you do a proper "plug cut" it doesn't mean much anyway. You'd get better results at determining your air/fuel mixture with a tail pipe sniffer, and better yet a good wide band a/f meter.

The holes (at the top of the bottle) are to let the actual air pressure out. The idea is that the oil will fall out of the air and collect in the bottom of the bottle, while still allowing air flow in and out.

Without a way for the pressure to equalize, you will blow the case seals of your engine. Big mess.


Here's a pic of my "puke bottle". The top of the bottle has several holes that are facing the air filter so any vapors get sucked back into the intake and burned.

Cap, I believe that it falls in the same bucket with "What I did?" and "Where it is?"
You and I may break out with " bitchin' " once and awhile, but that is about it.

Weed, CA. That is awesome!

Konrad

Yah yah. . I called somewhere to order something once and they hung up on me when I said the town's name. Or they ask how close it is to "Bong" etc etc etc.

And here is THE sign that kept getting stolen and has been vastly changed:

Thanks Andy for posting the pics.

So I hooked up the puke receiver(Trader Joe's Half Gallon Milk Bottle) and drove about 20 miles. But all I see in the bottle is a few drops of water.

I will drive until the gas tank becomes near empty to see how much oil lost on the oil level gauge.

It's also funny that only #4 intake runner hose is oil wet.

to be continued....

kkid

do you mean dipstick?

yeah, the stick I mean...