Don't ever take your car to a "detailer"

when i bought my 96 the engine was covered in afro-sheen.. or whatever you wanna call it that makes engines and plastic parts all shiny looking...

car was also running rough...

all i did was replace the serpentine belt ( which had that sh!t all over it)..

ran perfect after that... i think it was slippping due to the excessive amount of detailing crap on it...

as for the oil in the plug tubes... i had that problem on my honda.. replaced the spark plug tube seals and ended that problem.. Pita!!.. no idea if mark viiis have the same type of seals though
 
I believe you have to pull the covers and replace a little rubber seal on each hole.
 
NateRW21 said:
I believe you have to pull the covers and replace a little rubber seal on each hole.
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hopefully it's that simple... i had to pull the head on my honda to get to the seals since there were upper and lower seals...

haha.. i said head
 
Clean up the oil/change the plugs etc (do whatever you need to, to get the plug tunnels bone dry and free of oil and replace the boots/plugs.) Don't forget to use dielectric grease on the new boots.
If that doesn't cure the problem start looking for vacuum leaks like the guys mentioned, and maybe talk to the detailer to see if he will help out then...
I can't remember if there is a filter under a cap on the Evap sensor, IAC etc that may be blocked up, might be worth looking into as well.
 
Well I dropped the car off at the mechanics. I talked to the owner of the detail place first, and after him basically calling me a liar, I got him to agree to foot the bill if he's at fault.

I never got a chance to check for vacuum leaks with the starter fluid, but I'm sure my mechanic will catch that if it's the problem.

And I'll have them take care of the valve cover gasket/tower boots too while it's there.

Thanks for all the help! I'll let everyone know what the verdict is.
 
unity said:
I still say vacuum leak.

Your getting a bad smell from the exhaust and its rough idle. I really think its vacuum still.
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Unity is correct in regards to vacuum leak.

now what most people dont realize is when the little oring gaskets in the valve covers start to leak oil into the plug wells..
THEY ARE ALSO A SOURCE OF A VACUUM Leak.

Think about it... PCV valve in the valve cover PCV line goes into the intake manifold..
... leaking orings in the valve cover.. WALA.... unmetered air entering the engine!

Checkmate.
 
"I never got a chance to check for vacuum leaks with the starter fluid, but I'm sure my mechanic will catch that if it's the problem."


If the mechanic isn't intimately familar with these engines then he'll likely NEVER think that the plug well could be the source of the vacuum leak.

There is so much vacuum related crap on these cars, unless you are very careful it's very easy to overlook something that is covered up..and you cant see it.
 
Well.. my car is still at the mechanics. So far they've taken out about a gallon of water from the engine and replaced two more boots but it's still not running right, so it will be there over the weekend.
 
Kraze said:
Well.. my car is still at the mechanics. So far they've taken out about a gallon of water from the engine and replaced two more boots but it's still not running right, so it will be there over the weekend.
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wow that is odd, I wonder where all that water is coming from?

I dont think the plug wells could hold that much water.

that is very odd... please keep us posted/updated.
 
my money is on misfire due to the oil and carbon tracking on the plug(s).

once the carbon tracking starts you need to replace both the boot/wire AND the spark plug or it will continue and damage whatever you replaced.
 
Ok so the mechanics still don't know what's wrong with my car. The valve cover gasket has been replaced and all oil was cleaned from the spark plug tubes, and all water from the engine has been removed too. It's not a vacuum leak either. All the coils and plugs are good now, but it still has a misfire. It's a random misfire that they can't pinpoint to anything.

Any more ideas? I'm thinking about have the dealership check it out when I take it in for the recall.. I hate dealerships :(
 
Kraze, thats crazy talk man! Find another mechanic. Hell put an add on craigslist for a MARK VIII mechanic if you have too. Just dont go to the steelership!!!

If I have read this thread right (probably didn't) you still haven’t replaced the plugs and wire's yet, Like VR4 said it sounds like carbon tracking.
 
Markviiiedrea said:
Kraze, thats crazy talk man! Find another mechanic. Hell put an add on craigslist for a MARK VIII mechanic if you have too. Just dont go to the steelership!!!

If I have read this thread right (probably didn't) you still haven’t replaced the plugs and wire's yet, Like VR4 said it sounds like carbon tracking.
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No wires (gen 2) but yes I forgot to mention all the plugs have been replaced, along with all the boots that were ruined by the water. And it has to go to the dealership for the recall anyways.

I'm thinking about just doing a couple cheap things to see if it helps any. PCV valve, sea foam, injector cleaner. I know it's a long, long shot but why not. It could use it anyways.
 
Did you replace all the boots, or just a couple? If only a few, how old are the others?
 
Icarus said:
Did you replace all the boots, or just a couple? If only a few, how old are the others?
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There's a total of 4 new ones. The two I replaced, and the two the mechanic replaced. This mechanic has always been good in the past so I trusted him on only needing to replace 2 more. But who knows how old the other ones are, I certainly don't lol.
 
If your unsure, I'd replace them to start as well as the tune up stuff you mentioned, as you said, it won't hurt ;)
 
True. I'm thinking about going with the Motoblue connector kit, that just looks so much better than the stock ones. I'm just getting tired of throwing money at the problem without knowing for sure what's wrong. Looks like that's what I have to do in this case though.
 
See if your mechanic has a good scanner that he can check the sensors etc out in real time. Then he can see if they are staying in spec.
How bad is it missing now? Is it just during idle, or at cruise and decel too? Stalling? OBD II cars will sets codes for bad misfires...
 
Icarus said:
See if your mechanic has a good scanner that he can check the sensors etc out in real time. Then he can see if they are staying in spec.
How bad is it missing now? Is it just during idle, or at cruise and decel too? Stalling?
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I can datalog with my Xcal if I knew what parameters I should be logging. But I'll see if he can do this, or if he already did it.

It's missing at both idle and acceleration. It's intermittent though, but when it's missing, it's missing bad. And it seems like it needs to get warmed up for it to happen. The mechanic said it would drive fine for the first half of the test drive, but then on the way back it would start missing again. And they did plenty of test drives.
 
Kraze said:
I can datalog with my Xcal if I knew what parameters I should be logging. But I'll see if he can do this, or if he already did it.

It's missing at both idle and acceleration. It's intermittent though, but when it's missing, it's missing bad. And it seems like it needs to get warmed up for it to happen. The mechanic said it would drive fine for the first half of the test drive, but then on the way back it would start missing again. And they did plenty of test drives.
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OBDII scanner should show a code for the missfire.
The last digit of the code should indicate THE cylinder that IS missfiring.

You mentioned your Xcal, and I hate to even bring this up...

BUT.. can you flash your PCM back to stock and see if the missfire is still present?

Since you are "this deep" into this issue, "I" would replace the remaining boots as well...just to be on the safe side.
 
As far as the detail went, I haven't done a detail on a car for less than $200. I just got burnt out doing it and I was 18.:lol: I just do my own stuff and the occasional favor.

The key on an engine detail is to know not to steam or power wash it. Some cars you will severely f*** up the distributor; example being LT1 Corvettes and F-Bodies have the Optispark that is easy to screw up with water(esp. the unvented optis). I always go in with microfibers and simple green to clean the engine, then use Aerospace 303 to give it a clean, not greasy look. Too many things can go wrong when you try to steam clean or power wash an engine, so I just don't. A good detailer is worth their weight in gold, and sure as s*** will never give away a detail, maybe a wash here and there for a good customer, but that's about it.

Also, what codes is it throwing(if it is), like PO300? Or is it more specific?

No matter what, hope this works out for you.
 
post the codes if it has any. if youre good with someone at a dealer see if theyll do a power balance for you. that will pinpoint the misfire to a specific cylinder. if its an intermittant miss itll be an ignition problem 99.99999% of the time.
 
It hasn't thrown any codes. It goes to the dealership on Friday, I'll see about the power balance thing then.

The misfire is a lot less noticeable after the new plugs, boots, and valve cover gasket though.
 
Have them do a power balance and a relative compression check which takes like a minute to do.
 
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