I've got engine issues, need some advice

[Logan]

My Ty idles fine (all things considered) but under load it sputters and falls on itself. This occurs around 2800 rpms regardless of how much throttle is given, it is burning horribly rich and when it starts it spits carbon and unburned fuel out of the exhaust pipe. Also there is a metallic tick that increases and decreases with RPMs. Also there is the smell of fuel in the oil and slight smoking out of the oil filler tube on occasion.

1. Performed tune up (cap, rotor, wires, plugs, fuel filter, oil and filter) no difference

2. Compression check showed low compression in all six cylinders (88-95ish psi), checked 3x per cylinder to verifiy.

3. Fuel pressure tested and was 42 psi on prime and 55ish at idle IIRC

So any ideas?

Could the timing be so far off that the valves are not fully closing/opening and causing the horrible performance?

Could this also explain the fuel in the oil? I don't see how but anything is possible.

At first I thought maybe the rings were shot but all of them at the same time seems strange and the ticking noise really couldn't be isolated. I used a stethoscope and I couldn't pin point it. It isn't the fuel injectors I know those make noise but this is distinctly metallic and gets worse as it heats up, exhaust leak is still a possibility but I have that gut feeling (which means nothing) that it is something else.

Any information or opinions would be appreciated.

 

[RealFastV6]

Sure sounds like you've got a major valve train problem to me. At this point I'd pull the engine.

What's the history on the engine itself?

Your fuel pressure is WAY high, but I can't see it causing 88psi compression across the board even if you washed all the rings.

Fuel pressure base should be 42-45 with the vac line unplugged depending what chip / tune you've got going on.

 

[sparkwire]

Re: I've got engine issues, need some advice

sounds like the cam timming is off

 

[Don W.]

Re: I've got engine issues, need some advice

Blown intake gasket(s)? Virtually requires removal of lower intake to verify absolutely . Do you have DM?

Some items from the manual:
Rich or leaking inj.
Canister purge (check for fuel saturation)
MAP sensor bad (disconnect and see if rich goes away)
Bad TPS (causes ECM to think engine is accelerating, delivering more fuel)

HTH

 

[midnightbluS10]

Re: I've got engine issues, need some advice

Sure sounds like you've got a major valve train problem to me. At this point I'd pull the engine.

What's the history on the engine itself?

Your fuel pressure is WAY high, but I can't see it causing 88psi compression across the board even if you washed all the rings.

Fuel pressure base should be 42-45 with the vac line unplugged depending what chip / tune you've got going on.

Just to clarify. Stock fuel pressure should be 42-43 psi with the engine running, fpr vac line disconnected and capped off/plugged. Have you verified that fp is increasing 1:1 with boost? Meaning 1lb of fp for every lb of boost?

 

[Quickstop [UK]]

Re: I've got engine issues, need some advice

Is your FPR bad, flooding the engine with fuel hence the high FP at idle, washing the oil too thin making the compression lower and also letting the lifters bleed down?

How long has it been like this? An oil change is essential as is cutting your filter open to look for bearing material. Maybe if you have a squirt gun you could oil the cylinders with via the plug holes to see if that daisies compression.

How did this present? Anything to cause it in the way you were driving? Stock truck mostly?

An oil change and a new FPR are a minimum at this point otherwise you're into teardown territory. Please post up what you find.

Good luck.

 

[Logan]

Re: I've got engine issues, need some advice

Thanks for all of the info guys, I am still deployed in Afghanistan so I can't make much progress here but this gives me some ideas to chase down when I get back. You guys pretty much verified what I was thinking about it being shot. I have been planning on a complete rebuild but I didn't want to jump off into that if I was missing some small issue. To answer some of you guys questions:

1.It has the Ultimate chip but that is going away so I can go with the Moates setup and Code 59 it.
2. It has an adjustable FPR but I never messed with it.
3. The only history I have is a lot of random bolt-ons and what I think is a blown engine. The previous owner was a moron from what I can tell.
4. I did not verifiy the 1:1 FPR/Boost increase but I know after I rebuild the engine I am gonna have to tune out all of the bugs
5. This problem has been like it since I got it. I bought it sight unseen and when I picked it up the seller was a complete piece of (special name here).

Again, I really appreciate everyone's input. I have some work cut out for me when I get back in Decemeber. I should have her up and running by summer of 2013. I will do a build thread so everyone can share in the joy.

 

[jaystcb]

Re: I've got engine issues, need some advice

Sounds like you have a bucket full of problems.

Slight smoking out of the oil filler tube on occasion I heard is OK. But it could be from sticky pcv valves.

Replace the oil and filter ASAP.

Check the timing for TDC (remove plug #1, rotate the engine by hand until piston #1 is at the top of the cylinder and the distributor rotor is pointing to cylinder #1 and mark the balancer just to be safe).

Check to see if your plug wires are in the correct location.

Check for a major vacuum leak. Start with the Vacuum lines in front of the intake plenum. Then check the vacuum ball is holding vacuum. Also check the FPR to see if it is leaking gas into the vacuum lines.

X2 on the Blown intake gasket (Don W.)

The only other thing I can think of is a cracked waistgate housing. But that is a long shot. I have only had one crack and that was on a Mitsubishi with 180,000 miles

Good luck. Hope it is a simple fix.