Hey all,

Wife's van threw a P0305 the other day. I read some info here and figured it's either ignition or injectors. Dumped in a can of that B-12 everyone recommends and figured I'd change the wires and check the plugs while I'm at it. The #2 and #5 plug both had a lot of deposits just like the picture below.


http://www.xs11.com/forum/images/tips/20020915-plug_ash_deposits.jpg


The other plugs looked perfect. I changed these about 45,000 miles ago, they are OEM plugs (the van has 101,000 on it). The deposits chipped right off and the plugs cleaned up great so I re-gapped them and put 'em back with the new wires. I'm confused why only #2 and #5 looked like this. Could a bad coil pack with a weak spark cause this? #2 and #5 are both in the middle so they would share a coil, right? I was gonna see if the new wires make a difference but I can tell it still feels a little rough so something else is still wrong...

No it can't be caused by a bad coil.

2 and 5 aren't on the same coil.
2 is with 6
5 is with 1
4 is with 3

Are you loosing oil in your engine?

Yes, the engine burns about 1 quart every 3000 miles. There are no oil drops on the driveway anywhere so I know it's burning it. Never see any smoke from the exhaust or anything so I have no clue where it's coming from.

You would have to be burning A LOT of oil to see it in the exhaust.
Perhaps it is getting more oil into #2 and #5 cylinders?
They had the valve cover baffel for the PCV valve corrected from the factory by 2002.
I have not seen any information that says the windstar is prone to valve guide seal issues.....not that it cannot happen.
Same with piston rings....also reliable.
101K miles is nothing on the motor.....

Yes, 100Kmi is not a lot.

The oil that burns may come from the valve guide or from the lower intake manifold. You may have to change the isolator bolts.

If oil come in the cylinder, it contaminates the plugs.

I did the isolator bolt fix @ about 50,000 mi. The valve cover is the one that has the baffle so that's fine... I went ahead and put in a new coil pack since so many people complain about them. It actually helped a lot. I was getting a very slight knock when accelerating really lightly, even with the cleaned plugs and new plug wires - that is gone with the new pack. I knew the deposits could be from fuel/oil additives but figured I'd see it on all the plugs, not just 2 and 5.

Any other ideas on the oil consumption? I've read that 1 quart every 3000 isn't too much of a big deal.

No, it's not too much. 3000 miles is the double mileage that I do in 1 year!

If you have drove a lot since your last oil change, I suggest you to change your oil.
New oil is thicker and have less facility to leak in the engine.

If it doesn't work enough, you can add some oil additive that thick the oil a little bit.

i did the 171/174 fix in June and plugs and wire ,now was getting code 301 ,the coil pack read good on test but just change it last week and it runs very smooth no 301 code so far and the enginge feels like it has morepower,

2002 SE 76K

No, it's not too much. 3000 miles is the double mileage that I do in 1 year!

If you have drove a lot since your last oil change, I suggest you to change your oil.
New oil is thicker and have less facility to leak in the engine.

If it doesn't work enough, you can add some oil additive that thick the oil a little bit.

What do you mean, use like 5w40 instead of 5w30???

What do you mean, use like 5w40 instead of 5w30???

Not necessary, just add 3 onces of lucas oil additive. It's labelled "fuel saver engine treatment". But it'll not save fuel if you put it on oil, only stop leak.

It has stopped an oil leak on one of my engine. And stopped an oil consumption on a Hyundai Accent. And I was burning more than 1qt/3000miles. 3000miles is 2 years of driving for me.

i did the 171/174 fix in June and plugs and wire ,now was getting code 301 ,the coil pack read good on test but just change it last week and it runs very smooth no 301 code so far and the enginge feels like it has morepower,

2002 SE 76K

That's what he did. Now the problem is oil burning.

Pull the upper intake,will find out the EGR ports are plugged up with carbon and this will cause the missfire

Pull the upper intake,will find out the EGR ports are plugged up with carbon and this will cause the missfire

No, i cleaned those out when I did the isolator bolt fix. They actually weren't that bad...