2000 Quest: gas smell in the motor oil?

[74Rallye]

I just bought a 2000 Quest and there is a gas smell in the motor oil and the oil is fairly new. Also, while driving behind the Quest, the exhaust smelled a little rich. It has 160K mi. and has been well maintained.
I'm guessing a sensor is on the fritz. Any ideas?
Thanks.

[tempfixit]

Is CEL on??? Check for codes. Disconnect the 02 sensors, see if that makes a difference. Use a good fuel injector cleaner, to see if that helps. Sounds like a stuck injector to me which is washing the piston cylinder wall with gas and going into oil pan. I would not drive it alot like that. Gas could thin out the oil and cause damage to rod and main bearings.

[tempfixit]

Also check fuel pressue regulator.

[74Rallye]

Hey Tempfixit,

Thanks for the reply. I'll be getting the license tags for the van on Saturday. So you can see that I have zero experience with it, but I generally do all of the work to my vehicles. Let me ask you several questions:
What is CEL?
How hard is it to get to the plugs and injectors on a 2000 Quest?
Where is the best place to find a manual?

Thanks again,
Chuck

[tempfixit]

Chuck:

You might want to first off check fuel pressure regulator as it could be dumping excessive fuel into engine and contaminating oil.

CEL= Check Engine Light

The spark plugs are not hard to get to, pretty much out in the open but be very careful removing plugs as they are prone to be very hard to break loose and will break off. Best if you can spray plug with PB Blaster several times before attempting to remove. (ALuminium head and steel plugs) Some discussion has been made about the use of Loctite Freeze and remove product, but have not seen any results from it's use. Use anti seize when installing plugs.

Here is a link for the Factory Service manual:

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/

scroll down to Quest and choose year.

You can get a Haynes or CHilton manual at parts stores for about $20.00.

PM sent

[74Rallye]

Hey Tempfixit,

Thanks for the info!!!
I'll start adding a little penetrating oil to the plugs.
The plugs may be able to tell me which way to go.
6 wet plugs = regulator
1 wet plug = injector

I'll post back the conditions that I find. I'll be a few days as we are about to get hit with a snow storm here in southern VA.

[74Rallye]

I changed the plugs and they all looked a little rich. I did find 2 problems:

- One of the spark plugs had the metal gasket cocked a little sideways and the plug was out of the hole about 2 threads. Someone likely felt that they were stripping the aluminum threads when the gasket started to make contact with the head.

- The new air filter was crammed into the box like an accordion. The rubber gasket was torn off of the filter on one corner. A real hack job!

I'm guessing that with the air filter compromised, the computer could not correctly read the incoming air flow and temperature and then compensated for it with a rich mixture.
The van seems to run and smell much better now.

[tempfixit]

Originally Posted by 74Rallye

I changed the plugs and they all looked a little rich. I did find 2 problems:

- One of the spark plugs had the metal gasket cocked a little sideways and the plug was out of the hole about 2 threads. Someone likely felt that they were stripping the aluminum threads when the gasket started to make contact with the head.

- The new air filter was crammed into the box like an accordion. The rubber gasket was torn off of the filter on one corner. A real hack job!

I'm guessing that with the air filter compromised, the computer could not correctly read the incoming air flow and temperature and then compensated for it with a rich mixture.
The van seems to run and smell much better now.

WIth the air filter comprimised like you say it might be a good idea to clean the MAF Sensor, use a real soft paint brush and maf sensor cleaner. The sensor may have a dirt film on it from the improperly placed filter. IS the filter box seem to be wider in the middle then the ends? If so you can drill a hole in housing and install a piece of readu rod or bolt and pull it back into shape.

Glad to hear it is running better.