oil spewing out and lots of smoke

[sc00byd0034]

i have a 89 jetta and i was having a problem with fuel. a ground wire that comes from the digi and goes to the engine for ground fell off. and the car wouldnt even start. i got that fixed so that it starts the there is a lot of smoke comming out of the exhaust now and it never did that before. and im not sure what it is but on the top of the engine out of the valve cover the is a line that comes out and goes to the intake. well there is a lot of oil in my intake. i think it is called something like a pcv valve? im not sure. but when i take it off and start my car after about 20 seconds of running a lot of oil came flying out of there. like i would say a half quart. is that normal. any ideas why it did that. do i have a piston ring leaking or something. any ideas would be appreciated.

[sc00byd0034]

aslo i checked the oil and it looked low so i added about a half of a quart. is that the reason why it came out so much? is that the reason there is oil in the intake too cause i added too much oil another time? is that also why it is smoking so much cause it is burning all that oil. and if i lust run it for a while it will go away?

[sc00byd0034]

i just went and drove it around for a little and it just died on me. if i let it idle it runs fine but as soon as i drive it it dies soon after i move. i opened the hood and there is oil everywhere. the gromet on the pcv vale is riped so i am gonna get a new one of those but i think there is something else wrong than just the gromet. and then when it dies i cant turn over the engine anymore like it is flodded. it turns over like a half a crank and thats it. any help would be appreciated

[zagrot]

that sounds like hydrostatic lock (water in the cylinder), unless some other foulness is afoot. when the engine refuses to turn over in the manner that you described try removing all of the sparkplugs (note which wires go to what cyl., think scotch tape and magic marker) and crank the engine. if water shoots out of the sparkplug hole that is bad news. if you have the means to do a compression check then it might be a good idea.

[sc00byd0034]

i did that way back when it first broke but ill do it again and check. something shot out. i thought it was gas. if it is water (you mean antifreeze right) do that mean i cracked the block or something. i dont want to spend money on it . i got it for 200 bucks. im just gonna junk it if something major is wrong. when it first brok like 2 months ago i started it up and drove a away and it did so it only ran for like 30 secs tops so i dont see how it could have overheated or something to so some major damage. well i will go check that . any more info would be great. thanks

[zagrot]

if the cylinder contained enough gasoline to shoot out of the spark plug hole then you probably have a fuel injector with a monster leak (ask someone else about CIS trouble shooting, if it turns out to be CIS fuel injection related you may want to send boschman a private message, all i can tell you is the fuel pressure must be a rock solid 15 psi under all conditions and that parts can be expensive or hard to find at reasonable prices (think junk-yard)). do you have electronic fuel injection or constant fuel injection? hint: CIS has the braded fuel hoses. if water comes out of the cylinder then you have (most probably) a bad head gasket. cracked blocks, from my experience, are rare. warped heads, cracked heads and bad head gaskets are far more common. if you can afford the price of the deposit on a coolant system pressure tester then remove all of the plugs and presurise the system to about 15 psi and if water comes out of one of the plug holes then you have found the bad cyl. if you can't afford the deposit, but you are resourceful get a six inch piece of small hose that will fit the coolant resivoir feed and attach a mudilated valve stem (be creative on this one). remove the resivoir feed hose (the small one) and plug it with something (use the hose clamp too or your plug may become a projectile). attach your jury-rig fitting to the coolant resivoir and use an air compressor to CAREFULLY (meaning a little at a time) pressurise the cooling system. use a tire pressure gauge, preferably the dial type, to check the pressure and do not exceed 15 psi (10 may be more safe and still produce the "desired" result). now wait a few minutes and look for coolant leaking into the cylinders, or anywhere else for that matter. the good part about testing in this manner is you may perform the test on a cold engine, so it is possible to investigate any leaks without burning your hands. if no coolant leaks into the cylinders then be happy that you have ruled out one possible cause of your woes, and that you have kept yourself entertained for a while. have fun.

[zagrot]

a side note about bad head gaskets (but not the holy grail of head gasket knowlege to be sure, that requires too much typing for me): if there is a break between the cooling jacket and the cylinder water will enter the cylinder. if the leakage is small water will enter the cylinder slowly, and concequently leave slowly when you try to start the engine unless you are lucky enough to have had the engine stop when the exhaust valve is open on the offending cylinder. if the head gasket rupture is huge you may never experience hydrostatic lock, but the cooling system will loose coolant very quickly (like twenty-miles-bone-dry fast). there is also a phenomenon known as vapor lock which i believe is caused by an excesive ammount of gasoline or excessive ignition advance, but i've never encountered it (aside from using engine starting fluid in my diesel rabbit, ether can be bad, i don't use it unless hell itself has frozen and even then i perfer five gallons of hot water). however, the effects of vapor lock deminish within a few minutes because the air pressure escapes from the cylinder. hydrostatic lock (envolves liquid), on the other hand will not go away on its own because liquid has a more difficult time escaping the cylinder and also because of the non-compressability of a liquid. otherwise stated, too much air is easy to squish, whereas liquids will not squish. *WARNING* attempting to start an engine suffering from hydrostatic lock may dammage pistons and connecting rods. if it won't crank don't keep trying, find out why it won't crank and alleviate the immediate problem.

[zagrot]

i just remembered an incident where a friend's car had a hole in the piston. it pressurized the crank case so quickly that the engine running at all would blow all of the oil out in a matter of minutes. while you have the spark plugs out use a piece of wire that has a smoothe tip and probe around on the top of the piston to see if there is a hole. i kindof doubt it but after rereading your initial post the bit about "a lot of oil flying out of there" just triggered a memory. now that i think about it i doubt that you have a head gasket leak or a hole in the piston because you said there was a lot of black smoke coming form the exhaust, and made no mention of water or blue smoke. and the fact that you JUST had a problem with the fuel system makes it likely that you still have a problem with the fuel system, unless the engine was running lean. so in light of that possibility try a cylinder compression test, the insturment involved looks like a 4" round pressure gauge on a one foot hose with a threaded brass piece on the end. warm the engine and remove all of the plugs. screw the gauge into the first cylinder spark plug hole and hold the gas to the floor while cranking the engine over for 4-5 compression strokes (you will hear the difference). record your findings and repeat on the remainder of the cylinders. you are looking for a reading between 120 psi and 150 psi with no more than a 15 psi (or os) difference. if any read zero then look for another car or prepare to become a do it yourself mechanic. sorry, you can't make a compression tester from scrap parts so renting one from one of the auto parts chains is your best option, unless you want a compression tester of your own. oh, and make sure the battery is strong as a weak battery will cause consistantly low readings.