95 monte carlo 3.4L DOHC motor problems.

[hondadbing116]

I recently bought a 95 Monte Carlo 3.4L DOHC for 350.00. The cars body is in great shape and the interior is also flawless. the motor however has some issues.

1.) To start off the idle "purges"? it goes up then down, up then down...and so on. it never stalls though.

2.) I noticed when its hot, oil bubbles out of the spark plug holes onto the cam cover. the O-rings don't keep the spark plug "adapters" snug in their holes, i can push them down at least a 1/4 inch.

The car goes down the road fine and has lots of power it just has these issues that are not normal and i cant figure them out. any help is greatly appreciated.

[matthewboyleZ34]

Heck of a deal for the Monte 3.4L! If you find anymore like that send it my way, lol!

1) Sounds like a MAF, IAC, or Fuel problem. It can be any of the following:
a. Vacuum leak - Check with soapy water for bubbles from all vacuum hoses.
b. EGR Leak or PCV valve clogged
c. Air filter clogged
d. Head Gasket leak - Perform cylinder compression check
e. Worn timing chain/belt
f. Valves leaking or burned
g. Dirty or clogged fuel injectors
h. Faulty Ignition System
i. Faulty Idle Control System
j. Faulty emission or engine control system.

I would start here though: If your air duct isn't tightly fit around the throttle body, then air is by-passing the Mass Air Flow sensor and fooling your computer to think it's starving for air one second while its getting too much air in reality and compensating for it the next second (aka engine lope). This will overwork your IAC valve which could be the problem in the first place if it is all gummed up with carbon. You can check your MAF sensor with a scan tool which it should measure 4.0 - 6.0 grams per second. You can remove the IAC and check for cleanliness and measure (with an volt/ohm meter) for resistance between terminals 1 and 2 and then 3 and 4 of the IAC valve. They should be the same on both sets. If there is no resistance on either one, then the valve is bad. If good, place back into the TB. Try these steps first and see if that fixes the problem.

2) Get a camshaft carrier cover gasket set from Auto Zone and replace those o-rings. They may have it in their system as a valve cover gasket, but it's clearly not a cover for valves (Hence DOHC dual over head cams). I'm not sure what you mean by "spark plug 'adapters'", but i think a good BOSCH set of wires for $100.00 (lifetime warranty so keep the receipt) at AutoZone (they give a 10 - 15% military discount)would fix that. You will have to remove the upper intake manifold to get to the back three wires. The hardest part is the three bolts/nuts that hold the throttle body to the upper intake plenum. There is one bracket on the backside of the throttle body that has to come off before you can remove the nut for the throttle bottle to come off the plenum. 10mm 1/4 in drive deep well socket and rachet will be your best friend along with the 10mm box/open end wrench. When replacing the upper intake, ensure that the PCV valve gets replaced into its correct tube. If not then you will have a noticeable loud vacuum leak and this would give you loping problems in the near future. I have done this a way too many times to know this off the top of my head. Good luck!