2002 windstar engine pinging??????

[schadd1971]

does the oil seperator restrict the suction/vacuum any?? how about your catch can wiswind? and where did you get the can at? and does the oil seperator seem to be holding up ?

[wiswind]

My catch can was not a home-made unit.....
I seem to remember looking it up on cardomain.
It is a Greddy brand......
After a number of years, you can expect to need to replace the vaccum hoses going to and from it as they will soften up over time from exposure to the oil vapors.
This is also true for the factory hoses from the PCV valve to the intake....as I had to replace those.
More vapor is collected in cold weather.....not so much in hot weather.
This is in spite of the long run that I put into the hoses.....to give more time for the vapor to cool down.
I located the catch can right next to the fill spout for the windshield washing fluid.

[schadd1971]

update ....oil separator is not working......any other suggestions??

[12Ounce]

Pushing 350k miles on my '99 3.8. No Berryman's. No Seafoam. No catch can. No pinging. ( I do like to add up to one ounce of fresh motor oil per gallon of gasoline at fill-ups, when I think of it.)

Yes, Ford could have done a better job of designing the return of crank case PCV "waste" back into the inlet air stream. Could have done a better job of keeping the returning waste oil in the form of a mist, instead of letting it gather into liquid droplets that can clog the EGR jets. But besides that fault, its a workable induction system. Just needs to have flawless inlet manifold tightness ..... and exact engine timing. Cam positioning timing and crank ignition timing ... as well as properly functioning fuel supply ... injectors. The cam postion sensor should be set using the proper gauge. The crank pos sensor is not adjustable, but if the harmonic balancer has slipped there will be problems. By using a feeler rod against the piston top (cyl #1) the timing marks on the crank pulley can be confirmed.

The inlet air filter must be well maintained to keep the crankcase supplied with fresh air.

Of course, if the engine is in poor repair ....too much piston by-pass, leaking valve stem seals and the like, old igniton cables, EGR not correct, etc ... then pinging may not be correctable. I like to reseat valves and replace valve stem seals at least by 200k miles or so. The injectors are bench-cleaned and lubricated at the same time. If this engine reaches 450k miles, and I'm still able, I will plan on tearing down engine again.

[schadd1971]

my windstar pings like a piece of junk due to oil fouling on the plugs due to fords poor pvc design,,,tried the oil separator that fits air compressor but seems a waste of time.....my windstar sucks a lot of oil in pvc....even with oil/water separator....any other suggestions....hows the greedy can seem to work?

[schadd1971]

there has to be a solution ...to have a dry pcv....and I know some of you guys are pretty smart to help me figure it out.....

[schadd1971]

how does ford deal with this...or justify this???? by the way could any other part from another car work...I have seen air oil separators built into other cars... could one be adapted to work on windstar?????