New Fiero owner....2.5L issues

[Repo_agent]

I just recently bought an 84 Fiero and it was doin great. noticed a little lifter noise so while it was running i took off the oil cap and noticed pressure coming out of valve cover. I usually run across crankcase vaccum but never pressure coming out valve cover. Water temp seems good but i did see some sludge in breather tube and pcv system, looks as though a little water has gotten in somewhere. I drained the oil and found no water/coolant.

Lower end of motor sounds fine so i am fiuring on just fixing the problem for right now.

For a car with a 4 banger and one that needs a lil work i still found the Fiero to be a great lil car. So i am now a proud Fiero owner.

Any ideas on my engine problems would be appreciated.

[barnesd]

When my 84 was having presure up from the crankcase it was the piston rings. For some reason every cylinder had at least 1 cracked compression ring, two had both cracked. My pressure buildup was big enough to pump oil into the air cleaner and the resultant smoke was unreal . A quick compression check should tell you if its the rings . I replaced mine with the engine still in the car. Hope this helps .

[lelandl]

The 2.5s are noted for noisy cam gears so be sure that isn't the noise first. It is not uncommon to have some blowby and pressure in an older engine. In some cases it is simply the windage of the crank.

Your sludge may just be condensation. Do you do a lot of short drives (under 20 to 30 minutes)? If so the engine may not be warming enough to evaporate all of the moisture. Is the sludge light coloured (yellowish)?

Make sure your PCV system is working properly and do a dry and wet compression test to see how the rings are holding up.