Blowby ?

[CanadianCrusher]

I figured I would repost this as the other thread is stickied...

I have a 2000 Ford Windstar w\ 3.8

Re: Codes 171 & 174 TSB # 03-16-1 update
Great Info, thanks to all ! I am ordering the kit today.

I am also having an exesive amount of Oil coming out of the tailpipe
and assumed it was the rings until the CEL came on and I did some investigating.

Could the problem be bad enough that its the cause of this.


Thanks in advance for your responses!

[12Ounce]

How do you know its oil and not just oily water ... which is expected. Is the engine consuming a great deal of engine oil?

If it is indeed oil ... then anything is possible. I would expect your catylitic converters to fail pretty soon ... they don't take much unburn oil or fuel.

[CanadianCrusher]

Originally Posted by 12Ounce

How do you know its oil and not just oily water ... which is expected. Is the engine consuming a great deal of engine oil?

If it is indeed oil ... then anything is possible. I would expect your catylitic converters to fail pretty soon ... they don't take much unburn oil or fuel.

I assumed it was oil as the Van goes through 1-2 quarts of oil every 500 miles.There are no oil leaks and the van does not smoke.

[12Ounce]

Yeoh! That is a lot of oil!

How long has this been going on? What is the history of the car ... How many total miles ...any "events"...other symptoms?

[tartersauce]

Originally Posted by 12Ounce

Yeoh! That is a lot of oil!

How long has this been going on? What is the history of the car ... How many total miles ...any "events"...other symptoms?

Ouch 500 miles of steady driving or a Few days worth totaling 500miles?
Steady driving 500 nonstop you will lose some oil. Not as bad as 2quarts but you will lose.

If its a few days, 30 here, 20 there miles. You will need new oil rings, which is a complete teardown of your engine.

Make sure you check your PCV system. If its stucking oil into intake etc.

A good easy test is to run engine and remove your PCV and cover it with your thumb or hand. See if it builds pressure up quick. If it is infact blowbying the piston rings. Would show on Spark Plugs!!
Check Spark plugs for Black Deposits. Oil burning.
Look for Oil Leaks most common on these engines.

Temp things you can do:
Thicker oil, not good in winter months tho..
Engine oil additives, cleaners etc.

I've done a quart of Kero before to try and free up the Oil ring off of the piston. Adding Kero, You must install a new oil filter. Dont want to push junk out of the old filter back into engine. No driving with KERO. Must do a complete flush Oil change with another oil filter when done.

[12Ounce]

The PCV valve and path is highly suspect, I agree.

I doubt ring blowby ... but possible if the engine has been overheated severely or run low on oil, or with very old or poor oil ... or the engine has very, very high mileage. But after seeing how bad my piston oil control rings were stuck in their grooves ... all six pistons ... and yet the engine had never used oil (200kmi+), in fact, the crankcase was very clean ... I don't know what it would take to get "blow by". A broken upper ring perhaps. BTW, I don't remember ever adding oil between changes on this engine ... not even close.

Intake valve seals are another possibly ... but not very likely either from what I observed.

Of course there are weird gasket leaks also ... intake gaskets, front cover gaskets, etc.

[CanadianCrusher]

Originally Posted by tartersauce

Ouch 500 miles of steady driving or a Few days worth totaling 500miles?
Steady driving 500 nonstop you will lose some oil. Not as bad as 2quarts but you will lose.

If its a few days, 30 here, 20 there miles. You will need new oil rings, which is a complete teardown of your engine.

Make sure you check your PCV system. If its stucking oil into intake etc.

A good easy test is to run engine and remove your PCV and cover it with your thumb or hand. See if it builds pressure up quick. If it is infact blowbying the piston rings. Would show on Spark Plugs!!
Check Spark plugs for Black Deposits. Oil burning.
Look for Oil Leaks most common on these engines.

Temp things you can do:
Thicker oil, not good in winter months tho..
Engine oil additives, cleaners etc.

I've done a quart of Kero before to try and free up the Oil ring off of the piston. Adding Kero, You must install a new oil filter. Dont want to push junk out of the old filter back into engine. No driving with KERO. Must do a complete flush Oil change with another oil filter when done.

Ive heard than cycling KERO through the engine can do more harm than good.Would it be just as effective to use a product like SEA FOAM ?