Please help, my VR6 is misfiring - Update

[grimmy 0]

The head was rebuilt less than 6 months ago, but about 2 months ago it started misfiring. Starting checking the plugs and got to one that was covered in really hard crap... Cleaned that off and it was fine.

 

This evening it started misfiring on the way back from putting a 500 quid deposit down at the garage for my new exhaust and bmc cda. So again I started taking the plugs out, 6 was oily so cleaned it off, still misfiring. Took the lead off number 2 and that was oily, so was around the plug, took out the plug that was also covered in oil so cleaned that off, but still its misfiring. How can oil get past the plug? Could it be leaking down from the head gasket? As i'm sure you've guessed i'm clueless when it comes to car mechanics...

 

Its dark and raining so i'm not loving this, shall i take the plugs out again and make sure they're super super clean, and leave them out for a while for the oil to run off?

[CazzaVR 0]

Could be the rocker cover gasket...

[grimmy 0]

Well after ordering some new plugs as it was still missfiring today, it then decided that once i'd paid money for the plugs it'd spring back into life...

 

I guess i'll have to take it to the garage to see what they say.

[faz 0]

How would the rocker cover gasket have an impact...?

 

I'm curious..

[grimmy 0]

How would the rocker cover gasket have an impact...?

 

I'm curious..

 

There was oil on one of the leads, and around the top of the spark plug. Oil could have leaked from the cam gover gasket and straight down onto the spark plug. I'm going to have a look to see if theres evidence of this in the daylight tomorrow. Could explain why the oil is going so fast. Its also using a very small amount f water...

[ali moore 0]

m8, i had this, very odd, we took the sparky out, put a rag over the hole and turned her over, got rid of oil, i recond it was terminal but that was last year and she's still good,was it no. 5 by any chance?

[Toad 0]

is there any arcing from the coilpack? Open the bonnet when it's starting to get dark and inspect the connections. Try spraying wd40 over the whole thing and wiping it clean before addin a bit more wd for luck, see if that approves.

 

I hit a big puddle the other day and the water sat on the engine cover dripping onto one of the terminals causing a massive misfire.

[grimmy 0]

Well a month on and the dreaded misfire cropped up again. I started with plugs 2 and 6 which is where i had the problems before. To my horror i found a huge amount of oil sitting on top of the plugs again.

 

All the bottem 3 cylinders 2,4,6 are covered in oil.

 

 

 

 

 

Its hard to see from that last awful picture but down in the hole is a large amount of oil. It must be leaking down from the cam cover gasket. Having had the head rebuilt very recently should that be covered by them? Should i go and see them and ask that they replace the gasket?

 

Obviously there is still the problem that there is oil getting onto the plugs 2 and 6 so i suspect rings or worn bore. Do i have many options here? If the bore is worn i thought that 1 and 6 are the main culprits. Would i be looking at getting it rebored or a new bottem end. Which would be the cheaper option?

 

As you may be able to tell i'm fairly useless and just expect my cars to work :lol: I've already spent enough money on the car to accept i'm going to keep it and do what needs to be done to keep it running.

[steve @ 0]

Looks like the rocker cover gasket to me. I would replace the gasket and go from there.

[PROVR6 0]

Is the car burning oil at all/any blue smoke?

[CazzaVR 0]

Did they fit a new gasket when they did the work for you? If so, they should defo replace it foc. They should have replaced it if they did a rebuild.

[grimmy 0]

Is the car burning oil at all/any blue smoke?

 

 

Yeah it does smoke a bit, but only when you've say been coasting down a hill in gear. Then when you pull away at the bottem it puffs out a little cloud of smoke. Thats why i took it to get checked out and had the head rebuilt. Sadly it did not fix the problem. The oil consumption is much better as a result of the rebuild but it still uses about a litre every 700-800 miles.

 

Did they fit a new gasket when they did the work for you? If so, they should defo replace it foc. They should have replaced it if they did a rebuild.

 

Yeah they did put a new gasket on, thats why i thought they should replace it free of charge. Didn't get a chance to call them this morning but i'll drop in after work on monday. With a picture showing just how much oil was building up.

 

 

No-one got any advice about re-bore vs new block?

[PROVR6 0]

Im no mechanic but the symptoms sound like either valve stem seals or piston wear. I would presume when the head was rebuilt they would have changed the seals. They should have also carried out a compression/leak down test to eliminate piston wear. If the car is burning oil at the rate you say the plugs will foul like they are and you will have to keep cleaning them to stop the missfire. It could also damage your cat.

[grimmy 0]

Im no mechanic but the symptoms sound like either valve stem seals or piston wear. I would presume when the head was rebuilt they would have changed the seals. They should have also carried out a compression/leak down test to eliminate piston wear. If the car is burning oil at the rate you say the plugs will foul like they are and you will have to keep cleaning them to stop the missfire. It could also damage your cat.

 

 

Indeed they did replace the seals as they were very hard. Also a valve wasn't seating correctly so they refaced it or something. I'd presume they did a compression test after they'd reffited the head to ensure the problem was solved. The only option is to go and talk to them and see what they say. I can live with having to clean the spark plugs every month untill i can afford to get the work done that it needs.