i checked out a frieinds car today as it chugging like a wench on heat without energy. there is mass oil on the spark plugs so im thinking either rooted rings or falty valve stems seals but it isnt smoking from the exhaust. also when u put your foot done she splutters and i noticed no difference when the idle control or throttle positioning sensor was unpluged so in thinking its the throttle positioning sensor. the car is a hunk of **** manual with fuel injection. first time i have worked on this model and wondering if i have got it correct with my findings. also car does a max of 80 km at 3 thou rpm any opinoins would be much appreciated
Time for a few basic checks, methinks. First up, compression test = that will sort out the cause of the oil on the plugs. Could be worn rings, scored bores (usually caused by broken rings), valve stem seals, worn valve guides, leaking head gasket. How many k's has the car done? The old Camira based engines had issues with valve stem seals wearing out. This is mistaken for blowby, but it's easy to see if this is the problem, and easy and cheap to fix. Drive the car for a while to get it warm. Run it down a hill with your foot off the accellerator, As you get to the bottom of the hill, accellerate and lok in the mirror. If you see a fair cloud of white smoke, the valve stem seals are stuffed. Remove and clean plugs, check timing belt for tension and wear marks or cracks. Tighten or replace the belt by means of loosening and rotating the water pump. (Bound to be seized in the block) but there are ways around this problem. Just ask if you encounter this problem.) Road test to check for the oil smoke etc. Report back with your results to see if there is something else not covered so far.
cheers fellas seems like its poor problems than its worth considering im doing a cheepie for a mate. thank god the pub is next door
Zuicider Minux referred to coil packs. I don't know if the old Camira motors were updated to have coil packs or not on the Leganza (they didn't on Camiras - just had old fashioned coils - nice and cheap to replace). I'm inclined to still go with the worn valve stem seals, but give the car a compression test anyway. Incidentally, a compression test won't show up worn valve stem seals, so if the compression is ok, try the downhill test I suggested - it's guaranteed to show up valve stem seals if it blows clouds of smoke when you accellerate at the bottom.
