High pressure air sound on drivers side of motor

[vrsprspt]

Don't need to pull anything apart to check if exhaust manifold is loose only need to check if bolts are loose. Feel around with fingers for each bolt and get in there with a ring spanner or ratchet. It might be tight and a pain in the arse to do but a hell of alot better than pulling it all apart to find it's not the problem

 

[Brett_jjj]

The "high pressure air sound" could have been made by a loose or non sealing sparkplug.. This could have caused the buildup of oil or carbon or whatever it is around the porcelain part of the plug..

 

[CRCinAU]

The "high pressure air sound" could have been made by a loose or non sealing sparkplug.. This could have caused the buildup of oil or carbon or whatever it is around the porcelain part of the plug..

To be honest, that's what I thought... It looks like there has been quite a lot of crap around there for a while... There is certainly a larger degree of buildup (the general black crap) gathered around that plug area for the #6 cylinder. As I said previously, I swapped the plug from #6 to the opposite side, then placed the opposite side plug in #6. The sound still came from #6 - so if it is the sealing it isn't from the spark plug itself...

This brings me to the question... How to clean this area... I'm assuming if it isn't sealed, then a high pressure water washer is out of the question - same with degreaser...

 

[CRCinAU]

I've just gone out there again and decided to cram my smartphone into any gap I can to try and get photos of whats going on around that area...

This is looking directly at the #6 spark plug.


Looking at the top of the exhaust header.


Looking at the back of the rocker cover towards #6 piston.


Looking at #6 spark plug hole (is spark plug removed)


Not quite enough info to tell where its coming from - but its certainly a load of shite around the spark plug...

 

[aussieakito]

Thats rocker cover gasket leaking.

 

[CRCinAU]

Thats rocker cover gasket leaking.

Ok... I'll check the nuts on there and tighten them a little (if I can) but I doubt this by itself would have anything to do with the noises... I'll also give it a bit of a clean with a wire brush / degreaser / hose - maybe it'll help to see better around there...

I was also thinking that *maybe* all the crap around there is stopping the spark plug from sealing properly... Its only a wild guess though...

I thought it may also be a bent valve? Maybe also rings problem? I'm just trying to cover the simple things first - before the expense of either a pull apart / rebuild / replacement motor...

EDIT: Also added a couple more pics to the above post...

 

[CRCinAU]

Posted a quick video / audio of the engine running... This is the view down to near cylinder #6. The compressed air noise is clearly audible...

https://plus.google.com/105746722481078274757/posts/Qc8y7gor54R

I did tighten up the rocker cover bolts - all of which turned quite easily for ~1/3 of a turn.. If it is leaking oil etc here, hopefully that will stop it...

 

[moggy]

Cracked exhaust manifold perhaps?

 

[Brett_jjj]

It sounds like its leaking compression past one of the sparkplugs. How tight are the plugs done up? Id remove them and check trhe plug seats for carbon buildup etc. Tighten the plugs finger tight first, and then give them an extra 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn with a plug spanner until theyre nipped up firmly..

 

[Wozza]

Yeah kinda sounds like the plugs not seating due to all the crap down there...you could try the talc powder trick, make sure its as clean as possible around the plug, dump some talc around the plug and get someone to start the car. You should see the talc get blown out by any leak...If it is the case, pull the plug out and stuff a rag into the plug hole and clean any crap of and around the heads plug seat...Ive used a bit of coper/brass pipe flattened at one end in the past, as its a softer metal it shouldnt mark or gouge the plug seat but is tough enough to chip away any carbon deposits..