Non Aurora car problem! Head Gasket?? Stuck.

[RCSRGREAT]

This is a problem Im having with my sisters car. This fusion has 89,000 miles on it and it recently had a bad valve cover leak that I went to start to fix. Checked the oil and there was absolutely none in it. She wanted to wait until next weekend to get it fixed so I filled the engine with 4qrts to get her home across town. She's started out the driveway and there was a massive cloud of smoke out the tail pipe. She stopped and I had her leave it here. I started taking the valve cover off and plugs and noticed the cylinders were full of oil. The plugs were soaked and there was barely any oil in the engine.

I'm guessing there is a head gasket problem where the oil is getting sucked into the intake manifold and getting burned out the tail pipe.

I've seen on other places of many people with the same complaint but most were taken to the dealer and the engine was actually blown due to no oil and being driven that way (never any engine light or low oil light). All had to have new engines. This engine isn't blown, caught it before that happened I think.

Anyone know exactly what is the part that failed to cause this??? Need help! Don't want to tare into this anymore then I have to if this engine is no longer any good. I don't work on fords usually so this is new to me.

Thanks
Don

[tigger]

Sounds like valve seals or piston rings. Either of these and a serious oil leak equals bad news! What year and engine?

[RCSRGREAT]

2006 2.3L 4cyl. Doubt it's seals since it went through 4 qrts in less then 10 minutes. Going to continue ripping it apart and see what I find.. I'm hoping there's oil in the intake when I take it off, that'd be better news then if there wasn't, since that would mean head gasket or gallery plug. I read up on this engine and there's a ton of weird ******* that goes wrong with them... Leave it to ford

[RCSRGREAT]

Progress so far... Have to remove the front end of the car to be able to remove the intake manifold.... Smh

[tigger]

Jan 18, 2015 23:25:38 GMT -6 RCSRGREAT said:

2006 2.3L 4cyl. ...it went through 4 qrts in less then 10 minutes.

WOW! Might wanna contact Randy T., think he's a mechanic at a FROD dealership. See if he's seen this before.

[Randy T.]

I have not run into this problem before, but I will run it by a master tech and see what he says.

[sall]

It was four quarts low and being driven?? Added four quarts and subsequently burned it all again. I'd say that engine is toast.

Compression test?

[RCSRGREAT]

Thanks Randy!

Sall, yes she drove it for a while with a "smell" without telling me... The smell was the valve cover leak that was running all over the exhaust manifold but I guess she drove it long enough that way to empty the oil out of the engine... There was barely any on the very top of the dipstick. She got a lecture, and I was hoping nothing serious happened to it but it's looking like something bad happened. I had 4 qrts I put in and it ran for about 10-15mins and after the smoke out the tail pipe the oil level was back down to the "add" area on the dipstick. Plugs were dripping with oil when I took them out. Can see the oil pooled on the Pistons.. I've had people try telling me it's valve seal or piston rings but none of those make sense to why all cylinders are like that. I could see that if it was one or two cylinders.. That's why I'm thinking it's got to be getting into the intake manifold, only way I could see it getting into all cylinders at once.

[Randy T.]

I talked to a couple guys and they had not heard of this problem before, he did say there is an oil galley that runs in the head gasket area, so, Don, it looks like you are on the right path.

[RCSRGREAT]

Thanks Randy, the first two cylinders have the most oil in them. The intake manifold after I finally got it off had a good amount of oil in it as well. I'm still thinking it has to be a head gasket. Just weird that no coolant has gotten into the oil or oil in the coolant. Never over heated either. Guess all I can do is keep ripping it apart until I find the problem lol.

[98redaurora]

Keep us posted. My father has had 4 or 5 fusions over the years. Interesting.

[Randy T.]

If you need torque specs or any info, let me know, I have access to Mitchell and Ford dealer information. If you get a chance send the vin to me on FB and I will check for TSBs on your problem.

[phydeaux]

As a former L1 tech I can say with all certainty that the issue is STILL the valve cover gasket, but not where you think. I noticed that the spark plugs are recessed BELOW the valve cover surface. There are gaskets that seal around the spark plug recesses. If these go bad, and they do, often, oil will collect on top of the spark plug. When you pull the plug, the oil trapped on top of the plug drains into the cylinder. This will set off all kinds of panic thinking you have some sort of catastrophic engine failure. Chances are, a simple valve cover job will cure the consumption, smoke, and smell. Clean the surfaces with the yellow arrows really well and replace the gaskets on the valve cover (they will come with the set).  Do not use a razor blade/die grinder.  Lots of elbow grease, WD40, and a scotch brite pad.  Follow up with a clean rag and acetone.  Also, look closely at the place the blue arrows point to. Notice how there is a little seam there? That is where the timing cover comes to the block. Put a SMALL dab of RTV black on that spot before reassembly. I cannot stress how clean and dry these parts have to be!!! I also cannot stress how critical the torque spec is!!! I don't have that number off the top of my head but would venture to guess in the neighborhood of 65 in/lbs.  Keep us informed.  If you need more help, send me a PM and I'll give you my phone number so you can text me.  GOOD LUCK!!!

[RCSRGREAT]

Randy, I have Mitchell and AllData. I looked for TSBs and didn't see anything.

Phydeaux- yes I understand what you are saying but that is not the case. Im a ASE certified tech myself, and a Toyota certified tech, that was one of the first things I checked. Spark plug holes were dry and very clean (plugs have never been changed on this car, so it was shiney new down there still). That's why I'm kind of stumped on this one. Gasket was leaking down the back and onto the exhaust manifold, no where else. Oil was mostly in cylinders 1 & 2. And intake manifold is lined with oil (small pooling in bottom of manifold also) after the throttle body. Coolant clean..

[RCSRGREAT]

I'll still send you the vin on facebook randy! Maybe the ford dealer info may have something. I've seen this problem on ford forums and all said it was caught to late and the dealers wanted to replace the whole engine but none said what caused it or what part went bad. I've heard MAYBE theories to why this has happened but no solid info

[RCSRGREAT]

All clean besides the small amount the ran down after the cover was taken off

[phydeaux]

Phydeaux- yes I understand what you are saying but that is not the case. Im a ASE certified tech myself, and a Toyota certified tech, that was one of the first things I checked. Spark plug holes were dry and very clean (plugs have never been changed on this car, so it was shiney new down there still). That's why I'm kind of stumped on this one. Gasket was leaking down the back and onto the exhaust manifold, no where else. Oil was mostly in cylinders 1 & 2. And intake manifold is lined with oil (small pooling in bottom of manifold also) after the throttle body. Coolant clean..

What do the fuel trims look like (can you see the oil burning on a scanner)? With that scenario I would look at PCV valve and hose. Sounds like it is sucking oil into the intake LIKE A F%$CKIN BOSS!!!

[RCSRGREAT]

I was thinking about the PCV but that's a lot of oil to be sucking in lol. I don't have a scan tool here at home so I can't look at trims. The PCV is behind the intake manifold so when i get that off I'll replace it just to be safe. To much work to do again later, might as well do it now while I can.

[phydeaux]

Jan 24, 2015 8:38:47 GMT -6 RCSRGREAT said:

I was thinking about the PCV but that's a lot of oil to be sucking in lol. I don't have a scan tool here at home so I can't look at trims. The PCV is behind the intake manifold so when i get that off I'll replace it just to be safe. To much work to do again later, might as well do it now while I can.

X2. I know it seems like a lot of oil but I have seen it happen. I've seen a 4.0l inline six Jeep Wrangler empty the entire contents of the crankcase out of the dipstick tube in under 5 seconds.