THICK BLACK SMOKE....from the air filter !

[Fergus]

I've a 1.6 here (not my own) and it will not start up, it's turning over but not firing.
It has spark/fuel etc and when it turns over there is thick black smoke coming from the air filter

I changed the plugs as the ones in it were totally fried and drowning in engine oil.
I'm thinking that the rings are toast.

Here's some pics of the CAS that a 'mechanic' fitted last year when he installed this engine.




It appears to be upsidedown....what would this do to the timing ? Double it ??
I've also noticed that the coil pack is sitting about an inch ABOVE the valve cover and not flush on top of it.

Has anyone ever seen black smoke coming from an air filter before ?

[Steve]

is there oil on all 4 plugs?

The CAS can't be fitted 180degrees out unless its been modified (or possibly from a 1.8?). Has the car been running with it like this?

Maybe the camcover gasket is really knackered.. fit a new one.. take out the 4 plugs and pull the fuel pump/injection fuse. Turn engine over a few times to clear out the oil. Fit new plugs and try starting it.

The black smoke is prob just a result of spark on the engine oil.

[Fergus]

Oil in all 4 plugs, each spaky was 'dripping' oil when I took them out.
The old ones were black and the insulator part of each was crispy brown instead of white.

The CAS has been like that on the car since the engine was installed last year and it has been driven like that on a near daily basis.

I inspected the camcover gasket and it looks fine, I would even say it can be used again etc.

I would have expected black smoke out the exhaust but not from the air filter

[Steve]

you mean when the car is running??

Heres some good info on fitting the CAS, it can be really frustrating if you don't line up the little arms ("dogs") EXACTLY right.. try peek in to see which is facing which direction :

".. be sure (by eye or feel) of the orientation of the key in the cam, then adjust the CAS to approximately match it before sliding it in place. You then press in and hope; if it doesn't go in, back it off just a hair, twist a little, and press straight in again. Don't turn the CAS while it's in contact with the cam key, or you'll just be rotating the CAS and it will never go in.

Beware that the key is offset on the cam shaft, but only by a tiny amount. It's real easy to think it's 180 degrees away from where it's really sitting. And I've seen the CAS go into place that way -- it's not supposed to, but with a little wear and a heavy hand, it can, and it's the devil to figure out why the car won't run. Be gentle -- when it's aligned right, the biggest resistance is getting the O-ring into the hole.

Speaking of the O-ring, whenever you pull the CAS, put in a new one, oiled. Once the O-ring hardens, it just makes this process harder, as well as setting you up for an oil leak. For less than a buck, just toss it."

[Fergus]

Ok that 'mechanic' is a bit of a 'BigFoot' and I'm sure he would have hit it with a hammer just to get it to fit.

I can try refitting the CAS but if the car has been running like this for about a year now, would the piston rings be fried by now and hense the black smoke out the air filter ?

[Fergus]

I also noticed that the wire going to the top of the front temperature sensor on the thermo was snapped off. He said that the temp gauge inside the car never worked, does that mean that the radiator fan wouldn't switch on when it was suppose to ??

[Steve]

possibly.. can you see the piston tops? Could be piston rings, could be a v.warped head.. I fix the temp gauge, blow out the cylinders as mentioned earlier, fix CAS + try starting it (you'll have to reset the timing too.. ). Could be as simple as oil getting in via a dead or reversed PCV valve.. (any oil in the intake tubing either end?)

So.. before you got to it, what was the problem? How did it get to this stage?

[Fergus]

He tried starting it up one snowy morning (-10C the night before) and it wouldn't start. I asked him to check the rad as it may have frozen and it had, it appears that the 'mechanic' had just filled the coolant system with only water.
I don't know how long he was trying to start it before he called me about it.

He tried draining it but it was frosted up. I was thinking that the water pump may have frozen solid as well and it wouldn't be a good idea to try starting it until the coolant system was flushed and refilled with a proper mix.

A few days later the AA came out and they also could not start it (still snowy weather), then they brought it to that 'mechanic' who told my friend that there was zero compression in all cylinders. I don't really think that 'mechanic' did a leak down test at all though.

And then I got it...

[Steve]

LOL ah right!
Pull the head off and see if its warped/cracked.
It might be only a head gasket ... worst case, the block is cracked somewhere too.

[Fergus]

Errr I'm not a mechanic and defo not one of those other monkey 'mechanics'. I only offered to take a look at it because the so-called mechanic that installed the engine said it was bust...and he did break it after all when he installed it wrong.

I don't think I can put so much 'time' into this car as I've my own to sort out and I need it back on the road ASAP. Plus I've just driven up and back to Limerick twice this week to help Mx5ideways with his Timing Belt and Water Pump, removed AC etc.

Even if the 'MAD' CAS position advanced the timing by so much, how can the spark plugs be totally dripping in oil when the vavle cover gasket is perfect and can be reused ? And the car was driven without that wire to the front thermo sensor for so long...

A concreate wall, one bullet and one monkey mechanic - sorted !

Or as it's cut back time, one brick, a single rope tied to one monkey mechanics foot - sorted !

I think I'll try what you've said about the CAS etc but I'm leaning towards the rings already being fried to hell, there was just to much oil inside the cylinders on the spark plugs and I don't think I've the time to take the block apart to inspect the damage right now if there is any.

[sidewaysreilly]

Compression check Fergus.

[Fergus]

Unfortunately I don't have the tools for that.

[sidewaysreilly]

i may be down your way next week. Have one in the van.

[Fergus]

Ok great, do you know how to use it because I've never used one before

[sidewaysreilly]

yeah, use it regularly on the outboards. Ill know monday if im heading down and let you know.