My neice is having problems with her car. There are some obvious things I noticed. Muffler/tailpipe is shot, probably needs a tune-up. There are two hoses on the drivers side of the motor that connect at what appears to be a PVC valve. It's just hanging loosely and I don't see anywhere it can be plugged in. There is a check valve at the bottom that is allowing oil to drip out. I could see the oil splattered around, but not a whole lot. I haven't test driven the car yet, but it runs and idles fine in the driveway. When she gets to a stop sign, she said the car seems like it doesn't want to go and then starts running rough until it gets going. I didn't have my crappy clothes on, and didn't feel like getting covered in shit anyway. She's debating whether to keep it or can it. It very similar to Gina's Mustang as far as color and convertible. I had an '89 a few years ago, but the motor is nothing like the 4 cyl. I had.

they are pretty easy to work on sounds like the hose that's disconnected should be plugged into a PCV valve due to the oil drippage. Too bad you aren't closer I'd be more than happy to take a look at it for you.

I'll try to get to the car and snap a few pics so you know what I mean. There is a hose on top of the valve cover that barely fits and has no check valve. That's a very loose fit too. I think there's been a few hack jobs done. She's a college student and my sister can't afford a mechanic. Right now her son has a '68 Dodge Dart that needs work and a Dodge Caravan that's down for the count.

that's gotta be the PCV valve man that's where they usually go on those cars

Well I guess it's an 8 cyl. Two sets of wires from two coils ? Anyway, I had it running in the driveway and it blew smoke when i revved it up. Definately not steam. It had a blue tinge but the smoke didn't seem to linger in the air like oil smoke would. The way I had it revved it should have stayed in the air and kept every mosquito at bay for 100 yards. The smoke dissipated within a minute. Now the test drive. Seemed okay in reverse, but as soon as I put it in drive I had nothing. Then gas it some gas and bam, slammed into drive. Stopped and tried reverse and got the same result, bam. Checking the fluid in neutral and warmed up I got nothing on the dipstick. In park with the engine off I get a reading. I've always checked my vehicles when hot and in neutral. I found a loose hose down beside the drivers side and reconnected the check valve I mentioned before. I didn't follow the hose to see where it went. So I would say the car is undriveable unless you don't need to stop and start. Any relation between the transmission and exhaust smoke ? IDK.

Its a 4 banger. They have that stupid 2 plugs per cyl shit.


The smoke does sound like oil...these 2.3's love to burn it.

Transmission is probably on its way out. Did you add trans fluid to see if that helped?

No fluid yet. The oil pump was just replaced a year ago. Thanx for the 4 banger info, I didn't know that. In reality, I don't think it's worth working on. The car has seen better days. Can't blame my neice either. Gas and go is the story.

Well the good thing about the 4 cyls is that they are more common than a 5 liter in a stang of the foxbody era and parts such as an auto trans are a dime a dozen and cheap.


My buddy bought a 4 banger 5 speed and swapped a 2.3 turbo out of a turbocoupe and even that motor that ran fantastic was only like 200 bucks.

x2


and yeah..those plugs and wires f alotta people up haha....my car was red before btw...3 different reds in fact haha...why was the pump done..usually an oil pump save is a temporary fix..(obviously not all the time..but by the time someone realizes the oil pressure drop its usually been run pretty dry..)
check for vacuum leaks...fuel filter?
oil press?(even tho fox gauges blowwww)

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...l%3Den%26um%3D1

where abouts

IMO if a fox gauge says you have oil pressure I still wouldnt believe it hahaha. When I twisted the shaft in my 5 liter it still told me I was running great oil pressure...yet the pump didnt spin haha