2002 Ford Taurus Vulcan 3.0 OHV, 142k miles. Unknown maintenance before I bought it with 96k.
This car developed a cold start tap about 20k miles ago. The colder it is, or the longer the car sat, the worse it would be. It would last 30 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes. No other symptoms. Various oil brands 0W20 to 5W30, Liqui Moly engine flush, no change.
About 5k miles ago it developed a cold start misfire cyl #1 that would go away after about a minute. I swapped plug, plug wire, coil and injector with no movement of the misfire. Last week it got bad enough that it would never smooth out so I dug into it. With about 2 oz of coolant loss per week and a cold start tap I suspected head gasket or bad lifter.
The head gasket does have a small break in it over the misfiring cylinder so I guess that is my stumble.
But, the only loose rocker is cylinder 4. The rocker, rod and lifter on all cylinders including #4 with the loose rocker look perfect to me so I'm a bit nervous about that. I thought I'd find an obvious leaky lifter but cyl 4 as well as all the others remain pumped up 4 days after shutdown. The engine is also clean, no signs of sludge or even heavy varnish so I don't think I have a blocked passage?
Any suggestions on anything else to check regarding the cold start tap? I have ordered a lifter and rocker for cyl 4 just in case something's worn and I can't notice it.
If I button this thing up and still have a tap, it's not getting anymore attention.
This car developed a cold start tap about 20k miles ago. The colder it is, or the longer the car sat, the worse it would be. It would last 30 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes. No other symptoms. Various oil brands 0W20 to 5W30, Liqui Moly engine flush, no change.
About 5k miles ago it developed a cold start misfire cyl #1 that would go away after about a minute. I swapped plug, plug wire, coil and injector with no movement of the misfire. Last week it got bad enough that it would never smooth out so I dug into it. With about 2 oz of coolant loss per week and a cold start tap I suspected head gasket or bad lifter.
The head gasket does have a small break in it over the misfiring cylinder so I guess that is my stumble.
But, the only loose rocker is cylinder 4. The rocker, rod and lifter on all cylinders including #4 with the loose rocker look perfect to me so I'm a bit nervous about that. I thought I'd find an obvious leaky lifter but cyl 4 as well as all the others remain pumped up 4 days after shutdown. The engine is also clean, no signs of sludge or even heavy varnish so I don't think I have a blocked passage?
Any suggestions on anything else to check regarding the cold start tap? I have ordered a lifter and rocker for cyl 4 just in case something's worn and I can't notice it.
If I button this thing up and still have a tap, it's not getting anymore attention.