I was just given a 1990 Mazda 929S with 226,000 miles on it. It runs, and seems to run well.. Well I was driving it tonight, and the oil light came on briefly when stopping at traffic lights... ok.. so I check the oil when I got home and lo and behold, barely registers on the dipstick.. weird... so then out of sheer curiosity, pull one of the spark plug boots loose and oil pours outta it... I was like... holy !!!! Then I pulled another and the same thing, just not as much... could someone tell me if this is even worth the trouble to fix and what would need to be done? I wanted to use this as a daily driver, and not put so many "hard" miles on my truck (5 mi to work one way) Also..Funny thing... I put the plug wires back and the **** thing started right up again!
Need Advise
- Thread starter MysticGold04
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You might have bad valve stem seals and or worn out valve guides, cracked piston rings, a cracked piston,.... who knows. That many miles and the car was givin to you, I wouldent waste my time/money on it. Just keep adding oil as needed and maybe spark plugs when they foul out and drive it until stops running and send it to the junk yard.
Same with isuzu's. They call'em plug tower seals. They are basically just "O" rings that seal the spark plug tower/tube from the cylinder head. You have to pull the cam/vlv cover to replace them. I wouldn't sweat it given the age/milage of your mazda! Make sure your PCV system is free & clear as hi crankcase pressure can force engine oil into the plug towers.
G/luck!
Joel
G/luck!
Joel
Thanks everyone for your input.. I'll just clean it up, change the oil, air filter, plugs, wires, and PCV valve and drive it until it wont run anymore. What about the cooling system? Would this issue cause oil to be mixed in with the antifreeze?
No. this is basically an external oil leak. Apparently common on all high mileage engines where the plug wells go throught the valve cover. Aside from having to periodically clean the oil out of the sparkplug holes, the only other drawback I had was misfiring from the oil getting up inside the plug boots. New valve cover gaskets and plug seals fixed it right up, but if you kept them clean you could live with it no problem.quote:
Originally posted by MysticGold04:
Thanks everyone for your input.. I'll just clean it up, change the oil, air filter, plugs, wires, and PCV valve and drive it until it wont run anymore. What about the cooling system? Would this issue cause oil to be mixed in with the antifreeze?
Would it be realistic for me to spend the money to get the valve cover gasket and plug seals replaced? Typically how much would it cost? It seems like parts for this vehicle are pretty pricey. (According to Mazdaworld.org forums) KBB private party value is just under $2000 for this vehicle....
Also... should I be running 20w50 in this engine because of the high mileage?
[ February 10, 2005, 02:12 PM: Message edited by: MysticGold04 ]
[ February 10, 2005, 02:12 PM: Message edited by: MysticGold04 ]
...Anyone?
Are you mechanically inclined enough to replace the parts yourself? If not, call around to some recommended repair shops and get some quotes. Tip: Get knowledgeable about the parts and procedures to seperate the chaf from the wheat when asking for quotes. If no one responds here, you might try a Mazda forum to see if anyone there can tell you what is involved in replacing valve/cam cover gaskets and spark plug tower seals.
[ February 11, 2005, 12:33 PM: Message edited by: 427Z06 ]
[ February 11, 2005, 12:33 PM: Message edited by: 427Z06 ]
Kestas
Staff member
With use, seals take a compression set and eventually need to be replaced. 15 years and 226K is a lot to ask from a seal.
Ok.. I've replaced the PCV Valve, Air Filter, 3 spark plugs, (too lazy, old ones were a pain to remove) cleaned up the wires and took the car to Wal-Mart for an oil change. Its been 600+ miles since the oil change and all seems well.. I still need to replace the other 3 plugs, but the car runs well. (after its warmed up) My question is this.. on startup.. it makes a clattering noise.. I wonder if wal-mart put a Fram on there.. I specified supertech, but who knows.. I am also using 20w50 (supertech) oil because of the miles and age. Would anyone make a switch of the oil? I am half considering switching to Chevron Delo 15w40... any thoughts? No oil consumption so far, but I have not checked under the spark plug boots to see if the plugs are saturated again....
probably a fram. easy enough to verify by looking underneath for that orange filter. i would have gone with a hm oil rather than 20w50 - its probably originally spec'd for a 5w-30 or 10w-30. a hm oil may help with those o-rings in the valve cover to keep the oil off the plug boots, but those o-rings should probably be replaced. a hm 10w-40 would probably be better than 20w-50.
Yep.. Walmart put an orange can under there... now I've elected to go with Havoline High Mileage 10w40...with a purolator premium plus filter... is this an okay combination??
sounds good to me, but i like purolator premium plus. does it still rattle on startup? does it run better with the 10w40 vs 20w50? inquiring minds have got to know.
1.) Stop being lazy and replace the other 3 plugs.quote:
Originally posted by MysticGold04:
Ok.. I've replaced the PCV Valve, Air Filter, 3 spark plugs, (too lazy, old ones were a pain to remove) cleaned up the wires and took the car to Wal-Mart for an oil change. Its been 600+ miles since the oil change and all seems well.. I still need to replace the other 3 plugs, but the car runs well. (after its warmed up) My question is this.. on startup.. it makes a clattering noise.. I wonder if wal-mart put a Fram on there.. I specified supertech, but who knows.. I am also using 20w50 (supertech) oil because of the miles and age. Would anyone make a switch of the oil? I am half considering switching to Chevron Delo 15w40... any thoughts? No oil consumption so far, but I have not checked under the spark plug boots to see if the plugs are saturated again....
2.) 20w50 in an engine designed for 5w30 or 10w30 is what is causing your dry startups. You are using WAY too thick oil for that engine.
Thye heaviest you should use is a 5w40.
Change your oil ASAP and replace the other plugs.
[ May 27, 2005, 12:45 PM: Message edited by: Gary Allan ]
It does run better with 10w40, but honestly I couldnt tell the difference.. The car does have 228,000+ plus miles on the original engine, so some rattling is to be expected... but it seems a little quieter. BTW, there are several viscosites of oil that are recommended in the owners manual...depending on the climate that you are in...believe it or not but 20w50 is recommended for hot climates!
Mystic:
I agree with BlazerLT about the other three plugs, but if I understand you correctly, you had oil covering the top of the spark plugs (ie. the "wells" were full of oil).
I'd be checking them every week or so to find out how quickly the oil is seeping into the wells. If it's going slowly, then I'd just attribute it to the age of the car, and would definately go to Delo.
I agree with BlazerLT about the other three plugs, but if I understand you correctly, you had oil covering the top of the spark plugs (ie. the "wells" were full of oil).
I'd be checking them every week or so to find out how quickly the oil is seeping into the wells. If it's going slowly, then I'd just attribute it to the age of the car, and would definately go to Delo.
The wells were not full of oil, but had some at the bottom of the plug where it screws into the head.. I'd attribute this to the tower seals, which I have no intention of replacing, given the age and miles on the car... I havent changed the other 3 plugs because of the time involved...(have to remove much of the intake to access them) I might have some time to do it this weekend though.
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