Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting MASSIVE oil leak wks after timing tensioners fxd

A Couple weeks ago my beauty was in the shop for timing chain tensioners, then we had it in 2 times for O2 sensors, last night hubby was coming home from work and went to get off the interstate as he was coasting she started banging like she had thrown a rod, he called me and was yelling at me (Like I could magically fix it I know he was just pi$$ed off!!) As I was on the phone trying to get a tow truck to him, he said it quieted down so he limped it home(maybe 2.5 miles) My brother in law came and looked at it and said she definatly dropped a cylander, but he didn't think it was anything terminal. He is a Master ASE certified mechanic, and diagnosed the timing chain tensioner just by listening to it. This morning I called the dealership to make sure they had a loaner for me, when they finally called back and said to take it in because they were going to get me a rent a car; I go out to start her to take her in. She starts beautiful, ther is a little knocking and I can feel the motor rocking, but nothing really horrible, then I notice the oil light blinking on and off, I waited a miniute to see if it would straighten itself out, it comes on and stays on. I immedaitly turned her off pop the hood and look. I see a ever expanding pool of oil under the car!! It looks like it is coming from around the area they just had torn apart, and it was dripping off the oil filter . Had it towed in on a roll back,now just have to wait and see what they say . It was pure oil no water in it at all!! Any ideas??? Any prayers will be appreciated!!

Somebody most likely goofed at the shop and didn't put something back together properly... Hopefully they are an honest shop and will fess up if that is the case and foot the repair bill...

if you are waiting for a shop to state that they did something wrong and it was their fault you have along wait.. even when it is their fault they will not mention it and will fight you all the way if they can....

Well they admitted the oil leak was caused by a bad seal on the oil filter . They have yet to diagnose the engine knock, I believe I will have a fight on my hands, but their POS oil filter screwed up my engine , so they are either going to rebuild/replace my engine and give me a warranty on it or they will have to give be a huge chunk of change on a vehicle of my choice!! I know the owner (through pee-wee football and kids in school together), so I will not hestiate to talk to him about the situation. If all else fails I know some very good lawyers that love to take on the big guys, and the local media coverage wouldn't be to favorable either ; I think given their options they will deal with me on a favorable level. Especially since they already admitted to me the oil filter had a defecteive gasket that caused it to dump oil all over the place, they are just lucky I am not suing them for pro. clean up of my 2 year old drive way and the towing bill to boot. Will let everyone know what I find out, should know something early next week!!

They have been diagnosing the engine since Monday afternoon, no word yet. I had a sit down with the Service Manager and the Customer Relations Manager, they both assured me that they will stand behind the work they did on the car, and that if what is wrong with the engine was caused by the oil filter; which by the way had mushroomed on the end that meets the block ans thus the seal blowing out; they will replace/rebuild the engine free of charge and keep me in a rental until it is fixed and tested and will warranty their work on the engine. If the cause was something other than the filter, they will fix it and work with me on payments to get it fixed and on the road, and will still keep me in the rental. I think I may have found a really decent dealership that treats you right!! Will keep everyone posted!! Oh they are even diagnosing for free!!!

They have replaced the Lifters in cylander 1, because they were not "pumping up", They say that quieted down the engine, but are still only able to get either 20 or 50 psi on a compression test in that cylander. They have used a scope to look into the piston and they say there has been something smacking the top of the piston becuase they can see some score mark on the top of the piston, but they say there are no broken/bend valves. What should the compression be on this engine? What could have scored the piston if not the valve?? It looks like it might be time to start car shopping, would hate to have to get rid of beauty, but since this is/ was the only reliable car we have and hubby drives 100 mile a day, we may have no choice. The car has just over 130k on her so I really don't know about putting another engine in and then having the trani or something else leave go. They are also saying they can't see how this is related to the oil filter being junk!!!

Ohh, that sucks! Bummer for you. It seems to me that with the oil leaking out of the bad filter the pressure may have become too low to adequately lubricate the rod bearings, allowing one of them to quickly wear/stretch out of shape and allowing too much movement in the piston top, which then may have smacked something like a spark plug. They're going to have to tear the motor down to be sure what happened to that cylinder though. Nominal compression should be something like 120 or so (IIRC). Note this is just my guess, but it seems to make sense from the facts you posted.

Good luck with them, and I hope you got their word to repair/replace the motor in writing...

Scott

Compression should be more in the neighborhood of 150-200 psi. I don't see how they can be 100% sure that there are no bent valves by scoping the engine. I've looked into engines with scopes myself and it's not Hubble Telescope resolution by any means. It would only take a slight bend to cause the valve to not seal against the valve seat.

Regardless, such a low compression reading means that something is leaking air. It could be rings, valves, spark plug, or something that now has a crack/hole in it.

One thing that low oil pressure can cause is lifters to not pump up...then the roller followers get loose and can fall off. Roller Finger Follower Fall Off, as it's called, can cause all sorts of damage inside the head, such as bent valves.

I have not heard from the dealership yet to see if they got the head off and what it looks like in there, but my brother-in-law says in his opinion he thinks the piston is busted . He however says it not caused by the "oiling problem"??? WTF How can this car go fron being a perfectly healthy car to making a noise that sounds like a broken rod then a very short time later having all the oil (we are still not positive if it was leaking from the filter when the sound happened) dumped on the driveway and it not all be related somehow?? I trust my bro-in-law, but he has to watch out for his own job too. That's why I am asking for all the contour Gurus opinions . I am completely baffeled!! Any other opinions would be terrific!! Has anyone ever busted A piston in any of these engines, if so what was the cause, and did only ONE piston go?? They say the cams look terrific like brand new, no scoring at all, that is how they "know" it isn't an oiling problem because in their opinions if it was an oiling problem the first thing that would have happened is the cam would have welded itself to the head????? I'm so frustrated it's a good thing I'm not a drinker this would definatly be a bender weekend!!! It just may turn into one anyway!!

Ok I heard from the dealership. They said that the piston had gone up and hit the head, but that the valves were perfectly fine. What would let the piston travel that far??? My Hubby is calling them to ask if they have pulled the oil pan, and to tell them he wants a definate cause of failure. They said they could get us a used engine at their price and put it in at their price and it would only cost us......$1500.00 Please chime in guys, I really need knowledgeable opinions as to whether these guys are trying to ream me or if this could be unrelated to the oil filter!!