Oh no, engine problem

[deermagnet]

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[MSHardeman]

Nnnnooooooo!!!! This can't happen to your engine Mark. It's gone so strong for so long!!

Is your mis-fire code is in cylinder three also? If so, that's very strange that two engines would have the same issue. I wonder what it is about cylinder three that's causing this.

I'm actually in the middle of tearing my old engine down to try and find out what was going on in cylinder three so I'll let you know what I find.

Not to freak you out, but my CEL started out innocently enough. It first popped up in Moab this year and didn't seem to effect anything. The VX would vibrate a little at idle with it in gear and my foot on the brake, but I didn't notice a dip in performance. As time went on the code showed up more and more, and the vibrations got worse and worse both at idle and cruising at highway speeds.

I had a compression test done with cylinder three coming back with zero compression. I then had a leak down test done (I think that's what they called it) where they removed the spark plug and forced air into the cylinder and then listened to see where the air was coming out. If they could hear air coming out of the intake then the intake valve would be bad or not seating right. If they heard air coming out of the tail pipe then the exhaust valve would be bad or not seating right, but if they heard air bubbling up through the oil (they listened at the dipstick) then the theory was something would be wrong with the rings, the piston or the cylinder itself that wasn't allowing the piston to seal to the cylinder.

During the test on my engine they heard oil bubbling through the dipstick which indicated an issue in cylinder three somewhere which is why I'm tearing the old engine down because it's bugging the crap out of me. Nothing was rattling around in the cylinder so maybe the rings broke apart but stayed in their races. I'll have a better idea in a few days if I can carve out some time to get into it.

Keeping my fingers crossed that yours is something easy to fix.

[vt_maverick]

Man this is hard to believe, you are so close! Fingers crossed Mark! :luck:

[tom4bren]

Dang. That is bad news. We're all hoping for the best for ya son!!!

[tom4bren]

Let us know if you need anything.

[vt_maverick]

Well here's a brand new compression tester on CL in Lehigh Valley, that's pretty close to you right?

http://allentown.craigslist.org/tls/3324261898.html

That's pretty pricey though, here are cheaper options that should be on the shelf near you:

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/16873262923364875550/local?q=compression%20tester&hl=en&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=7d6b5002a8837631&bpcl=35277026&biw=1920&bih=954&tch=1&ech=1&psi=kmp9UPbhBIrK0AH00YCQDA.1350396596629.3&sa=X&ei=m2p9UJS1IKrg0gHIooH4Bg&ved=0CEQQ3QswAA

[MSHardeman]

Mark, I drove my VX with the P0303 code for months without anything catastrophic happening. Even drove it on the highway at speed a few times. She ran rough, at times, but never quit on me or really gave me any problems. Just low on power really.

A compression test will tell you something, and a leak down test will tell you a little bit more. I haven't looked yet, so I don't know what a leak down test kit looks like, or if they are even available (I'm sure they are). The other thing that I was looking for, but didn't want to buy, was a bore scope. It's basically a camera with a long "snout" that would allow you to look into the cylinder through the spark plug hole. Here's a cheap one from Harbor Freight - http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-inspection-camera-67979.html

To double check to see if I had a valve sticking open, I removed the valve cover and inspected everything from the top side and it all looked good. I rotated the engine a couple of times to make sure that everything was opening and closing as it should, and again everything looked fine. Maybe check under the valve cover to see if you have a valve that is hung up.

Again, not to be Debby Downer, but when I had my engine replaced they used the old injectors, coil packs, and all the associated wiring on the new engine and I haven't had a P0303 code show up yet, so I'm guessing that my wiring is fine and it was, in fact, something to do with the cylinder. Still trying to find time to tear the old engine down, but I'll keep you informed on what I find.

On the new-to-me car note; I thought about doing the same thing as you. Find a daily driver then fix the VX whenever I could. I ended up just replacing the engine because a new-to-me car would have cost as much, if not more, than taking out a loan to replace the engine on the VX and the money that would be tied up in the new car (payments, insurance, etc.) would mean that I wouldn't have the money to fix the VX so it would have sat for an indefinite amount of time until I could find enough money to either replace the engine or get it rebuilt. I was worried about taking the old engine out to have it rebuilt because if it was really bad once they got into it then it would be MORE time and money to have it rebuilt and the VX is my daily driver so I couldn't have it down for too long. With that in mind, replacement seemed to be the best way to go for me. For a replacement a new motor was, again, best for me because the oil burning issue would be taken care of as Vicki burned almost 3/4 of a quart of oil every 300 to 350 miles.

That's my two cents...

[MSHardeman]

Maybe this was the same way that mine started out, but since I waited a few months to have the compression test done my cylinder three actually read 0psi on the compression test. Wouldn't hold air AT ALL.

Actually the shop that did the leak down test also flooded the cylinder with oil from the spark plug hole to see if it would hold. It didn't. That means that there is something big enough going on in there that oil can get through/by it. Also, when the shop drained the oil out of the oil pan, they said it was highly contaminated with unburnt fuel so that means that the fuel was leaking by the issue in the cylinder and getting into the crank case oil.

Now that you're having the same problems that I did, I'm that much more motivated to get into the engine to determine what is going on. Hopefully I'll find something in mine that will allow you to pinpoint what is wrong with yours so that when you go to fix it you'll know exactly what you need to do.

Good luck with the new ride search (let us know what you get), and don't you dare go anywhere. I fully expect to see you milling around the forums as much as before.

Once a VXer, always a VXer.:thumbup:

[samneil2000]

This thread makes my stomach hurt. Best of luck to you Mark, and to all of our "mileage champ VX". I still think you set the benchmark for us to all try to reach...

[tjh]

Is cylinder # 3 on the passenger side, center ? If so that would be the one that I was getting a miss-fire code on . Mine had coolant over the top of the plug .

[MSHardeman]

That's the one Travis. Now I'm REALLY wondering what is going on with that cylinder. If yours had coolant on the plug, could that have been a blown head gasket?

[tjh]

HA! coolant on the plug ! The coolant was over the plug.

[MSHardeman]

Over the plug, like filling up the spark plug well? That WOULD be bad. How the heck would coolant get into the spark plug well?

[tjh]

Over the plug, like filling up the spark plug well? That WOULD be bad. How the heck would coolant get into the spark plug well?

Dude, I don't know.

That happened right before Moab 2011.
I put some bars stop leak in the rad and dielectric grease in the plug well. I drove it Approx. 10.5 months like that, and then replaced the motor.

[HeckaTrebeka]

Check for a blown head gasket. Just pop open the head and look at that beautiful busted gasket, then get yourself a head gasket kit and plop it in there!