1 Cylinder gone

[Tango459]

Hi

First of all...Great Forum with some very useful info.

I'm new to the 75, having bought one VERY cheap knowing it had a misfire. i was hoping it was a plug/lead/coil on one of the hard to reach rear pots, but alas no....

It seems that the plug was so foulded up it wasn't firing, but now I've changed it, it is belching smoke and down on compression.

my dilema is do I throw money at it or pass it on as spares.

has any one had any experience of this and knows what work/cost may be involved.

Its a 1999 2.5 V6

shame it's a lovely top of the range car with all the toys

[Lost Soul]

i persume its an 1800 car ... misfire and down on compression could mean the gasket is leaking between clylinders.... mine was like that ... i guess you bouth new leads have you tried a new plug in the misfiring cylinder in case its just a dead plug .., is the plug wet /no spark to the cylinder would show up as a misfire ... no fuel to it would also do that ....i sure one of the more techie guys will be along soon

As OP Quote:

Its a 1999 2.5 V6

[chrissyboy]

[QUOTE=chrissyboy;[/QUOTE]

have you tried a diffrent spark plug ,,, or checked that it is getting fuel to the misfiring cylinder not too up on the v6 guy will be along soon ...have you checked the oil level to see its not over full, that would smoke and lose you power .

[chrissyboy]

As OP Quote:

Its a 1999 2.5 V6


i know thats what multi tasking does to me ,it now corrected :D

[SD1too]

Hi Gordon and :welcome:

It seems that the plug was so foulded up it wasn't firing, but now I've changed it, it is belching smoke and down on compression.
Is the smoke blue suggesting piston rings? If you remove the oil filler cap with the engine running at idle can you feel strong pulses of pressure on your hand?
It's a 1999 2.5 V6 ... a lovely top of the range car with all the toys ... my dilemma is do I throw money at it or pass it on as spares.
Well, some things to consider:

Will you be doing the work yourself?
A nice car which didn't cost much to buy is worth repairing.
Breaking cars for spares is not an easy option: ask member Greeners.


Simon.

[chrissyboy]

As OP Quote:

Its a 1999 2.5 V6
plus when i read it im sure all the info wasnt there

[Cymrudragon]

possable worn valves on the cylinder in question if all else have been ruled out but the head has to come off for this:(

[Tango459]

Thanks for all the replies guy's.

to answer a few points.

it's definitely not a plug or lead, as I've got new plugs in and swapped around leads etc.

When the new plug was put in and the cylinder fired (centre front pot) it was belching white smoke. imagine the red arrows displaying in your garage trailing white smoke, and you get a idea of the volume

disconnect the coil coil pack to isolate that pot and stop it firing and the smoke stops. this I assume means it is just that cylinder.

I've been told if the engine needs to come out it's £300 in labour alone.

The car stands me at around £500, and looking at similar spec Connoisseurs of a similar age I could get another for around £1200. :shrug::shrug::shrug:

[Tango459]

possable worn valves on the cylinder in question if all else have been ruled out but the head has to come off for this:(

cheers

would that result in a large amount of white smoke or just a little. I'm thinking that the volume of smoke points to a piston or ring or both.

I've also been told that to get the head of the V6 the engine may need to come out, due to limited space to work in there.

[Tango459]

Hi Gordon and :welcome:

Is the smoke blue suggesting piston rings? If you remove the oil filler cap with the engine running at idle can you feel strong pulses of pressure on your hand?

No smoke is white, wil check for pressure when I'm back with the car

Well, some things to consider:

Will you be doing the work yourself?
A nice car which didn't cost much to buy is worth repairing.
Breaking cars for res is not an easy option: ask member Greeners.


Simon.

not skilled enough to do the work myself I'm afraid, so will be paying labour charges etc..

I think I would sell it on as a whole as spares or repair as don't really have the time or space to break it.

I would love to keep it as it's a Connoisseur with al the toys but my budget is limited

[rrobson]

5 out of 6 aint bad :D

what you need to do is weight up the cost of repair to the cost of another car. piston rings or valves can be sorted, not that cheap with the v6 and worst case another engine is around £600, that plus fitting will be £800 - £1000, but they are simple to remove. it depends on how cheaply you got it, and how quickly you are going to get rid of it.

[SD1too]

When the new plug was put in and the cylinder fired (centre front pot) it was belching white smoke.
Water is usually responsible for white smoke, so the head gasket may be breached on that bank. If it was a piston ring I would expect only blue smoke with no white.
... disconnect the coil pack to isolate that pot and stop it firing and the smoke stops. This I assume means it is just that cylinder.
Sounds logical to me too.
I've been told if the engine needs to come out ...
If I'm right, it won't have to. :}

Simon.

[chrissyboy]

another option would be to put some k-seal in it if the smoke stops then it may well be the gasket has gone between cylinders, not a good thing to do in my opinion but a few members have used it and it has cured there engine and one has lasted a very long time ... if money is tight and you cant afford to have it stripped down and repaired then as i say it is an option until you can afford to have it done ....now this is just an idea so you can still have the use of the car until you can afford to have it repaired .... before using check the for`s and against of using k-seal or even the better one called steel seal,as i say seek advide on whether to use it or not ,imho it should be ok to use as long as the system is completly flushed beore hand so there is less change of any thing getting blocked up ..

[Tango459]

Thanks for the pointers. I've decided to look into getting it repaired. before i jump in though feel free to shoot me down if this seems like a potential money pit.

I can have the head stripped to identify what the problem is at a cost of £150

I've been told it's not the head gasket, which makes sense as the symptoms are not there.

worst case scenario it needs a new engine.

best case is it needs a valve.

[SD1too]

... feel free to shoot me down if this seems like a potential money pit.
I don't know who is advising you but please be careful.
I can have the head stripped to identify what the problem is at a cost of £150 ... best case is it needs a valve.
There must be a gap in my knowledge here. Can I ask what evidence there is that anything in the cylinder head could cause large volumes of white smoke? What valve fault is being suggested?
I've been told it's not the head gasket, which makes sense as the symptoms are not there.
I beg to differ Gordon (see my previous post no. 12). I don't know for sure whether the head gasket is damaged or not, but the symptoms suggest that it could be.

I cannot see at the moment how a replacement engine would be justified. Another independent professional opinion would be useful.

Simon.

[chrissyboy]

the head sounds like it is broke between cylinders .. as has been said white smoke would indicate a problem with the gasket ,the white smoke being like a steam

[Tango459]

I don't know who is advising you but please be careful.


Simon.

It's been in my local garage who gave it a check over and seems adamant that the HG has not gone.

[Number 6]

the head sounds like it is broke between cylinders .. as has been said white smoke would indicate a problem with the gasket ,the white smoke being like a steam



as mentioned before when the Op disconected the plug off the offending cylinder the "white" smoke stopped.Therefore it is not possible that the head is cracked between two cylinders as you would still get "white smoke" from the still running ajoining cylinder!!

[scouseeric]

as mentioned before when the Op disconected the plug off the offending cylinder the "white" smoke stopped.Therefore it is not possible that the head is cracked between two cylinders as you would still get "white smoke" from the still running ajoining cylinder!!

Is it possible that a cylinder liner has leaked causing the steamy smoke?

[Tango459]

Is it possible that a cylinder liner has leaked causing the steamy smoke?


The smoke is quite thick, there is also no water ingress into the oil or vice versa

[chrissyboy]

as mentioned before when the Op disconected the plug off the offending cylinder the "white" smoke stopped.Therefore it is not possible that the head is cracked between two cylinders as you would still get "white smoke" from the still running ajoining cylinder!!

would you ?ok have it your way ..mine did just that so there for it must be possible ,would be no compression in that cylinder so nothing to threw out the exhaust

[Tango459]

would you ?ok have it your way ..mine did just that so there for it must be possible ,would be no compression in that cylinder so nothing to threw out the exhaust

Did you have the usual symptoms of milky oil, overheating etc? as I have none of those. also the plug from the offending cylinder was black

[andy willi]

get a compresion test and a chemical block test to check for hydrocarbons in the cooling system and go from there not expencive to get done ,the v6 dont suffer gasket failure as the 1.8 do but they do go shame youre not near me i could sort it for you but please call if you need any advise


andy

[Tango459]

get a compresion test and a chemical block test to check for hydrocarbons in the cooling system and go from there not expencive to get done ,the v6 dont suffer gasket failure as the 1.8 do but they do go shame youre not near me i could sort it for you but please call if you need any advise


andy


Thanks.....Don't suppose you know anyone trustworthy in the North East by any chance

[chrissyboy]

Did you have the usual symptoms of milky oil, overheating etc? as I have none of those. also the plug from the offending cylinder was black
no i had no oil and water mixed ,mine was the gasket had lifted between cylinders due to having a couple of over heating issues..