89 mustang oil in runners

redwing89

redwing89

Club Member
Hey everyone, it's been quite a while since i last posted on Motown, but i know there's a lot of guys on here that know what they're talking about when it comes to a 5.0 engine. so here we go.

i pulled my intake off of my mustang the other day and saw that the rear 2 runners were brown with oil, and the plenum gasket at the rear was soaked in oil, but all of the rest of the runners on the gasket had a small amount around them as well. what could be causing this? i have a steeda oil seperator on the PCV system.

also, i had 1.7 rocker arms on my setup, but just switched back to stock due to not being able to get the adjustment right. after i did this, when i shut the engine off after running it, or even if i just crank it over for a second and it doesnt even start up, i get a metallic "ping" noise from the engine when it is off. the sound reminds me of a cooling exhaust, but i put my ear up to my intake and the sound seems to come from inside the engine. its loudest around the rocker arms, and sometimes you hear the noise from the passenger side only, sometimes from drivers side only, and sometimes on both. sometimes it doesnt even make any noise. it lasts a couple minutes and then stops. the noise will usually be rapid, and slow down the longer its been shut off which makes it seem like its just metal cooling. whats odd to me though is it makes the noise when the engine is cold. and it will do it even when you just crank it over. i wonder if something is getting too hot?

i have a video where you can hear the sound, its toward the end of the video, dont listen to my psycho babble during the majority of the video, i was discussing another issue i had, and seemed to have found it to be a loose ground to my injector harness (although i have yet to put my intake back on and run it to see)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvH403Wj3Vk&list=HL1331184160&feature=mh_lolz

sound starts at the 3:06 mark
 
That is really strange. As far as the idle goes, everything looks normal in the video. The noise almost sounds like a relay clicking, but there shouldnt be sounds coming from both sides like that. Sounds way too loud for it to be an injector clicking... Did this happen after you put the 1.7 rockers on? OR just randomly out of nowhere. As for the oil in the runners, some will be normal. Now if you have a pool of oil in the intake I would worry about it. If the PCV is bad that could be causing extra oil to be pulled into the intake.
 
this happened after i switched back to stock rockers from 1.7's. could it be something to do with the valve springs? i know that the valve springs seem to be upgraded from stock (i pulled these heads from a different engine i bought from a friend. had them checked by a machinist for integrity.) they seem to have 2 coils, the big outer coil and then theres a smaller inner coil.

the idle skips right on start up for a split second. its not noticable in the video but in person you can tell what im trying to explain.
 
i dont think it would be that though, the sound is generated from the engine, its really loud when i put my ear to the intake.
 
Back in the day when I ran stock style 5.0 engines, it seems like most of them had this issue. We just blocked everything off and went to venting both valve covers, so there was no chance of putting oil in the intake. That method does allow a small amount of un-metered air into the engine, but we always had them tuned and there were no issues.
 
Wow that is really weird..
Almost sounds like the starter is clicking but the sounds too high up in the engine for that?
You can get the pass side valve cover off with out pulling the intake. I'd run the engine and pop that cover off to see if you can see anything.. Almost sounds like the clicking goes away after the oil pressure had bled off.
 
I wonder if it could be lifters decompressing. And thats the sound of the valvesprings releasing? I'd do what drop says, pull all but one of the valve cover bolts and leave a socket handy. run the engine, shut it off and run out remove the vc and see if you see any valvetrain movement going on. It does souns an awful lot like the started solenoid clciking on the fender apron. Did you try putting your hand on that to see if it was clicking?
 
are you saying you think it could be the starter solenoid clicking and then the noise i hear on the other side of the engine is the starter itself clicking? it makes no sense to be that though because sometimes only one side will make noise, and sometimes the driver side noise will stop before the passenger side. if it was anything in the valvetrain, wouldnt i just be able to feel the valve cover and see if theres vibration? if it was something valvetrain related making that racket i should be able to feel it through the valve cover. i just dont get how it could be anything valvetrain related seeing as theres absolutely no abnormally loud valvetrain noise with the engine running. what about fuel pressure? or maybe something to do with the spark plugs?
 
keep in mind i had a loose ground to my injector harness. which im almost positive was causing my lag in rpms when i would just touch the throttle really quick.
 
i also never got a chance to go out and drive the car. maybe that would help get the rockers going if thats whats causing the noise. i did coat them in oil when i installed the so they werent completely dry.
 
the PCV valve in the rear of the intake of that car? if yes, you ever replace the screen under it? it is there as a baffle
 
stock mustang lower intakes have a metal baffle plate underneath the screen, it connects to the bottom of the lower intake . but i do have a replacement screen from a ford dealer that i never actually replaced, i just ended up spraying the shit out of my current one with carb cleaner
 
redwing89 said:
are you saying you think it could be the starter solenoid clicking and then the noise i hear on the other side of the engine is the starter itself clicking? it makes no sense to be that though because sometimes only one side will make noise, and sometimes the driver side noise will stop before the passenger side. if it was anything in the valvetrain, wouldnt i just be able to feel the valve cover and see if theres vibration? if it was something valvetrain related making that racket i should be able to feel it through the valve cover. i just dont get how it could be anything valvetrain related seeing as theres absolutely no abnormally loud valvetrain noise with the engine running. what about fuel pressure? or maybe something to do with the spark plugs?
Click to expand...

No to fuel pressure, Injector harness ground or spark plugs... Yes the ground wire would make the car run funny but not make that noise.
I don't think you're going to be able to feel this in the valve covers unless it was rubbing on the valve cover.. It would most likely be making a tapping noise when running if it was hitting the V/C, been there done that. I worked on a car last year that had a broken lifter but still ran ok.. Made some noise but still ran ok. The top was broke but still had enough lash in the valve to run ok so you really don't know until you start taking parts off the car like the valve cover.
Oh BTW what's the check engine light on for?
 
I ran the codes for the CEL and got a bad MAP sensor and ACT sensor. but after i tightened up my ground i re scanned for codes and all i got was the MAP sensor. i also have codes with engine running but they are for the EGR, evap canister and thermactor system which i have deleted.

i have the new sensor waiting for me next time i get back in to michigan i will put it on. i did notice on just one of my pushrods that the edge of it, right before the tip where it turns into a ball, looked a little jagged on top compared to the rest of them. also i noticed my valves floated at some point from looking at the valve stem you can see in the pattern.
 
redwing89 said:
I ran the codes for the CEL and got a bad MAP sensor and ACT sensor. but after i tightened up my ground i re scanned for codes and all i got was the MAP sensor. i also have codes with engine running but they are for the EGR, evap canister and thermactor system which i have deleted.

i have the new sensor waiting for me next time i get back in to michigan i will put it on. i did notice on just one of my pushrods that the edge of it, right before the tip where it turns into a ball, looked a little jagged on top compared to the rest of them. also i noticed my valves floated at some point from looking at the valve stem you can see in the pattern.
Click to expand...

Ok first things first..
If you can see marks on the top of the valve it sounds like the rocker arm geometry is or was off. The pushrod kind of sounds like it also. You might have messed up a lifter in the processes. Take a valve cover off after running the car before it stops making the noise.
Now the codes.. EGR or MAF will give you slow throttle response and erratic idle. I'd work on the noise first and don't drive the car till you fix it!

Nice looking car BTW!
 
2012-03-02_21-04-40_508.jpg


there's a picture of the gasket for my intake when i pulled it off. note the oil around the last 2 runners compared to the rest (which seem to be getting a bit of oil around them as well)

i used to have pictures of my heads in which you could see my valve springs.... i almost wonder if the valve springs are too much for stock rockers. i dont know what kind are installed on the heads but i know its not stock because i compared them side by side to stock heads.

this is just ideas im coming up with because it makes absolutely zero sense to me why i don't have these noises before i switched back to stock rockers from 1.7's... but after i install stock rockers i hear these noises. something here has to be related.
 
The oil is the PCV it's not that uncommon for a 5.0, Like Fry Guy said put a open breather on it. As for the springs you didn't say what kind of heads you had but I'm guessing E-7'S or Gt-40 so with that being said you can't really fit that radical of a spring on it.
 
OK i just listened to that video again. if you have headphones put them in and skip to 1:20 you can hear an odd noise when i rev the engine as the rpms come back down WTF
 
ok theres several different noises going on @ 1:20. the squeaking you here is from my hood prop, the whirring noise you here when rpms go back down is my belt/fan... the noise im focusing on sounds like tiny clicks with one louder one right as the rpm needle settles at idle. i cant figure out if that noise is mechanical or if its a frequency that my camera is picking up
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top