2000 ford windstar more trouble

Well I pulled the upper plenum of the manifold and it is drenched with oil and puddles of oil in it .......... so I guess this could be the rough idle and hesitation. Pcv line had oil in it as well, but not much, where else could this oil have come from?
 
here are the plugs from it. left three are on the firewall side you can see #2 is not like the other. You can also see the base of each plug drenched in oil.

DSCF0137.jpg


new coilpack and wires

DSCF0138.jpg


lower plenum, you can see all the oil

DSCF0139.jpg
 
Last edited:
Another part I forgot to add is when it was scanned for codes the guy said I didnt have any oil on the dipstick which I kinda laughed because 2 weeks before that it had a oil change. So far injectors are out and I will by some new ones, they say the oil in the intake can be cured with a ford pcv valve and there update valve cover kit. The new injectors are to just be on the safe side is all.

Now a question with the amount of oil going in could that have plugged my converters up? I'm still worried even after more work it will still run bad.
 
JeffP1167 said:
Another part I forgot to add is when it was scanned for codes the guy said I didnt have any oil on the dipstick which I kinda laughed because 2 weeks before that it had a oil change. So far injectors are out and I will by some new ones, they say the oil in the intake can be cured with a ford pcv valve and there update valve cover kit. The new injectors are to just be on the safe side is all.

Now a question with the amount of oil going in could that have plugged my converters up? I'm still worried even after more work it will still run bad.
Click to expand...

On the converter stuff, when my wife's Escort blew a engine some 4+ year ago, I got it home and wondered, so with it intact I went to fill the radiator, and it came out the intake was oil and water all over the driveway....

next day I pulled it all apart....block shattered.....

so tons of water and engine oil worked their way to the converter, in fact it blew shit out the tailpipe, and then ran more or less normal.....but the fuel economy dropped from 33 mpg on freeways and 28 around town to about 23 around town....maybe less than that for the first week....a few blasts wide open and get that converter really fucking HOT.....and sure enough the MPG came back.....but I don't have any EPA BS to check out, just know the engine is right and the MPG is right back good as when new....

stuck in a junkyard engine/shortblock, redid the head/rod bearings....

little thing got 180k on it now....she quit the delivery service crap job not long after the OEM engine blew...:hissyfit::flash:
 
Mine never got hot and isn't losing coolant. the tapping noise in my plenum has me worried though. I'm wondering if that is exhaust backing up or a vacuum leak causing the butterfly valves to flutter and like I said the plenum gets hot really fast.

Good thing is even new parts for my van are really cheap, so I am going to buy a new intake, injectors, direct fit cat assembly & valve cover with moded pcv system

Not going to screw around with used rebuilt crap, this thing was a pain to take apart. They say the plastic manifolds were notorious for warp and if my cats are backing up they might have been warped.
 
Last edited:
Well I received my upgraded valve cover kit for the van yesterday. This is supposed to stop the oil problem in the intake manifold.

I also order new injector and the place I purchased them from said they are a problematic injector and he has seen his share of them fail.
 
BBShark said:
JeffP1167 said:
I came across this fix to the windstar oil in the intake manifold cure. Mine clearly is drawing oil through the PCV valve. Any of you heard of this issue?

http://www.1aauto.com/1A/IntakeManifolds/Ford/Windstar/1AEVC00013
Click to expand...

Thats a lot of stuff for $100. Looks like a common problem.
Click to expand...

It's my understanding the problem affected taurus and other 3.8 cars as well. The topend has been apart before and got the plenum bolt upgrade. Prior to this even I noticed the van losing about a quart of oil every 600 miles and thought maybe just a leak. in the picture of the plenum that shiny look is oil and there were puddles of oil in it. The bolt upgrade was and quik fix to stop oil from bypassing the older bolt seal and entering the bolt threads and and the bolt vibrating loose and then causing vacuum leaks resulting in lean condition detected.

Ford gets a thumbs down for them not providing owners with this better valve cover upgrade at no cost.
 
A few suggestions....

1. Put a vacuum gauge on it (re: tapping hissing from manifold)

2. Check the ground for the computer. A bad ground gives you all sorts of screwy signals.

3. Check the crank trigger, sometimes the magnet comes off and you lose the signal.
 
DeeVeeEight said:
A few suggestions....

1. Put a vacuum gauge on it (re: tapping hissing from manifold)

2. Check the ground for the computer. A bad ground gives you all sorts of screwy signals.

3. Check the crank trigger, sometimes the magnet comes off and you lose the signal.
Click to expand...

It always seems to have a very strange exhaust note to it now when before it was a very quiet van. even after all this work van still misses just not nearly as bad and is gutless. I'm sure the plug wires on correctly the coil I bought didnt have numbered towers so I just matched them to my factory coil pack.

I am at a total loss why this van just won't run right!
 
you already installed the manifold ? It's still not running right ?
sorry I'm not much help but I hope you find the problem soon.
 
Arthur Brown said:
you already installed the manifold ? It's still not running right ?
sorry I'm not much help but I hope you find the problem soon.
Click to expand...

Yep it is all back together and still wont run right. I found it weird the autozone coil packs towers were not numbered so I am hoping there orientation is the same as the factory coilpack.

even installed new injectors, plugs, wires, the whole enchilada

By the exhaust sound I'm curious if a cat is plugged. If you stand near tailpipe you can clearly hear it like it is missing. Perhaps maybe got a tank of bad gas, not really sure what is going on.
 
JeffP1167 said:
Arthur Brown said:
you already installed the manifold ? It's still not running right ?
sorry I'm not much help but I hope you find the problem soon.
Click to expand...

Yep it is all back together and still wont run right. I found it weird the autozone coil packs towers were not numbered so I am hoping there orientation is the same as the factory coilpack.

even installed new injectors, plugs, wires, the whole enchilada

By the exhaust sound I'm curious if a cat is plugged. If you stand near tailpipe you can clearly hear it like it is missing. Perhaps maybe got a tank of bad gas, not really sure what is going on.
Click to expand...

I have had much more than my fare share of bad gasoline here in Florida....

sucked a gallon+ outta my vette tank some years ago....

prior to THAT I had TWO tanks to where the car would not run at ALL....

:gurney::evil:
 
The problem is easliy identified when facing the front of the vehicle, look right at the center of the grille and you will see it circled.
 
Ozzy said:
The problem is easliy identified when facing the front of the vehicle, look right at the center of the grille and you will see it circled.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for your input. Rather own a ford then an obama motors product anytime of the day.
 
Jeff, pull the connectors off you crank and cam position sensors, I had a '94 Dodge van 318 with a bad crank sensor on it, ran like total crap....not even make it up my hill but just barely....replaced that sensor, the coil read WIDE OPEN, no continuity.....and so somehow the thing ran, I dunno...backup? limp home?? at any rate, it fixed THAT asspect of the operation....

Previous owners had a small set of maybe junkyard? injectors in it....ran really great at idle, but NO power...give it the gun and it would fall on it's ass like a ornery mule....

the backfire got me scratching my ass...I put in a old set of vette injectors....ran like a top....some jerk pulled something outta some junkyard is all I could think, not a issue in YOUR case....but it drove me krazy for a while here about 3? years ago....that and the crank sensor....which IS applicable to your shituation....

:gurney::drink::confused:
 
mrvette said:
Jeff, pull the connectors off you crank and cam position sensors, I had a '94 Dodge van 318 with a bad crank sensor on it, ran like total crap....not even make it up my hill but just barely....replaced that sensor, the coil read WIDE OPEN, no continuity.....and so somehow the thing ran, I dunno...backup? limp home?? at any rate, it fixed THAT asspect of the operation....

Previous owners had a small set of maybe junkyard? injectors in it....ran really great at idle, but NO power...give it the gun and it would fall on it's ass like a ornery mule....

the backfire got me scratching my ass...I put in a old set of vette injectors....ran like a top....some jerk pulled something outta some junkyard is all I could think, not a issue in YOUR case....but it drove me krazy for a while here about 3? years ago....that and the crank sensor....which IS applicable to your shituation....

:gurney::drink::confused:
Click to expand...

I drove the van tonight and can still see arc involving the plug wire. However the van has a lot better power now but still stumbles and hesitates at and off idle. I have been reading a lot of internet complaints and seems this 3.8 is really picky about the plugs it gets which I used bosch platinum but every one suggests ford platinum plugs,. I still hear that strange tapping noise in my plenum.

Now say the rpm is at 2k if you quik mash the gas pedal it revs up nice. If you are cruising on a street and it starts missing, by simply flooring it the van gets up and goes. I think this eliminates plugged cats as a possible problem because at full throttle under a load it runs good. I would think if the cats were plugged it would just die.

I have a obd scanner and it didn't show a p0302 missfire in #2 detected. However it did show P0401 insufficient egr flow.

Some reading of threads said a potential loose baffle in the plenum could cause the rattling noise I hear in the plenum so I will pull it tomorrow and take another look at everything.
 
well, todays drive netted misses in cylinders 2/3/5 .... what is going on with this van .... anyone got a clue ????????
 
I have an expedition with a 5.4 V8. Been chasing an intermittant miss at idle. No problems off idle, cruise, WOT. Only register one code before for a miss on 7. That cop and plug to were rusty. Somehow moisture in the boot was causing a miss...

Replaced the plug an cop.....and still have a small intermittant misfire. Checked all vacuum lines, MAF, IAC, TPS.........been driving me nuts.

Ran injector cleaner through it, no change....checked all the connections,,no problems.

It has a 160k miles on it. My next check will be the oxygen sensors....got 2 before and 2 after the cat. If one of the sensors is malfunctioning, it could cause a problem with the PCM and cause the injectors to fire strangely and give me the missfire....at least that's what I'm thinking.


The only thing you haven't checked yet is the IAC and oxygen sensors...give em a check, maybe a fried wire or one of them went bad???

Do you have an IAC valve? Perhaps it somehow got fouled up with the oil?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top