S2 4.2 Breather

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:14 pm

Hi Chaps,

Newbie here - so be gentle :-)

My newly acquired S2 FHC is smoking very heavily from the cylinder head breather pipe and also smokes on the overun. Mu initial thoughts are a serious valve guide problem.

Any thoughts or recommendations? I'll complete a full compression test this evening however after spark plug removal it appears that cyl. number 1 plug is oil fouled :-(

PeterCrespin · Post by **PeterCrespin** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 10:48 pm

If only one cylinder is dud you might notice more goo in one pipe than the other. The XK engine is plumbed as two 120-degree triples so it's one of the benefits of two separate exhaust systems on the same engine.

Valve guide issue would not often increase breather blow-by significantly - that's normally a piston/ring /bore issue. Smoking on the overrun without smoking on hard throttle is usually a guide issue, as you say. Are you sure it is only making smoke on the overrun?

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 7:15 am

Hi Peter,

A full compression test has been done and confirmed my fears:

Cyl 1 - 105psi dry - 150 wet
Cyl 2 - 120psi dry - 150 wet
Cyl 3 - 120 psi dry - 155 wet
Cyl 4 - 120 psi dry - 150 wet
Cyl 5 - 120 psi dry - 155 wet
Cyl 6 - 90 psi dry - 155 wet

So this confirms rings? and / or bores?

PETE V · Post by **PETE V** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:58 pm

Where abouts are you in the south east? I am in the Southend area.
PM me if you need some help

SESH · Post by **SESH** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 10:00 pm

Is this Club Scud Candellara ??

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:39 am

Migrated from Ferrari's to a Porsche, old Merc SL and now an E-Type as well (all be it one with a sick engine :-(

SESH · Post by **SESH** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:19 am

Me too. I went from the F355 Spider to an E Type V12 convertible :D

I am sure we met up at Bromley Pageant of Motoring on the Club Scud stand a few years back. Plus I did the Little Havens Charity rides, think you were there. Am I correct?

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:15 pm

Wasn't me SESH, but we've probably met at some Ferrari event or another. How are you finding the E Type vs the 355?

PeterCrespin · Post by **PeterCrespin** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:15 pm

Candellara wrote:Hi Peter,

A full compression test has been done and confirmed my fears:

Cyl 1 - 105psi dry - 150 wet
Cyl 2 - 120psi dry - 150 wet
Cyl 3 - 120 psi dry - 155 wet
Cyl 4 - 120 psi dry - 150 wet
Cyl 5 - 120 psi dry - 155 wet
Cyl 6 - 90 psi dry - 155 wet

So this confirms rings? and / or bores?

Was the engine hot or cold? Wide open throttle both times, etc? Yes, doesn't look great and if #6 is the wet plug cylinder then you have a strip down in your future (assuming the car hasn't just been resurrected after a long lay-up and is bedding in a little as you drive?).

On your way down through the engine, check the valve clearances just in case. It's a vain hope because of the dry/wet difference, but you never know.

Pete

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:59 pm

Thanks Peter

I have to admit that the car was cold on test. It's an ex competition car with no air cleaner assembly - just trumpets. She's emitting plumes of smoke from the cylinder head breather pipe and as such, is undriveable - hence the compression test.

Apart from that the engine runs sweet. My guess is that the car has been laid up with very little use over the last few years.

SESH · Post by **SESH** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 1:50 pm

Candellara wrote: Wasn't me SESH, but we've probably met at some Ferrari event or another. How are you finding the E Type vs the 355?

Totally different, but you would expect that on two cars that are 30 years apart. The Ferrari was technically streets ahead - handling and engine. But difference is the Ferrari is still depreciating whilst the E Type is still appreciating! I must say the Jaguar V12 is turbine like smooth and considering its age it doesn't handle too badly. Nothing like driving a classic though, although I don't think it will be too long until the F355 is considered a classic in its own right. Where abouts are you in the South East?
Mike.

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 2:54 pm

Chichester, Mike.

As soon as i get the gremlins sorted on mine, maybe hook up one Sunday for a coffee?

SESH · Post by **SESH** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 4:10 pm

Sounds good, but we are quite a way apart, I am in Southend-on-Sea.
I was going to recommend Harry who sponsors the E Type Forum, if you need technical help with your engine. He is near Tonbridge. http://etypeuk.com/

But you may have your own experts or be able to do the work yourself.

Pete Crespin who posts on here is a also a huge expert on these cars as well as many other posters, I have gathered a wealth of knowledge from all of them.
Mike

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 6:14 pm

OK, hopefully Pete can help

What a difference WOT and a warm engine make!

Cylinders 1 to 5 all 145 to 150 psi dry test!

Cylinder 6 (front of engine?) 90 psi. Heavy white smoke from the cylinder head breather pipe and if i remove the oil filler cap - white'ish smoke wafts out (no real pressure - just wafts out)

Oil fouled spark plug and no real smoke from exhausts just wafting out the oil filler cap and cylinder head breather pipe. It even puffs smoke when trying to start the engine

I haven't had the car long enough to verify any water usage, but my gut feel is that she's using a little water, and the alloy breather catch tank had 4 or so litres of water in it

I suppose a leak down test should be next? along with a head gasket test as my suspicion is that this issue wasn't that evident a week or so ago and has got progressively worse

christopher storey · Post by **christopher storey** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 6:27 pm

Whitish smoke suggests a head gasket problem ( antifreeze burns with a whitish residue ) . If the gasket has gone between no 6 and the cam chain chest , this would explain both your breather symptoms , and the smoke from the oil filler area, and the test results. I should pull the head - if you are familiar with engines it is only about a 2 hour job at worst , and you would have to do it in any event to remove any pistons as they will only come out upwards

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 6:35 pm

christopher storey wrote:Whitish smoke suggests a head gasket problem ( antifreeze burns with a whitish residue ) . If the gasket has gone between no 6 and the cam chain chest , this would explain both your breather symptoms , and the smoke from the oil filler area, and the test results. I should pull the head - if you are familiar with engines it is only about a 2 hour job at worst , and you would have to do it in any event to remove any pistons as they will only come out upwards

How might this explain the low compression and oil fouled plug though Chris?

The engine runs beautifully sweet when started with no smoke from the exhausts (except on overun) from one bank (Cyl 6) but copious vapour / smoke from the breather and oil filler

christopher storey · Post by **christopher storey** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 6:40 pm

Because if the gasket has gone between no 6 and the front of the engine, there will be a. a loss of compression and as a consequnce b. very little combustion going on and thus the plug will gradually foul up . It occurs to me that you might try a further test : take off the domed breather cover at the front of the head and see if you can see the white smoke there with the engine running . When you refer to "one bank" what do you mean ? This is not a V12 is it ? If so , disregard all I have said because I assumed this was an XK engine since your initial post referred to an S2

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 6:45 pm

Chris, yes 4.2 engine. The white smoke is coming both from the pipe connected to this dome (which exits into an alloy catch tank as the SU's have trumpets fitted - no air cleaner) and the oil filler cap when removed. No real crankcase pressure evident if you hold you hand over the oil filler - it just "wafts" out whitish smoke. One bank - the car has a sports exhaust system and the front three cylinders exit on the left side of the exhaust system. Hope this makes sense. The engine was only rebuilt about 10k miles ago according to the history. Good oil pressure etc

PeterCrespin · Post by **PeterCrespin** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 6:52 pm

Yup, quite apart from differences in gauge calibration, test technique has a major influence on the numbers. Of course your wear might well have been far less with a decent filter setup but that's water under the bridge (oil under the sump?).

You have a dud piston group in number six. Technically, you could drop the sump, remove that rod & piston and just replace with a better piston and rings after checking the bore. Nothing really wrong with doing that, but many would redo the whole engine. No real need if you just want to get around with a reasonable car.

As for being a huge expert, I hope to be a little less huge when I do a bit more running and a bit less eating after emigrating for good next Monday.

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 6:59 pm

Peter, the weird thing is that i only collected the car last week - and this problem wasn't "particularly" evident - just a small amount of vapour from the breather catch tank on idle - which has got alot worse over the course of 20 or so miles.

The engine was fully rebuilt, lightened & balanced, high capacity oil pump, alloy flywheel, special cams and won 43 races from 48 starts.

Also, when returning from the garage after collecting the car, i did notice it had pushed a small amount of water from the expansion tank through the overflow pipe

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