Overhaul around the corner .

[Hans]

See the plugs , from left to right cylinder 4,3,2,1.
There was more black stuff in the number 3 plug. But that fell out.
Car uses a lot of oil. And engine shakes noticably.

Plug 3 being black is not new.
Was already in 2007 when I bought it.
Shaking is recently. Seems to miss at least one cylinder.

Would sea foam be worth trying?
It doesn't leak oil. It must burn it.
Coolant is clean and doesn't need to be added.

Wish I had a compression tester.

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[emerygt350]

That's a tough one. Sea foam couldn't hurt. But I would check ignition too. You might have weak spark headed to those cylinders. Plug wires, dizzy, etc. Check the contacts in the distributor for those cylinders. Look any different?

[KevinK]

The rest of the plugs look pretty good. I can't see the brand but I suggest using Motorcraft plugs. Cheap and very durable. I have had other brands of plugs fail prematurely.

Check the plug wire, cap and rotor then a compression check.

[richpet]

Like they said. Poor spark through a few bad wires could do that.
Make sure all wires/dizzy cap/rotor are good.

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[bwguardian]

If you're burning oil and not leaking it. Does it smoke when you crank it up cold? I would check the valve stem seals and see if they are the originals. Also do a compression test and possibly a leak down test too. Looks like the middle 2 NGK spark plugs are looking dirty. Might not be that bad of a fix...

[Hans]

Did compression check:
Engine was cold, throttle closed.
Results: 6- 7 bar/ 87- 102 PSI.
Pleased to see no indication for mechanical failures.

Like you said, probably ignition related.
Plug wires might be bad. Rest is reasonably new, but will throw in new plugs anyway.

Thanks.


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[Hans]

@bwguardian
I didn't notice any signs of valve seal leakage. No bad smell or smoke visible in the rear view mirror.
But I keep monitoring it.
Thanks.

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[richpet]

Your pressures cyl to cyl look close enough to each other which is good. But, all the numbers also look low because I *think you want numbers up around 130-150. That means it is getting tired. Pressure is going somewhere (past the rings or past the valves, probably drawing oil with it).

If the engine shakes check your damper. It is not uncommon to have the rubber layer break down. If you put a timing light on the running motor does it bounce around a lot? But I would physically see if you can wiggle the two parts of the damper because if it comes all the way apart... Not good.

Looking like you are burning some. Instead of using the mirror (though that is great!) Have a buddy stand back there in a cold start. If they see smoke valve seals are probably leaking.

Have them follow you down the road. Smoke at all on accel/decel? Cruising? It may be dissipating before you can see it behind you.

Looking at your plugs, if it was me, I might try one range of heat higher to see if they stay cleaner longer. Just pay attention to potential detonation. But with those low cyl pressure readings I doubt it would be an issue.


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[WilliamCapri]

I agree with all of the above. An easy check is the distributor cap and rotor. The original cap used aluminum pins to take the spark from the rotor to the wires. Of course the spark will corrode the aluminum which makes one of the best insulators you can find. Leading to weak spark. The original rotor used a wire loop to send the spark to the pins. I can’t imagine what thought process led to that design. The wire nearest the pins would burn through and you end up with a couple of wire points that burn back and eventually the spark can’t jump the gap to the pins. With the age of these cars, they would have to be replaced by now but you never know. Look for a cap with brass pins and a solid metal conductor on the rotor like the Accel ACC-8234.

[richpet]

Use a brass cap/rotor. Aluminum, like factory, does the job. But brass contacts last longer and work better.

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