monkeydude3

Hello all~
I have a 97 GT, 108k miles on it. Runs like a top. I just took it on a highway trip with some occasional romping on it and averaged about 25mpg. Compression is good. Oddly though, on average it seems to use a quart of oil per 1000 miles. Only oil leak I am aware of is a TINY DRIP out of the aftermarket oil pressure fitting by the oil filter. I don't see this as cause to lose that much. I run a wix oil filter with mobil standard 5W30 oil. Runs cool and oil pressure is always where it should be.
I have absolutely no startup smoke when cold, no smoke when ripping (but smells like rotten eggs on WOT, I have heard clogged/bad cats will cause this smell, so I plan on a bbk high flow catted H pipe), but no smoke at all. Water drips out the tail pipe with the steam.

I am suspecting the valve guide seals are going? The ones you can do with the heads still on ?? There is a fitting I need to buy so I can put compressed air into the spark plug holes/cylinders (hold valves closed) and then replace the seals that way. Anyone think I'm on the right track?

If so, has anyone done these seals themselves? I am a tech at an independent shop and am training to be a master tech, so any chance to learn how to do something new is great for me. Yeah I know she has some miles on 'er but the interior is immaculate and it only needs a few things here and there, and I want it to be a learning tool so needs work is no problem for me.

Thanks all


George

monkeydude3

anyone have any ideas? I'm perplexed.

xx9gt6xx

I beleive it would be your valve guides if your compression is good. I'm not sure if you can replace them with them on the car, in my machine shop they did it on this machine where they drill out the old guide and pop in the new one so you would have to take your head off...

Hope this helps a little...

Djs94stang

If it doesn't smoke, doesn't foul the plugs and runs fine why bother doing anything? A quart every 1000 is considered normal. Granted some engines will not use anything but that doesn't really mean anything.

Chopper

If you mostly drive the car for short trips around town this might be of some help.
When the car isn't driven enough to heat the engine to operating temperature and keep it there (about an hour) the oil picks up water and unburned gas that slips past the rings.This accumulates in the oil untill you take the car out on the road for a long trip.The oil gets up to temp. and the water and fuel boils out.When you check the oil level it shows a quart or more low.If it does this all the time no matter how it's driven then it can be a combination of rings,guides,and valve seals.All these things can add up to a quart per 1000 miles.

mustangdad

Thats true a quart every 1000 miles and no smoke showing(especially after it sits idle a few minutes then you rev it) is generally acceptable with about 110,000 on the engine. However I know it still would bother me a bit too. I don't beleive in the "engine in a can products" but I have used a product called Restore with good short term results. Silver can Walmart or auto store and takes about 500 miles of drving to do its thing. If your going to pursue a full repair you should do it right though. Start with a compression test and look for uniformity of the psi readings,not neccessarily how much psi. You make find one cylinder or more that is substantially lower than the others,in which case valve stem seals would be a waste. Also keep in mind the pressure in the cylinders from the explosion of spark combustion has quite a charge(thats how power is made) and making the valves seal better will essentially transfer that combustion pressure to the pistons and rings and of course the pistons are connected to the crank shaft which has bearings,which sometimes fail. Do you see where this is going? it was very common when I was growing up to get a 3 angle valve job on a set of heads from an engine with say 70,000 miles. Put it back together runs great. Weeks or months later throws a rod bearing. Just something to think about.

kartracer55

Never done it on a newer mustang but if its just the valve guide seal itself you might not need to pull the heads... You can get an adapter to fit into the spark plug hole and pump in like 100 psi... if tyhe compressions good it will hold the valves up. Oldschool trick I picked up, I didnt it on a 302. You cant use a normal valve sprind compessor though. You need the kind that fit over the valve spring and you press down on them and a magnet inside pulls up the keeper. Pretty sweet.

Jim

monkeydude3

cool. Sounds like rather than goin through a bunch of trouble I may just save away for a newer engine or something. Runs great, if it uses a bit of oil whatever. I've heard good things about that lucas oil additive. Also I am very soon undergoing redoing the transmission and clutch, so the engine oil usage will have to wait. maybe some day I can own a vehicle with a warrany... ha!


George