A few things.

[1glaserturbo]

Alright, I own a 1992 Plymouth Laser Rs AWD. Here are a couple problems I've encountered....

1. I've got quite a tremendous oil leak coming from somewhere above my oil pan (maybe) and it seems to be draining quite a lot. The front/rear main seals are 100% new and in tip top condition.

2. There is also a decent oil leak coming from just below the turbo, I've replaced both of my return line gaskets and it still is occurring. I'm not sure where it's at.

3. I have had this problem for some time now, My car has an extremely rough idle and it seems to be a vacuum leak as well. The timing is perfect as well as no leaking tubes. I had it pressure/boost tested and showed nothing. I changed my spark plug wires, plugs, and the ISC. I have reason to believe my Ecu capacitors are leaking, but I'm not 100% sure.


My mods are:
3" Downpipe
3" high flow cat
3" cat-back with magnaflow muffler
Air Filter
Boost Gauge



Chris

 

[blackGSX2g]

1. What side is the leak actually coming from? Its possible either the rear main or front main didn't seat right. I've seen that happen before with a brand new rear main. Not fun to change out.

2. You could try putting some high temp RTV around the oil return and see if that helps. If not, the surface might be bad on the tube or your center cartridge

3. What kind of plugs are you running? Stick with NGK's, others will cause you problems. Its possible your ECU is bad, pull it out and open it up to check. Takes about 10 minutes and it'll rule out another possiblity.

 

[1glaserturbo]

Alright, I fixed my hesitation problem. It seemed like my 4th cylinder wasn't getting adequate spark so I checked out the plug. Low and behold the tip was melted to no end. (I'll get pictures up later)

With the rough idle situation, when I'm driving along and I come to a stop, it seems to "auto-rev" about 500 rpm's and I'm not sure exatcly why.

As for the oil leak, I figured out where one of them was coming from, (it seemed my valve cover cap wasn't all to great) but there is still one coming from the return line area. I'm going to rtv it a little to see if that helps any, but if it doesn't what other things could I be looking for?

I still have yet to check my ECU, so I'll have to get going on that.



Thanks again guys, Chris

 

[blackGSX2g]

A melted spark plug isn't good. What boost are you running?

I've seen a few cars that have the auto-rev problem you are having. In most cases, we replaced the ISC and it helped/fixed the problem.

Your ISC is located on the bottom of your throttle body closest to the firewall. It is attached with 2 8mm bolts, pull it out and test the resistance using the method in your repair manual.

 

[1glaserturbo]

Ok, I've come to the conclusion that my ECU caps are perfectly in tact!

I replaced the ISC a week or so ago with a rebuilt one and it didn't change anything. I've even messed around a little with the BISS screw, nothing.

I used some Seafoam application to clean out the engine a little, no difference.

It sounds like my injectors are mis-firing. For some reason though, I ran some High Quality Injector Cleaner through and it hasn't made any difference. What else could it be?



Chris

 

[blackGSX2g]

Try doing a compression test. If you melted your spark plug, you may have damaged something else.

 

[1glaserturbo]

I'm still quite a n00b to DSM's, but how would I go about doing a true compression test?



Thanks again for so much help!

Chris

 

[1glaserturbo]

I'm still quite a n00b to DSM's, but how would I go about doing a true compression test?



Thanks again for so much help!

Chris

Nevermind, I checked out vfaq and printed out the Compression Test

I've almost come to the conclusion that I might have some bad seals or even rings. The bad thing is, I'm not sure if I would have to take the motor out to replace them.

If by chance they are bad, would I be better off just switching in some 2g pistons and a metal headgasket? I'm guessing that might be one of the easier fixes?


Chris

 

[2gGSX]

why didn't you ask me to do a compression test? give me a call

 

[1glaserturbo]

Ok, this might be a shot out of the blue, but if my compression shows ok, what else would I need to look for? My dad is a mechanic and he hasn't any idea either!

Also, if compression is showing low, what would I really need to replace. I'm guessing a seal and rings, might as well do the headgasket. Would it just be tons easier to replace my pistons with some 2gs? I'm really at a loss of ideas!


Thanks again,
Chris

 

[2gGSX]

Worry about the results of those tests first. Boost leak, compression, leak down maybe

 

[blackGSX2g]

If your compression isn't close to the same in each cylinder, is generally low, or one or two cylinders has extremely low compression, then something is off.

If you put oil in the low cylinder(s) and compression goes up, your rings are worn. If you put oil in the low cylinder(s) and compression doesn't change, I'd suspect a head gasket or valve seals. A leakdown test will provide further answers.

 

[1glaserturbo]

It is rebuild time you guys. I'll keep you updated in a newer thread. Thanks for all your help


Chris