plugs keep getting wet, works on 2 cilinders

[Sven]

This is so annoying, i'll thow the stupid car in the river...

i take out the plugs, i clean them with a steel brush, put them back, and the engine works like a dream, two days later, i want to start it , first time it works on 3 cilinders, then after starting it again it works on 2. no.1 and no.4 plugs keep getting wet with oily/gas, or whatever and then stop igniting..

would you by any chance know the cause of this?

thanks!

[guyopel]

What is the car ? What is type of fuel sys. ? Carb or fuel inj.s ? This would help to get ans. HTH

[opelnut10]

Yeah, you got a problem there alright. First thing I would do is run a compression check on it to see if it is blowing by the rings, if that is alright then check ignition, points, wires, coil output etc. Gasoline engine rule of thumb, if it has compression, if it is getting fuel and spark in the proper amount and it is in time it will run.

[opelnut10]

Also could be valve guides or seals allowing oil by oil fouling the plugs which will cause incomplete firing of the fuel mixture and loading up the plugs with oil and gas.

[Sven]

it's a 2.0 cih engine with a varajet2 carb in a manta.

I did a compression check a while ago, and i think it was something like 9.5 bar on all 4 cilinders.

but i think the valve seals are worn because this engine stood for about 5 years without running some time back.. i don't know if that could cause a problem like this.


all the wiring is new, plug cables are solid copper wire, new points, rotor, cap. and plugs are about a 1 year old but haven't got even 100 miles on them.

[namba209]

Then again, it could be something simple like the choke is not working. Make sure it is free and it opens fully after the engine gets up to temp. Look for dark sooty smoke out the exhaust. Blue smoke is oil, dark, black is gas. HTH.

[yellaopelgt]

Is there a possibility that that timing is just a bit off and the carb is adjusted to compensate? It sounds as tho it might be running rich. Just a guess.
Joe

[opelnut10]

I think you hit the nail when you said the valve seals might be bad, if it sat for that long without being lubed I can tell you they are bad, especially if it was fired after sitting that long without pre-lubing everything.

[Tillerman]

Have you smelled the wet plugs? First thing I would do is smell and identify what the moisture is. Could be gas, coolant or oil.

[Jeff Pozorski]

You state that you have about 100 miles on the wires, etc. in the past year. This seems to indicate you don't drive the car very much. Are you just starting it and letting it run for a few minutes before shutting it down most times? If so, you are not getting the engine up to proper operating temperature to burn off completely the combustion residue. I use to do the same thing with my Manta only to find I was gumming things up engine wise. Now I take the car out for a good run instead of just letting it sit and idle for a few minutes. Big difference in how it starts and runs between jaunts. Try taking the car for a short ride and then see if the plugs have the same problem. Hit the freeway if you can to really get things up to proper operating temps,

[Sven]

Originally Posted by Jeff Pozorski You state that you have about 100 miles on the wires, etc. in the past year. This seems to indicate you don't drive the car very much. Are you just starting it and letting it run for a few minutes before shutting it down most times? If so, you are not getting the engine up to proper operating temperature to burn off completely the combustion residue. I use to do the same thing with my Manta only to find I was gumming things up engine wise. Now I take the car out for a good run instead of just letting it sit and idle for a few minutes. Big difference in how it starts and runs between jaunts. Try taking the car for a short ride and then see if the plugs have the same problem. Hit the freeway if you can to really get things up to proper operating temps,

thats right, i don't drive the car because its not insured, so i just go for short spins on sundays or whenever someone wants to hear it run.

there isn't any smell on the plugs but they are black oily.
theres quite a bit of smoke... but its mostly white, i haven't noticed any blue or dark smoke, allthough it sometime backfires when starting.. this carb is a nightmare, so once i got it working on idle, i wouldn't dare touch it again.

choke is electric and works fine.

i guess i'll have to change those seals allready. thanks!

[guyopel]

White smoke sound like coolant in the eng. possible headgaskets . I would not worry about the valve seals now replace them when you have the cyl. head off. HTH

[benncojr]

Sounds like you have a coolant leak and need to have the head gasket replaced. Easy way to check:

1. Is your coolent level going down.
2. While the engine is cold, take the raditator cap off. Top of the coolent level. Start the car. If you have bubles coming out of the raditator it is a head gasket that need replaceing!!

[baz]

remember white smoke can just be water in the exhaust its cold where that car is and if its making white smoke for a short while thats fine , no need to go pulling the head off just for condensation being evaporated out of the system
sven if you have 9.5 bar across the 4 cylinders i dont think theres too much wrong with the head gasket and a worn set of guides would give you blue smoke as the oil was burnt off ,i had a honda that would use 100cc of oil in the first 30 mile of driving because of no valve seals but it never oiled up a plug and would start first time
if the car is not used much could you be getting water in the tank and its making the fuel bad ? does it stand outside or is it under cover ?

i would drain the tank to see what thats like before i started to pull the whole thing to bits

[asdasc]

More than anything, It sounds like it needs to be driven more! Cars don't like to just sit. The gas gets old, water (condensation) collects where you don't want it, seals dry out, and the oil goes bad.

I would change the oil, then drive it through a full tank of gas, go on a roadtrip. Then, when you do store it for a while, put some gas stabilizer in the tank with fresh gas.

The back firing could be caused by a bad carb adjustment. When I got mine, it wouldn't idle at all. It didn't want to be adjusted either. I finally tracked it back to a bad float adjustment, then was able to adjust the carb, and now it never backfires. I never once touched the timing!

Good luck with it!

[nachi11744]

it's a 2.0 cih engine with a varajet2 carb in a manta.

Hello,
If you're still running a GM Varajet carb, then I would point my finger at the carb right away. It's flooding slowly, because the float is sinking into the gasoline OR the needle seat is loose in the carb body.
The Varajet is almost always junked for a good reason, it does NOT work that well after a few years service. Good engineering idea, poor execution.
Take a look at mantaclub.org as well.
HTH.
Have a good week.

[Sven]

No, i didn't mean the smoke is white as in cloud thick white, its just a normal greyish-transparent color.

I'm aware of the varajet being a piece of junk, but i have no choice, i've built one fair carb out of 5 using new gaskets... it works ok, only stutters a bit on accellaration when cold.

But, anyway, i found why it doesen't work because today it wouldn't start atall, and it had spark and fuel... see i forgot to mention there is no air filter, theres just a mesh on the carb, and its been raining these last couple of days... so hence the "cilinder strike" blew out the gas, a couple of backfires later, and it works again.