possible causes of misfire

philthy wrote:
> i have seen it twice in the last year

Do you suppose the valve was starved for oil because of gumming, and it
seized?

no more like the rocker arm was

Robert Reynolds wrote:

> philthy wrote:
> > i have seen it twice in the last year
>
> Do you suppose the valve was starved for oil because of gumming, and it
> seized?

philthy wrote:
> no more like the rocker arm was
>
> Robert Reynolds wrote:
>
>> philthy wrote:
>>> i have seen it twice in the last year
>> Do you suppose the valve was starved for oil because of gumming, and it
>> seized?
>


The hole is punched in the side where the valve is, and the valve seems
to be stuck open now. The rocker has full motion when the engine is
cranked.

On May 28, 6:50�pm, Robert Reynolds > wrote:
> I finally decided to pull a valve cover so I could see what the hell was
> going on in there, because nothing makes sense on this van. *What I
> found was a ton of oil crud caked on everything, a stuck valve, and a
> rocker with a hole neatly punched in it by the valve stem.
>
> Not only that but the engine is full of crud.

I had an engine that was like yours. I finally had Jiffy Lube do 3 oil
changes with some cleaning oil and new filters each time. Ran engine
aboput 20 minutes between changes. Did another 100K with the engine.
The cleaning oil sure did move out lots of crud. The oil pan drain was
clogged but good. They sprayed/squirted in lots of solvent to get all
the stuff out of the pan through the drain. I expect that transmission
fluid would do the same thing if you are into messy work. Jiffy Lube
charged me $75.00 for all their time and effort including the cleaning
oil. A bargain now and then.
Bob AZ

Bob AZ wrote:
> On May 28, 6:50�pm, Robert Reynolds > wrote:
>> I finally decided to pull a valve cover so I could see what the hell was
>> going on in there, because nothing makes sense on this van. �What I
>> found was a ton of oil crud caked on everything, a stuck valve, and a
>> rocker with a hole neatly punched in it by the valve stem.
>>
>> Not only that but the engine is full of crud.
>
> I had an engine that was like yours. I finally had Jiffy Lube do 3 oil
> changes with some cleaning oil and new filters each time. Ran engine
> aboput 20 minutes between changes. Did another 100K with the engine.
> The cleaning oil sure did move out lots of crud. The oil pan drain was
> clogged but good. They sprayed/squirted in lots of solvent to get all
> the stuff out of the pan through the drain. I expect that transmission
> fluid would do the same thing if you are into messy work. Jiffy Lube
> charged me $75.00 for all their time and effort including the cleaning
> oil. A bargain now and then.
> Bob AZ
>
>


That's exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of doing, using either
ATF or one of those Super Engine Flush products from the parts store. I
had actually considered running it a couple hundred miles between
flushes, but I think your idea is better. Just get as much out as
possible all at once.

Given my current options of either fixing it or selling it, I figure
it's a good idea to gamble a couple hundred bucks on a used head and a
flush-out to see how much use I can get out of it.

Thanks for the anecdote.