Hi together,

in addition to my transmission my engine is now starting to tackle me.

1. Issue: the left hand catalytic converter is melted inside
2. Issue: the ignition coil of the left hand bank is slightly burned (probably caused by someone not putting on the ignition wire properly) -> this could possibly explain #1
3. Issue: on the right hand bank 4 out of six spark plugs are almost white, which would indicate they are running too lean
4. Issue: the oil consumption has increased over the past year, it is at about 1 litre per 1000km

Regarding issue #1 I have been looking for a replacement, but there are only cheap aftermarktet parts available which are said to be made of poor quality, can anyone tell me a source for a good replacement?

Issue #2 should be fixed by a new coil and cable, luckily.

Regarding issue #3 I have tested 2+2 injectors (2 from cylinders with good spark and 2 from cylinders with bad spark) and they tested almost equally (amountwise). So the injectors are probably not the issue. So do I also have an ignition issue on the other bank?

For issue #4 I made a compression test and found that the rear cylinders of each bank are slightly below the factory value (between 12,5 bar and 13,2 whereas the target value is between 13,6 and 16,3 bar). So I guess the cylinder head gaskets are about to give up. Or has anyone a better explanation?

Doing the head gaskets is quite a job according to what I have read so far, but paying someone for doing this is not an option. Looking at my faulty transmission I am not sure if am willing to take the task, knowing that even when it's done I am still in trouble on the other side of the crank. If I knew the transmission was fixed it would increase my motivation to do the engine as well, but if it turns out that is more serious that just the head gaskets, I might have fixed the transmission for nothing.

Any thought appreciated.
Oliver

 

Got me an inspection camera and looked in to my cylinders. Mostly they look good, still can see the cross-hatching pattern on the liners, but most of them have burnt oil above the piston travel or even on top of the pistons, though this must be rather old.

cross-hatching



burned oil margin

On one cylinder there was pitting on the liner .. the engine probably stood for quite a while before I bought it.


Pitting


On one cylinder there was quite an amount of fresh oil on top, my camera has a limited angle but it looks like it doesn't go all around - probably my leaking head gasket.


oil leak


Then there were 2 more cylinders with little amount of fresh or rather fresh oil, probably going all around - maybe bad piston oil seals?


oil margin

oil margin 2


And finally there is one cylinder where there is as mark going vertically ... I have made series of pictures of this cylinder and there is only one specific angle where this becomes visible.Could be piston play, marks from debris (the spark plug holes were full of it) or just a visual deception because the camera light reflects so much.

vertikal marks


What do you think about this engine? New head gasket(s) and it will be good for the next .. let's say 50K km (this will cover more than ten years of usage) or serious work to be expected once opened?

Thanks
Oliver