Have a 1988 Ford Ranger pickup truck, 2 wd, 5 spd manual with a 2.0L, 4cyl engine. Would like to know what this means? Could it be valve seals, oil rings? I have also had a tad of blue out the exaust once in a blue moon. So it sounds like the oil rings are going and some cylinderw walls are getting glazed.

Have 132,000 kms on engine so far. Will do a compression test and hope this tells all. It could be a big job and not worth the problem. Seems to be coming from the oil filler cap, and vent tube to air filter. changed the pcv, new plugs.

Any help is a appreciated

 

Blow-by. The compressed air-fuel mixture is being forced past the rings into the crankcase - which pressurizes the crankcase - which forces oil out of any path it can find - such as filler cap, vent tube, pcv, air filter, etc...

Welcome to FTE, btw...

 

Here's a link that might explain it in a bit more detail:
BLOWBY

 

First thing I would be checking is the PCV circuit. PCV valve, gasket and tubing. That's a fairly common problem on the older trucks like my 85 F150, and a cheap easy fix usually.

 

Hi Furyus1,

Thanks for the that link "BLOWBY" great information. I had just put in a new PCV valve and seemed to work good, as the vapours from the tube from the valve cover oil cap to the air cleaner seemed to be flowing freely.

So now next question is to try the Molybdenum Disulfide mentioned in the blowby site to help with the seal of rings.

Where could I find such an animal, and how do I use it? I would not like to install new rings, grrr

Thanks again for this useful information Furyus1

 

No idea - and I'm not sure you need it - It may not do any good.

If you say replacing the pcv helped, then I'd leave it at that and see what happens. If you don't get as much oil - or none at all - in the air cleaner, then I wouldn't worry about it.

If it gets any worse, I'd say the rings need to be replaced...

 

Whoa there! That's only around 80k miles for us U.S. guys. Did this truck sit for a long time?

 

Bought truck about a year ago. Other owner said it was used as a project truck, and the owner before that was a brick layer. So i think the engine has been put through a lot in hauling sand, bricks, weight, etc. Also owners said they drove truck across Canada , if that means anything lol. 132,000kms is about 82,000 miles. go figure. Maybe the truck has been abused.

 

What I was getting at with that low of mileage,[kilage?], was maybe the piston oil rings may be frozen or just plain bad. If that blue smoke shows up at cold start, that could be guide seals. Have you done a compression check yet?
Where in Ca. are you?

 

Hey johnday,
No blue smoke at cold start up. Haven't seen any blue puff out the back for quite sometime, fingers crossed lol. I am in British Columbia, Near the city of Nelson, BC. 6 miles up the Slocan Valley, in Crescent Valley. Mornings have had frost, when starting up its seems good for now. I seem to be having a sticky choke. as I have to kick the gas pedal to get it to proper idle at times. Still working on the compression test wet/dry. Will let you know.

 

10-4 on that compression check.

I thought you may have been in Ontario, I've working in and out of Ontario and Little France for years, and have lived on the border all my life until just recently. I have relatives somewhere in NS as well.

 

Probably a good idea to have changed the PCV valve. I agree, you may have excessive blow-by if the oil hasn't been changed by the previous owners in a timely manner, or if they didn't use the specified service grade oil, so I agree, a compression test is likely a good idea.

If you have oil in the air cleaner/filter/air intake ducting, you likely have an oil fouled MAF sensor & there-by corrupt fuel trim & fuel trim tables.

So, if blow-by/crank case back pressure things seem to be back to normal after the PCV valve replacement, consider disconnecting the battery B- cable for say 15 min, to wipe the corrupt fuel trim tables & while doing that, remove the MAF sensor & spray clean it with a non residual MAF cleaner, like CRC, or Valvolene MAF spray cleaner. If recently driven, let the sensor cool before cleaning with the cold spray so as not to temp shock its heated wire sensor, don't touch the sensor with the spray wand so as not to damage it & keep everything squeeky clean on re-installation.

While the MAF sensor is out for cleaning, also clean the air box, air tubing & throttle body with a properly formulated throttle body spray cleaner that says its safe for coated throttle bodies.

Also remove the IAC & clean it internally with the MAF sensor cleaner, as its likely oil fouled too, then replace the air filter.

After reconnecting the battery B- cable, with the vehicle fully cooled off, start it, let it idle down some, then perform the cold & warm idle strategy relearn proceedure, to let the computer begin to rebuild new fuel trim tables & relearn its idle strategy with the new PCV valve, air filter, cleaned MAF sensor & throttle body & see how it goes.
EDIT: Cold & warm idle relearn routine. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...9&postcount=12

With the low mileage, its not likely wear would be the problem, unless the previous owners didn't use the proper service grade oil, or didn't change it in a timely manner. This engine is speced to use 5W-20, so if you had any oil fouled spark plugs, or have sludge on the top end under the cam/valve cover, maybe consider trying a synthetic lube with an ester based oil recipe, to slowly desludge the engine & it'll also decarbon/clean/free up the piston ring lands & maybe improve/reduce blow-by, if you think you also have that problem caused by sludge, or carbon fouled ring lands.

More thoughts for consideration, let us know how it goes.

 

Hi all,

here are some figures for this 2.0 liter engine,4 cyl, for a 1988 ford ranger with 133k miles on it.

all 2 cylinders were 140 psi and one was 110 psi. Not good at all. You would thing that all cylinders would wear the same, but this one? Also would like to know what the normal psi would be. Previous owner said truck was not used very much except for projects, like heavy work, hauling sand.Owner before previous was a brick layer. Would adding Molybdenum Disulfide to oil help?

Thanks

 

Remove the troubled cyl spark plugs & pour in about 1 table spoon of oil, disable spark & the fuel pump so the engine won't run & so fuel won't wash the cyls down. Then crank the engine over to distribute the oil, then perform the compression test again & post the numbers.

If compression improves, its likely a ring problem, maybe worn, maybe carboned up ring lands/sticking compression rings.
If compression doesn't improve, maybe its CCDF holding a valve open, or maybe its a burned valve.

More thoughts for pondering, let us know how it goes.

 

Pouring in extra after market moly additives aren't likely to help in the long term, if ring land deposits & sticking compression rings are the problem. Not knowing the kind of moly thats being added, nor in what concentration & not knowing the formulation of the oil its being added to, can cause problems if the oil is already at or near its additive saturation point & we pour in more, or the wrong kind, only to have it precipate out & cause more mischief.
Lots of moly in the exhaust won't do the cat converter any good either & it may already be hurting from the blow-by the vehicle has.
Most API S/N-GF-5 lubes have had their Moly reduced or replaced with other additives, so you'll have to look on the PQIA web sites oil recipe list to review service grade SN oil recipies with the highest Moly content.

If you come to suspect that you have ring land deposits causing compression ring sticking, as suggested in my post above, maybe consider trying an ester based synthetic oil that has a good dose of Boron in its recipe like Mobil-1 & see how it goes over time.

Or maybe consider trying an Auto-Rx treatment proceedure, with a fresh change of mineral oil & keep a check on the troubled cyl compression number. Auto-Rx is a blend of ester oils that is said to be able to get after ring land deposits over time & may help tidy them up enough to make a compression difference.

Its not an inexpensive product & works slowly over time, but has been reported to help compression on dirty engines with compression problems.

I've never had cause to try it in an engine, but am using it in the power steering & transmission on my 94 Taurus, to tidy up their innards for this falls full fluid flush/change out.

The Taurus tranny up & down shifts are noticeably smoother, but it hasn't done anything for the intermittent hanging up 2-1 down shift that it had developed, but they aren't any worse either, so I think it may have the infamous cracked foward clutch piston & no mechanic in a can is gonna fix that!!!!! lol

The power steering system had developed an off center shudder that Seafoam Trans Tune would clear up for 2-3 years, then another treatment & fluid flush would be needed, so I gave the power steering fluid a 1oz dose of Auto-Rx when the tranny got its 5oz dose back in late 09, to see if it would clean up anything the Trans Tune missed. So far its ok after 3 years & is now due for another flush this fall, along with the tranny flush. The tranny, or power steering fluid hasn't changed color much after adding the Auto-Rx, so the systems must have been fairly clean from the last Sea Foam Trans Tune cleaning & fluid flush & the addition of a Magnefine filter in the power steering fluid return line to the pump, so it could trap anything down to 25u in particle size that the Trans Tune, or Auto-Rx cleaned out of the pump, rack, lines & cooler.

So at this point I don't have any negative results on using the Auto-Rx ester recipe in my 94 Taurus AXODE tranny or power steering system.

If you try an ester based oil, or the Auto-Rx in a mineral oil & compression improves, then if you want to use a mineral oil with a good dose of moly & boron in its recipe, like Chevron Supreme, do that, or use an ester based synthetic oil that also has a good dose of boron like Mobil-1 to keep things tidy.

More thoughts for pondering, let us know what you do & how it goes.