Horrific First Bronco Experience NEED HELP San Diego

[broncnaz]

A little smoke out the breather or PCV is kinda normal you will get more smoke when you rev the engine up. Of course engines with more wear will have more blowby. Most engines will have some blowby. Id do the compression test as was suggested and unless you find something amiss there I wouldnt worry about it. especailly since it runs fine. Drive it and have some fun

 

[TwoDalesDad]

I would suggest...not just a Compression test...but do a leak-down test. That wi tell you not only your compression, but it will let you know where exactlly your commpression is going....ie....leaky valve stem...leaky piston rings...etc. I am from North San Diego County...but I now live in Oregon. If you cannot find a good shop....I still have friends, and familly down there..Sorry foryour troublez....but at least it an old bronco.....could be some throw away crap....lol

 

[DirtDonk]

It sounds like your breather is set up more like a draft-tube setup than a normal PCV setup. The tube being open at the other end is just sucking dirty air into the engine.
There are two common types of breather you see most often. One is simply a filter, and the other is a hose connection. In the case of the hose connection like yours it's meant to connect to a filter.
The factory connects it to the stock closed air-cleaner housing. With your aftermarket setup you could plumb it into the base of the air filter housing so that it takes clean air from inside the filter.

The PCV valve itself should be hooked to full manifold vacuum, usually at the base of the carburetor.
And they can both be run in either valve cover too, so if you decide to hook it up that way, you can use whichever valve cover seems the most convenient for the purpose. As long as you have one with vacuum and a valve, and the other with a filtered air source, you're good.

The filter is more important on an off-road truck of course. Either way though, even on a street truck, I'd try to find a convenient way to filter the incoming air.

Paul

 

[BRONCOBERT]

That cam sounds extremely lopey.

 

[bmc69]

The hose connected to breather cap was routed down by the firewall and flow out under the truck...

That's very strange..because that is the side that the air enters the engine....and would normally be connected to the underside of the air cleaner, or a separate small filter element, to make sure clean(er) air is being sucked in to the engine by the PCV setup.

Maybe that's an indication that the engine has had a blowby problem for some time..and the vent hose was added to try and hide it, keeping it out of the engine compartment? Just spitballin'...

 

[PaveBronco]

That Dizzy look like its been clocked funny, and does that brake booster vacuum line run around the front of the engine. PO’s are notorious for unintentionally screwing things up so you need to go over every nut and bolt of that truck, change all the filters and fluids, and get a Chilton’s and Hanyne’s manual….you’ve made two brilliant moves, buying a Bronco and joining this site, so congratts and welcome, these guys have saved me so much time, effort, grief, and money.

 

[Teal68]

Like has been said do a compression test to verify the health of the engine. If that checks out I think your PCV hoses need re-routing. It's not uncommon to get some smoke so if you route that smoke back in the intake or air cleaner you won't see it, and it will get burned up.

Also, see if there is a filter built into the cap that has the hose going under the vehicle.


Please, all feel free to let me know if I am passing along any bad advice here.

 

[horhay25]

Like has been said do a compression test to verify the health of the engine. If that checks out I think your PCV hoses need re-routing. It's not uncommon to get some smoke so if you route that smoke back in the intake or air cleaner you won't see it, and it will get burned up.

Also, see if there is a filter built into the cap that has the hose going under the vehicle.


Please, all feel free to let me know if I am passing along any bad advice here.

If I routed the hose back through the air cleaner..then i would just be blowing smoke back into the engine correct? doesn't that smoke have to escape somehow?

I wonder if i can get one of those k&n breather filters but then i'd be filling the engine bay with smoke...

 

[horhay25]

you’ve made two brilliant moves, buying a Bronco and joining this site, so congratts and welcome, these guys have saved me so much time, effort, grief, and money.

Doesn't sound too brilliant buying a bronco with a possible blown engine!! haha

But i do have to thank everyone for stepping in quick to help me attempt to find the issue..appreciate it fellas!

 

[DirtDonk]

Maybe. But in theory that hose is supposed to be "sucking" air in because your PCV valve on the other side should be sucking sufficient volume.
The whole point of this is to re-burn the gasses that escape into the crank case, but excessive blowby (more gas getting into the crankcase than can be pulled out by the PCV system) can overpower that.
Hence the suggestions for the compression and leak-down tests.

You need to be able to tun-up an engine too. You're going to need a timing light to verify timing, since incorrect timing can have some of the symptoms you describe.
You're going to need to verify the spark plug firing order on your cam and your distributor (it's probably correct by the sound of it, but you have to double check anyway) because Ford used two different firing orders and cam manufacturers still offer both types of cams. If you knew what part number Edelbrock cam is in there, you could verify it on their website and then compare your wiring order to it.

You need to see how much the PCV valve is sucking to make sure it's doing it's job.
But the bottom line on the tube is that, whether it's putting out smoke, or sucking air in, it should be attached to the air filter.
For one that reduced pollution and oily messes on your truck. And second it makes sure that only clean filtered air gets into the tube when it is able to suck in like it should.

In fact, simply hold your hand over the tube with the engine running and see if you feel a vacuum at all. Rev the engine up a few times, let it idle, rev it up. See if it sucks against your hand at all. If it does, great. If it doesn't, then something is wrong with your PCV valve/system that has to be corrected.

It's an easy test, and free. So might as well try it and get it over with.

Paul

 

[Teal68]

If I routed the hose back through the air cleaner..then i would just be blowing smoke back into the engine correct? doesn't that smoke have to escape somehow?

I wonder if i can get one of those k&n breather filters but then i'd be filling the engine bay with smoke...

Unless it's way excessive you won't see smoke come out the tail pipes. It will be mixed with gas and air and then burned during combustion.

The bottom of your air cleaner may have a provision for the PCV hose, but I doubt it.

 

[u10072]

If its running ok get a second opinion for sure.

 

[horhay25]

You need to see how much the PCV valve is sucking to make sure it's doing it's job.
But the bottom line on the tube is that, whether it's putting out smoke, or sucking air in, it should be attached to the air filter.
For one that reduced pollution and oily messes on your truck. And second it makes sure that only clean filtered air gets into the tube when it is able to suck in like it should.

In fact, simply hold your hand over the tube with the engine running and see if you feel a vacuum at all. Rev the engine up a few times, let it idle, rev it up. See if it sucks against your hand at all. If it does, great. If it doesn't, then something is wrong with your PCV valve/system that has to be corrected.

It's an easy test, and free. So might as well try it and get it over with.

Paul

I actually tried that on Sunday with a paper towel, I put the hose coming off the breather against the paper towel and it sucked in on idle and blew out on revs..correct??

 

[01Dudley]

Just getting caught up on my reading and sorry I'm late to the conversation, but yes replace the cap on the driver side w/just a k&n style breather(no hose provision). Any style "breather" will work. Keep it on the driver side. PCV valve sounds like it's good. Cam / Timing shouldn't be the issue based off what everyone said the engine sounds like(I can't open the video) and plus if the timing was off that much the engine would probably run hot. It sounds like you have a pinched ring that is allowing blow by. This will build crank case pressure and after to building block pressure the oil has to go somewhere. I would not be surprised if the oil dipstick has been pushed out during hard acceleration? Fix the one pinched ring and hope it hasn't messed up the cylinder.

On high horsepower engines a crank case evacuation system is used to take pressure off the crank to allow it to spin more freely. You could look into doing something like that, but again it is just a bandaide.

Just my .02 and yes a compression and leak test should verify this.

 

[bmc69]

I actually tried that on Sunday with a paper towel, I put the hose coming off the breather against the paper towel and it sucked in on idle and blew out on revs..correct??

Not correct...air should always be entering that hose, not blowing out of it. That is why the factory setup has that hose connected to the air cleaner. Many aftermarket air cleaners, Edelbrock, for example, include a punch-out in the bottom and a hose elbow, to attach the crankcase breather hose if you have one.

The only reason for routing that long hose was, I suspect, to hide the mess of a blow-by problem.

 

[horhay25]

Not correct...air should always be entering that hose, not blowing out of it. That is why the factory setup has that hose connected to the air cleaner. Many aftermarket air cleaners, Edelbrock, for example, include a punch-out in the bottom and a hose elbow, to attach the crankcase breather hose if you have one.

The only reason for routing that long hose was, I suspect, to hide the mess of a blow-by problem.

That makes sense, why would air come out of that hose and be pushed back into engine...makes sense now..

found another shop close by and gonna take it there for compression/leak down test

 

[707Bronk]

Definately try and find out what cam it has from the PO. There may be a lot of blowby if the cam is grossly too lopey. And, I have read and heard of A TON of cams that wear out very soon after initial startup. Whether its improper breakin or bad manufacturing..IDK, but there are endless stories of cams going bad really soon from top name brands.

In the meantime you should definately do a compression check AND leak down test. Both will give you a good indicators to the health of your motor. Double check the simple things like the timing and firing order and such.

After that I would pull the valve covers and crank the motor by hand and check the valve operation, as well as make sure all of your parts (valves, springs, rockers, pushrods, etc.) are compatable.

Might see if you can rent a cylinder bore scope and take a peek at some of the pistons and cylinder walls as well.

 

[bmc69]

I've never seen anything related to the cam directly cause excessive blowby. Blowby is created when the compressed gases leak past the rings and/or intake valve guides causing positive pressure in the crankcase (which includes the volume contained in the intake valley as well as that under the valve covers.

In fact...the fix could be as simple as having the heads redone...with some new guides and seals. Won't know until the tests are done.

 

[707Bronk]

I've never seen anything related to the cam directly cause excessive blowby. Blowby is created when the compressed gases leak past the rings and/or intake valve guides causing positive pressure in the crankcase (which includes the volume contained in the intake valley as well as that under the valve covers.

In fact...the fix could be as simple as having the heads redone...with some new guides and seals. Won't know until the tests are done.

I meant to say if the cam is excessively lopey there may be valve overlap and fuel and air might be passing through unburnt. Which, could cause a lot of smoke out the tailpipe. Not sure why I said blowby.

I guess since the smoke is white though it wouldn't be unburnt fuel. Although a really lopey cam will wreak havoc on your crankcase ventilation. Can this make the PCV system more harmful than good?

I suspect you are right though. If the compression test looks good and the leak down test indicates your rings are good then its could be in the heads, and would suspect the valve guides and seals seeping oil into the cylinder.

Perhaps its just the wrong PCV valve for this cam?

[Edit: and after reading the symtoms I see its smoking from the valve covers. I had it in my mind it was smoking out the exhaust. My bad]

 

[bmc69]

I meant to say if the cam is excessively lopey there may be valve overlap and fuel and air might be passing through unburnt. Which, could cause a lot of smoke out the tailpipe. Not sure why I said blowby.

Actually...there might have been mentioned some white smoke from the exhaust too..?