Howdy all. Lurker becoming a first time poster, though I wish it was under better circumstances. As a note, I do have the owner's and shop manuals.
Due to tangentially related issues I decided to do a cylinder compression test today. (Slow coolant leak, rough idle on startup, P0303 thrown)
I did the dry test with no issues and it read steady across the board (135, 131, 131, 131). Pretty darn good.
Due to a misunderstanding on my part I somehow got it into my head that a wet test was necessary, even though my compression was totally fine. I've never done a wet test before and strongly believe I used too much oil. Aside from being unnecessary, my readings were erratic and fluid. (218, 230 with a moderate drop to 170, 195, 195 with a moderate drop to 135). I did notice that cylinder 1 looked like a toddler attempting to blow their first "raspberry" as I was testing the other cylinders.
I reassembled the head and fired up my E, slightly confused by my results. The vehicle started fine despite the new and unusual quirk of belching smoke from the tailpipe and a thin cloud of smoke coming from the engine bay. I shut down the engine and took the plugs back out again, making sure to clean and degrease the plugs and plug packs. After mopping up what I could with a rag in the spark plug wells I pointed a light down into the cylinder. I could make out the piston head and didn't see any evidence of excess oil pooling around it.
Once again, I reassembled the head and started her back up. She started fine but the smoke, once again, spewed from the exhaust. The smoke from the engine bay had largely ceased. I let it run for ~10 minutes but the smoke only slightly let up. Frustrated, I shut it down and am now here, tired and writing this post at nearly midnight.
I know I did something wrong, but I'm at a loss as to what I caused.
My question is: Could there just be oil stuck in the combustion chamber? Did I end up busting a ring? Is this a new serious symptom or just a case of letting my Element smoke out the lot for a bit?
Additional info:
Due to tangentially related issues I decided to do a cylinder compression test today. (Slow coolant leak, rough idle on startup, P0303 thrown)
I did the dry test with no issues and it read steady across the board (135, 131, 131, 131). Pretty darn good.
Due to a misunderstanding on my part I somehow got it into my head that a wet test was necessary, even though my compression was totally fine. I've never done a wet test before and strongly believe I used too much oil. Aside from being unnecessary, my readings were erratic and fluid. (218, 230 with a moderate drop to 170, 195, 195 with a moderate drop to 135). I did notice that cylinder 1 looked like a toddler attempting to blow their first "raspberry" as I was testing the other cylinders.
I reassembled the head and fired up my E, slightly confused by my results. The vehicle started fine despite the new and unusual quirk of belching smoke from the tailpipe and a thin cloud of smoke coming from the engine bay. I shut down the engine and took the plugs back out again, making sure to clean and degrease the plugs and plug packs. After mopping up what I could with a rag in the spark plug wells I pointed a light down into the cylinder. I could make out the piston head and didn't see any evidence of excess oil pooling around it.
Once again, I reassembled the head and started her back up. She started fine but the smoke, once again, spewed from the exhaust. The smoke from the engine bay had largely ceased. I let it run for ~10 minutes but the smoke only slightly let up. Frustrated, I shut it down and am now here, tired and writing this post at nearly midnight.
I know I did something wrong, but I'm at a loss as to what I caused.
My question is: Could there just be oil stuck in the combustion chamber? Did I end up busting a ring? Is this a new serious symptom or just a case of letting my Element smoke out the lot for a bit?
Additional info:
- Smoke was greyish and hung in the air for a long while.
- There was a distinct smell of burning rubber/plastic from the smoke.
- Main relay 2 (fuel pump)(behind glove box) was removed during compression tests.
- Injector connectors were disconnected during compression tests.
- Cranked the engine before reconnecting and sealing everything back up to "push" any oil I could out of the spark plug wells.
- Coolant was full.
- Valve adjustment had been done a few weeks ago. Set dead-nuts to 0.009 intake and 0.012 exhaust.
- Oil changed at same time as valve adjustment.
- Drive belt replaced at same time as valve adjustment.
- Spark plugs replaced at same time as valve adjustment.
- 142,000 miles currently.
