checked oil today and notice there was chunks of PUSS looking(looks like its oil and water) on the oil cap and half way down the top part of the oil tube? my coolant full and my oil seems fine just smells like gas, no clouds of smoke while driving or idle(only on cold start) no overheating. maybe the cap?

 

it's fairly normal for some condensation in the crankcase, i would just wipe it out and not worry about it unless it begins getting a bit thick.

 

You probably make a lot of short trips...It's just condensation that builds up naturally. Probably a good idea to test the purge valve though. Proceedures in the Haynes or Factory Service Manual.

 

how much smoke on cold start? a lot of white smoke on cold starts may be a sign of a bad coolant seal.

 

not alot only couple of puffs

 

Then you're fine. A few puffs of smoke is normal as sitting oil and condensation burn off.

 

yup yup..................when it shoots out PLUMES of smoke is when you have to worry.....if it ever gets to that point you have to tear the motor apart to replace the seals.........most people just rebuild the whole motor since it's going to be torn apart.

 

ok I KNOW THIS QUESTIONS BEEN ASK MILLIONS OF TIME but how much will it cost for a rebuild? average or rough estimate? or should i just go with a used motor? just getting a head start on thinking bout getting a new motor because the car has 180000+miles runs and pull strong but you never know!

 

I paid 4.5K installed for my TII MAzda Reman....................I will never do it again............search the forum and buy everything and learn to do it yourself.............

 

as low as 800 if you do it yourself and you don't need much (nice core) and the sky is the limit for having it built up by someone else... well almost.

if i were you and i were going to do a build, i'd find a low mileage core, rebuild it yourself if you think you can do it and you're gold.

i get small/moderate plumes of smoke on cold starts and my engine is fine to my knowledge. lasts about 20 secs max. warm start = no smoke, regardless of time sitting. 10k on full rebuild.

i'm curious as to why would an engine with a bad coolant seal would smoke on startup more at cold operating temps cold than warm ones, madrx7racer? i've heard it said before, just never heard a reason.

 

ok...................assume there is a crack in the coolant seal.......when the car is warm the seal expands and does not allow the coolant to enter the chamber........when the car cools down the seal contracts and coolant seeps into the chamber and is turned into a sweet smelling steam when it gets turned on......this process continues until the seal is broken to the point where they need to be replaced.

 

ok today i finally got a chance to check my purge valve and i notice that there was alot of white gunky stuff in it mix with water(i guess steam water) also in the hoses anyways so i started to clean it spray some brake cleaner in it and put it back and check to see if it vacuum at 2k and it did so now i should be safe right?

 

Don't spray brake cleaner into any of those hoses. One leads to the crank case and you don't want to be diluting the oil with brake cleaner. Another leads to a nipple before the thottle body and another to a vacuum nipple. Either nipple will allow the engine to suck brake cleaner into itself. Brake cleaner strips the lubrication off of anything it touches.

Replace the purge valve if it fails the tests in the FSM/Haynes manaul. Replace the vacuum hoses if they are clogged.