Did I kill my engine or get burned on the deal? ......

[videogamesaremylife]

97 240 auto with 92 K

I bought car 2 weeks ago. Car is decent shape / dirty engine / some rock chips. With exception of a rattle in the muffler car ran exellent (I've had 5 S13s in the past)

1 week ago I changed oil (10w40 Penzoil). I've driven car seveal hundred miles with no noticable loss in oil.

Wednesday I washed engine (Let cool ~ 90 - 120 minutes). I covered everything electrical. (I used a tarp to cover everything to the left / passenger side of the top of the engine.) I made sure the spark plug wires were pushed down firmly. Wiped Top of engine with degreaser. I only sprayed the top and right/ driver side (The side with the metal thing). I let everything dry 30 minutes while I wiped car down. Car started fine. I let car run several minutes with hood open to let some moisture escape.

Car ran and drove fine. 20-30 miles around town casual driving. One stop part way through.

Thursday - Warm day, Rode motorcycle.

Friday. - Rainy Day. Car started fine. When I shifted into gear engine started running rough... Not knocking but sort of shaking..... Shifted into neutral engine runs fine....... Shifted back into gear and drove about 1/4 mile before stopping. Turned off engine. Started engine, ran rough. Checked spark plug wires... All seemed to have some oil or moisture in them. Plug number 2 seemed to have alot of oil or moisture in it.... (I did have a bad stain on top of engine between plug 1 and 2 I could not get off). I used a towel to get any excess moisture out of holes. At least some of it looked to be oil. I "wiggled" spark plug wires to try and get a good connection.

Engine turns freely, but does not want to start.

Engine still has correct oil level. (Dont think I cracked my block?)

Does it look like I destroyed my engine or I may need to change my spark plugs? Let everything dry out some? Does it look like I got burned on the purchase of the car? Maybe needs a head gasket / etc?

Modified by videogamesaremylife at 9:55 AM 10/23/2009
Modified by videogamesaremylife at 10:54 AM 10/23/2009

[moso]

it sounds like a spark problem not a bad motor. there are seals at the top of your spark plug holes that may have gone bad and are now leaking oil out on top of your plugs. alternatively you may still have water in your spark plug holes. either way it sounds like your spark is grounding out before it fires the plug. try to get all the fluids out of the holes, remove your plugs and remove any remaining fluids, crank the car without the plugs in the holes to remove any fluid that may have drained into the cyl when you removed the plugs.check under your dizzy cap to make sure everything in there is dry. dry everything thoroughly and reassemble (replace the valve cover/plug hole gaskets if needed) and give it a whirl. if it still wont get it start checking for spark at the plug end, then coil. check to make sure your getting fuel (water in the injector boot) and lastly do a compression check. i still think its a spark problem, remember it takes more juice to fire a plug under load.

[videogamesaremylife]

Thank you very much. That makes sense and I will give that a try. Supposing there is a bad seal with at least one of the plugs, should I presume I could have gotten water in my engine? Afterwards Should I change my oil again to be on the safe side?
Modified by videogamesaremylife at 1:52 PM 10/23/2009

[moso]

neither, you should be fine on both accounts, if you want to be really anal about it you can change the oil, but i wouldn't worry about water in the motor, if there was water your oil it would appear "milky" or grey.

[s14ben]

Sounds like you have a good reason to do a tune up now as well. at least new plugs and wires. Just make sure not to get the cheapest wires in the parts store. Those things blow.

[videogamesaremylife]

Sounds like you have a good reason to do a tune up now as well. at least new plugs and wires. Just make sure not to get the cheapest wires in the parts store. Those things blow.

Good point I actually went ahead and bought new plugs before I bought the gasket. It seems no one sells the spark plug gaskets seperately, the entre valve cover gasket has to be purchased. I went ahead and changed the plugs and car ran fine. Of course I wont be driving anymore until I get the gasket switched, so the money I just spent on the plugs wont be a total waste.

Now I've stumbled upon the guide chain article. I dont feel advanced enough to remove the side guide, but I think I will remove the top guide. As far as I know I havent been getting the rattling noise yet. But since I will already have my valve cover off, is it likely I should be able to get some WD-40 or seafome on my chain tensioner? As preventive maintenance?

zerothread?id=105618

Thanks so much for everyones help!

[moso]

i never use wd40, it leaves a residue. as far as the upper guides go, take em off, you can also remove the top front cover to help get to it all. as far as the tensioner is conserned, it is oil driven and lubricated from inside, it should be ok.