2v 00 GT - oil in Kenne Bell and running lean (now...)

[Reckless2v]

---IMPULSE BUY---

Couldn't say no to a Laser Red 2000 GT Vert with a Kenne Bell and Saleen body stuff... Now I'm stuck with it.
It runs about 10psi, which I'm happy with. When I got it the 'service engine soon' light was on and it ran like sh**.
It misfired and hestitated quite a bit, especially out of boost. And the A/F ratio gauge would jump around quite a bit.
Figured I'd give it a shot because it was lowered, drove okay as far as suspension and steering went and didn't seem too rough...
Well I drove it to work so I could work on it afterwards. Pulled the intake and throttle body to clean and gain access to the plugs (figured may be reason for missing).
Front side of the throttle body was decent but the back side was covered in oil residue... Also I took a peek inside the Kenne Bell and there was oil puddled towards the back
and in what I could see of the screw areas (forgot to mention it burns oil pretty good).

Today:
-Changed the plugs-NGK TR6 @.035" (found front passenger plug was covered in oil and helicoil'd, probably my misfire)
-Cleaned the throttle body as good as possible, reused gasket...
-Sprayed out the intake tube and installed new air filter (4" variety, k&n intake possibly supplied with KB kit...?)
-Cleared codes and let idle for about 20-30mins at a time (rapid oil changes to try and clean it out, oil looked terrible when I got it)

The only codes I got while doing this was P0354 and P1506.
0354 is for IAC overspeed, might just need adjusting, idled around 1000
1506 is for cyl 4 ignition circuit, may be replacing all coils anyways...
It seems to idle fine... still burns oil but the A/F gauge reads lean, even when I drove around a parking lot, giving it 50-75% throttle.

Just asking for some quick suggestions if you guys got any (don't waste your time), as I may just replace the whole intake (throttle body, maf, tps and intake tube-price depending)
and install a oil catch can because the idiot obviously didn't realize that is basically required. I'm assuming the catch can may slow my oil burning but I'm a little stumped on the
running lean issue. Any suggestions/recommendations for either issue are very much appreciated. Thank you for your time. Pictures to come.

 

[the.greg]

Definitely replace the coils and see if that fixes the eratic idle.

Has the car been custom dyno tuned? If not, it should be done and a competent tuner will be able to fix a lot of driveability issues and fix the lean condition.
Personally If you are unsure of its tune, I would NOT get into the throttle much, especially if it is indicating lean!!!!!

Also I'm a bit confused, are you saying the kenne bell is using oil, or the engine? I know you can send the blower back to kenne bell and they will refurbish it for a fee if it is leaking.

 

[the.greg]

Also, what kenne bell model/size is it, and is it intercooled? Are you running the highest octane gas available in your area? An fuel system mods? Sorry for all the questions, but there is a lot of variables that we need in order to help you diagnose this.

If you could, please post up your complete mod list?

 

[BLCKSTNG96]

There will be a little bit of oil in there also if there is no catch can in route to the intake ur also prob gettin a lot from there.u can vent those to atmosphere for now but like stated I would get that thing on thd dyno and I wouldnt be re using gaskets especially in a boost application.if the car has a vac leak idle will be funny as well as running lean.do a compression test on it to verify that at least that one cylinder is healthy. It sounds like you deff need to get that thing tk a tuner tho after veryfying some things and kb will not freshen the blower up for free if the seals are leaking unless its within warranty which is very short period and u also would prob need to be an original owner.I had thr seals replaced on mine and it runs $700. If it is in fact leaking, keep an eye on it or send it in bc if u let it go long enough it will cause more severe costly damage to the blower and they begin to knock.

 

[the.greg]

There will be a little bit of oil in there also if there is no catch can in route to the intake ur also prob gettin a lot from there.u can vent those to atmosphere for now but like stated I would get that thing on thd dyno and I wouldnt be re using gaskets especially in a boost application.if the car has a vac leak idle will be funny as well as running lean.do a compression test on it to verify that at least that one cylinder is healthy. It sounds like you deff need to get that thing tk a tuner tho after veryfying some things and kb will not freshen the blower up for free if the seals are leaking unless its within warranty which is very short period and u also would prob need to be an original owner.I had thr seals replaced on mine and it runs $700. If it is in fact leaking, keep an eye on it or send it in bc if u let it go long enough it will cause more severe costly damage to the blower and they begin to knock.

I agree, get it on a dyno asap. Also, I said kenne bell will refresh the blower for a fee, not free haha.

 

[RichV]

Defnitely put it on the rollers. Don't trust one of those little lightshow a/f gauges. A wideband is better, but read the old plugs as well. A tune sounds like is a must, do you know who tuned the car? Or if it was done?

When in cruise or part throtle the computer is adjusting a/f all the time and the light will dance from lean to rich to stoich. My turbo car does that, so did my s/c'd cars.

 

[Reckless2v]

Thanks for the reply guys! To answer some of the questions: As the new owner of this GT, I'm unsure on the size of KB (easy way to tell?) and whether it's been tuned.
Intake is the K&N I'm assuming came with the kit, which has one loose PCV fitting. I may try to silicone that fitting in there, but just getting another cold air with welded fittings sounds better.
And then redoing/re-routing the whole PCV system (any specific setup suggestions??) It was very poorly done before. I could smoke the intake and see if the gaskets are leaking but I may upgrade the
throttle body and replace the TPS. I'm also unsure on injector, MAF and throttle body sizes at this point. Also, the oil in the KB seems to be from the engine... I'm thinking catch can should slow that. KB has fresh oil in it too.

Mods list as I know of:
-KB @~10psi (unsure on size, 6 rib, looks all original)
-K&N CAI (MAF and throttle body - unknown sizes)
-stock motorcraft coils
-Welded in Flowmaster's, stock otherwise (SLP LM1 catback coming soon)
-H&R Supersports
-Hotchkis CC Plates
-Hotchkis Adjustable Front Shocks

 

[the.greg]

You can look at the top of the injectors, the colors can tell you what size they are: orange are 19lb, 24lb injectors are blue. 30lb injectors are red. I have 42lb injectors and they're flourescent green.

On my setup, I do get tiny amounts of oil from the pcv back in the throttle body, but I just clean it off at every oil change. Yours sounds like its leaking more seriously, but you sound like you are on the right track to correcting that. Catch can is probably a good idea, atleast temporarily you could use a modified coke can or anything.

Pics of the kenne bell, or model number so we can find out what you've got?

So I'm assuming it did not come with a xcal or other tuner? If not, its a fair bet that you are untuned. You really need to get it dynoed asap, or atleast baby that thing.

Also depending on how much you drive it, you may get more check engine codes after the ecu completes a drive cycle.

Another thing to check is if your AFR is a wideband or a narrowband.

You may try getting more info about the setup from whoever you bought it from?

 

[Reckless2v]

Well I pulled the intake tube off to reseal the pcv fittings and check for leaks. I also removed the 5/8" pcv hose from the intake tube to the driver's side valve cover (found a hole forming on it).
When I reinstall them, I will take note of injector color and ID# on the KB tomorrow. Hopefully my lean condition was due a possible leak at the pcv fitting or the pcv hose connected to the intake tube.
And yes... the car came with no tuner, nor was I aware of the setup. It sat at a little used car lot for some weeks and my friend with a stage 2 roush kept telling me about seeing it on his way to and from work each day. We saw it on their website and when I saw the KB... I had to atleast see how rough it was. Didn't really notice the oil burning or missing but I'm sure it can be fixed.
Thanks for your help again!!

 

[FrankenStang]

i would suggest NOT DRIVING it more than 25% throttle untill its tuned, or dont drive it at all if you can...untuned with that amount of mods is setting you up for disaster...a tune could probly fix 90% of your driving issues your having...

 

[vermilion]

Stay out of boost. Send the charger to kb for a rebuild and do a tune. It will be happy happy.


Sent by smoke signals

 

[Reckless2v]

Working on the GT now... KB# 417 555
Injectors have a light blue ring and blue backing on the connector (24lb?)
Sucking the oil out of the intake plenum of the KB. Ordering an air/oil seperator and coils soon.

 

[MustangChris]

i drove my car twice before it was tuned. and ill i did was a pulley swap.. ....

 

[Reckless2v]

Update: Found out I'm still human... The #4 coil may have been slightly unplugged
Drove it around a little, no CEL and the A/F gauge was wondering a little but it was stoich quite a bit.
Still missing/hesitating... Still ordering coils+catch can and I'm going to double check my plugs, especially the one I had to re-helicoil...
Thanks for everyone's input. I may be starting a build thread or something soon as this is my 'race car', definitely not a daily.
Also hopefully some decent pictures soon, maybe with my buddy's (Reckless Roush) Stage 2 Roush...

 

[vermilion]

Swap your plugs to br7ef. They are 2 ranges colder then stock at .030 gap. You may have spark blow out. 2 more things to consider. 1. Is the kb generates heat. 2. You have a heli/serted head. Also, if/when you take the kb off clean the heat exchanger they soak in oil and trap more heat. That in itself degrades performance.


Sent by smoke signals

 

[Reckless2v]

Thanks vermilion. I'll look into those plugs with the new coils. Decided to pull the heli'd plug out today... found that the plug had hit the piston again, closing the gap to zero. I reexamined the threads and it looks ok. But I was looking at the plug with the heli on it and found my piston hitting problem: the plug isn't stopping at the base, it's stopping when the socket portion meets the head... 1/4"+?! I'm gonna try to find a spacer/crush washer that may work for the time being.

Sourced my new engine: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/grn-770009/overview/make/ford
I'll send in the KB when I do that, and do some deletes/tiddy up the engine bay. This engine is giving me more headaches then I was expecting, mostly just from the previous owners utter stupidity.
Damn Humans!!

 

[BLCKSTNG96]

That motor ur looking at is a huge rip off not to mention it has granatellis name attached to it.if ur seriously looking for a motor I have my built 2valve for sale riright now in the classifields.I was running a kb 2.2 @ 20psi on it.

 

[the.greg]

^+1 Stay far, far away from Granatelli stuff.

 

[Reckless2v]

Holy Sh** blackstang!! That's nuts!! Well atleast for what I'm used to...
Thanks for the heads up on Granatelli... It would just be handy to have a built timed longblock to throw in.
I'm probably gonna fix the spark issue by Saturday and attempt a compression test to see what's what.
May just need a shortblock very soon... We'll have to see. Thanks for your guys' input!

 

[Reckless2v]

SPARK PLUG ISSUE FIXED! It runs so much better now!
Still burns oil but seems to be less than before. Catch can(s) on order soon.
Holding off on ordering coils, instead I'm going to chase down the cause for my high idle.
I suspect an intake leak so I'm going to smoke whenever I can get it back to work.
Thanks for all the input. I got to straighten up my garage and tools, then I will start a build thread with good pics.