Misfire on Cylinder 8 and Oil in Intake Pipe -Investigation and Engine Swap (1 Viewer)

[awesomeissquid]

300 miles from home. Engine started to make strange noises and run rough after filling up with gas. Thought it was bad fuel and added some fuel additives. Seemed to run a bit better. Ping uphill started to get a check engine line which read random misfire on cylinder 8. Went to auto parts store to see what they think. Suggested maybe a bad coil pack. Went to pull air intake to switch it and oil started to leak out. Feels full of oil. Need help. Any thoughts on what to do.

 

[awesomeissquid]

Update: draining oil out of intake box. Switched coil on number 8 with new. Pulled a spark plug to see what it looked like and it looked okay. Planning to reassemble everything and trying running it again.

 

[flintknapper]

Update: draining oil out of intake box. Switched coil on number 8 with new. Pulled a spark plug to see what it looked like and it looked okay. Planning to reassemble everything and trying running it again.

This is your course of action....given the symptoms. Get that oil of there, you can find out why it was there later. The most 'likely' reason for misfire is a failed or failing Coil Pack.

 

[2001LC]

If your saying oil in air pipe, which is what connects air filter box to throttle body. Your idle up control valve may be leaking. This is a valve thread onto vane pump (power steering pump). It has two vacuum lines connected to it. One vacuum line from it, connects to air pipe. The other in 98-05, connects a EVAP pipe on top center area rear of intake manifold, in 06-07 it connect just behind throttle body. You'd likely find power steering reservoir low and oil dripping from vacuum line(s).

About the only other place oil could get suck in to air pipe. Is from RH PCV vacuum hose. But I've yet to see that one suck oil from head cover.

 

[BnvS]

Ditto in what @2001LC said. I had this happen to me and until I figured out what was happening it was a mystery why my power steering oil was vanishing every other day.
Very likely cause is the ICV - idle control valve. Right now to your right side valve cover, under the air box. Hope this helps.

 

[awesomeissquid]

Thanks for the tips. We lost service last night and were in a dangerous area so we decided to try reassembling and limping 20 miles to a campsite. After reassembly, the car started and was running really poorly and making a knock or ticking noise that increases with throttle. Tons of smoke on startup and still getting the misfire on cylinder 8 even with the new ignition coil. Not sure if the smoke was white or blueish. Owner of Napa said it was blueish. (Checked the radiator this morning and full as fluid looked good so hoping not head gasket and it has never smoked before so hoping not cylinder walls/piston head rings like was suggested by some people walking by when I was working on it.

Currently on a hike with the dog and found service so I am typing this and will come back later to get more replies and provide an update.

Yes it was about a quart or two of oil in the air pipe. The two vacuum lines connected to the ICV were full of oil and had to drain them out. The rest of the vacuum hoses did not appear to have oil in them. The fluid definitely looked like oil and not ATF. I checked the LH PCV by shaking and it was not stuck. I did find the RH PCV hose the disconnected, but I am pretty sure I knocked that off while pulling the air box out.

After reassembly before starting I checked the oil level and it was very low on the dipstick (performed an oil change last weekend). I added 2.3 quarts before we tried limping to the camp site. Checked the level again this morning and it was still full.

Going to take a look at the power steering fluid, but it looked full yesterday and the fluid definitely was oil and not ATF. Going to try switching a spark plug on number 8 to see if the misfire goes away. Any other suggestions for where oil could be coming from like oil passageways or something?

Could this all have been caused by bad gas? Seems like too much of a coincidence that the car was just filled up with gas and then started to have all these issues. I am thinking the bad gas was read by the ECU and it tried to adjust ignition timing to account and maybe that’s the cause of the knock. The bad gas also messed up cylinder 8 somehow (injectors or spark plug flunked up?) really at a loss.

 

[awesomeissquid]

Checked the power steering fluid and it is still full. A bit more oil drained out of the air intake pipe. Switched the spark plug in cylinder 8 that was misfiring. It was definitely coated with something making it black. Planning to reassemble and try running it again to see what happens.

Assuming next step when I get home is to run a compression test?

 

[awesomeissquid]

Just ran it. More smoke at first and it lessened over time. Still running somewhat rough.

 

[BnvS]

@awesomeissquid Look at the ICV first its a $60 part from dorman when I swapped it. I was getting all of the symptoms you were getting. Although I did not have oil in my 8th cly. But i didnt even check for that symptom. However I was getting the lots of white/blue smoke during start up and also had oil in the airbox. Also this happend on my 1st gen Tundra with same 4.7l engine. This issue looks like a blown head gasket. And for the longest time it sure looked it until I stumbled upon the IVC valve being the cause.

Not sure if you drove it a lot but I drove mine from Jax to Atl a 500 mile journey and for sure had power steering oil by the time I came to Atlanta. I noticed that the PS oil was needing to be refilled every 2-3 days. But this leak can be different in your car.. but check out the IVC and see. I am 85% positive it is the cause.

Here's the video of my truck starting. - Tundra with IVC issue starting

here's one from another day - IVC starting smoke from day 2

 

[BnvS]

ooh and here's another video of it probably the best one. IVC issue long version- this one shows a prolonged version of what happens with this issue.

 

[awesomeissquid]

can anyone post the pages from the FSM on the ICV? Is there a method to test it or is it more just a replace it and see sort of part? I assume it just unscrews from the power steering pump?

 

[BnvS]

can anyone post the pages from the FSM on the ICV? Is there a method to test it or is it more just a replace it and see sort of part? I assume it just unscrews from the power steering pump?

Since this is not an electrical component you really cannot check it. As you said it's a replace and verify type of part.

Btw are you getting smoke like my videos from the tail pipe? And have power steering fluid in your air box and intake? Those are basic signs of a IVC issue. AND pull the vaccum lines from the IVC and see if both of those are wet with PS fluid. This is likely the most tell tail sign that the IVC is bad. Here's a video that does into more detail

In terms if installation. It's a very easy swap out. Probably a few on YouTube showing you how it's done.

PS. Look like you can do a quick verification

 

[BnvS]

Since this is not an electrical component you really cannot check it. As you said it's a replace and verify type of part.

Btw are you getting smoke like my videos from the tail pipe? And have power steering fluid in your air box and intake? Those are basic signs of a IVC issue. AND pull the vaccum lines from the IVC and see if both of those are wet with PS fluid. This is likely the most tell tail sign that the IVC is bad. Here's a video that does into more detail

In terms if installation. It's a very easy swap out. Probably a few on YouTube showing you how it's done.

PS. Look like you can do a quick verification this thing is called multiple names. Power steering Idle Air control valve is one of these names.

Here's another video -

And another -

 

[BnvS]

Ooh forgot to mention.. and sorry for the multiple post.. but here's the OEM part number - ‎17630-16040 for it. There are a few that were on Amazon for $45ish. $43 to be exact as of this time. Here's the link

 

[awesomeissquid]

Thanks for the link. Found a shop 30 miles away that has the part. Thinking of giving it a try.

Could the ICV cause the misfire I am getting on cylinder 8 though? Or just an unfortunate series of events?

 

[awesomeissquid]

Definitely not loosing power steering fluid and the fluid in the air intake pipe is engine oil. Smoke on startup but then it goes mostly away. Didn’t notice any on the drive to the auto shop today.

Replaced the air control valve with a dorman unit and I was talking to the shop manager about the conditions since he used to own a repair place. He checked the PCV by tapping it and oil came out. He said the amount of oil shouldn’t be there and even though it rattles when shaken it could be bad. Went ahead and replaced the PCV as well with microgard. He mentioned also possible this could be blow by.

 

[awesomeissquid]

Just drove 15 miles with the new PCV and new ICV. Still idling rough and got a misfire, but it does feel and sound like it is operating better.

Still not sure if bad gas contributed to this. Going to keep filling up at every half tank and add fuel additive to see if that helps. Since I already changed the spark plug and the ignition coil they only thing left I can think of causing the misfire would be a clogged injector.

Since I am moving, going to remove RTH from the title.

 

[awesomeissquid]

Well, made it 70 miles and decided to stop for some gas. Checked the oil level and it had gone from full to low over the 70 miles. Once again the air pipe was full of oil. Assuming the worst now and that I need a new engine...

Planning to do a compression test at home to confirm the number 8 cylinder is buggered.

Edit: Just seems weird all this would happen after never having issues before. Last two oil analysis from blackstone came back normal. I guess something was just bound to break eventually.

 

[awesomeissquid]

Here’s an update for anyone interested. We continued limping as far as we could after trying the various parts while stopping to check the oil consumption, draining the air pipe, and refilling to full.

We made it to about 300 miles from home. At that stop I started to find milky liquid in the oil as well so assuming the head gasket popped along with whatever other issue occurred. Temperature never got about 192F so I am interested to see what it all looks like since I thought head gaskets typically only break with an overheat.

Limped it an additional 5 miles to a uhaul and towed it the rest of the way. Still planning to do a compression test and then will pull the head to get a look at everything in there. Once I have a better look I will make the decision of rebuilding the engine or swapping in a different one.

On the plus side we did get stuck in a really pretty area.

 

[excessive]

thanks for posting this for anyone else who might run into this issue. before pulling the engine apart, i would do the headgasket colored liquid test to confirm your suspicion