Time to say goodbye ?

Happy Sunday one and all,

I've had my 03 TF for about a year and a half now and have enjoyed around 15k miles in it (now 101k).
I've used how to's on the forum for general maintenance, and for anything I haven't had the tools or time for I've called on a local mechanic.
Most recent work was for a stud on the exhaust manifold that was gone and needed replaced.

The engine has always ticked. The mechanic said that it was hydraulic lifters and an additive can be used on next service to remedy.
The other week I was plodding up a dual carriageway in the slow lane at 50mph (due to engine still being cold) when I heard a pop and a pretty agressive knocking/chuffing behind me followed by a yellow eml light flashing at me from the dash.
I prayed it would get me off the a-road as there was a lot of traffic and nowhere to go. Luckily where I work was only a couple hundred yards from the incident.
I had it brought to a garage my company use up the road and they said there's an oil leak, plus the manifold & flexi need replacing. They told me that it's an engine out job and I should put it on facebook marketplace for £200 and be gone with it.

For whatever reason, I didn't entirey trust i what they said so I decided to get the engine cover off and investigate myself. What I found was the contents of the attached video:

https://share.icloud.com/photos/008UKZQMSMuU4SPNpR-GekHfw

On start I couldn't seem to see or feel any exhaust coming from the manifold. I had a look under the car and the flexi didn't appear damaged or freyed (photo also attached). But the loud chicking/chuffing sound seemed to be located within the engie rather than coming from any of the exhaust components. There was also oil all over the engine on both sides.

I'm still a fairly young lad at 31 not even 2 years into my motoring journey (got my license late). I do love working on cars but I don't have the experience, tools or money to diagnose and work on everything.
I'd love to keep this TF going for at least another 6 months in my possesion. In my naive assumption and optimism, i would hope that making that a reality would entail a new camshaft cover gasket and a coolant and oil flush followed by a full service.

What I'm really looking for is advice so that I can get to grips with whether I can do the work on it myself to keep it on the road at a relatively inexpensive cost or whether it's time to say goodbye.

I'm not sure whats going on, but I'm have great suspicions that the garage don't have a bloody clue.
Before I can diagnose anything much, could you please answer a few questions. which will probably lead to more questions but that how diagnostics goes.
So has it any grunt at all or does it absolutely  feel constipated?
Is there much exhaust coming out of the tail pipe? and what is it like? is there any water present?
The oil looks to be ouzing from the cam cover, suggesting excessive crankcase pressure. How does it run with the oil filler cap removed? does it puff out of the oil filler?  Is there any snot residue on or around the oil filler cap?
How does it turn over with the spark plugs removed? Both by hand first and then the starter.
On the starter,are there violent puffs of gas from the spark plug holes? and is there much oil or any water present? the should be a fair amount of gas pushed out with a definite hiss/whoosh, but not excessively so.

I'm on the opposite side of the planet so this is a bit of a guess, and I'd really need to see it in person, I could be entirely wrong but......
I'm wondering if the catalytic converter hasn't shat itself and the exhaust is almost totally blocked causing combustion pressure to blow past the rings in turn causing the oil leaks  from excessive crankcase pressure!
I wonder what the exhaust manifold pressure is? In the highly unlikely event that you have access to an exhaust pressure test gauge  (not many of these things about, even a rarity in some of the best equipped workshops) the unit should be stuck in place of the oxygen sensor, I thinking it would read excessively high.
But with the cat converter removed the car should at least try to run freely, if so ,the cat is blocked.
The above is only a hunch that I'm getting but due to the fact that I'm not there I can't really say, but however, going on what I see and you've told us, I don't think your problems are as bad as the garage has made out.
A compression test will be necessary and a raft of other tests be done before any proper diagnosis can be finalised.



 

Where abouts are you in the country DT and can you clarify which TF you have, 115, 120 auto, 135, 160 ?

Now Cobb’s you can say in one breath that it’s constipated & that it’s shat itself on the other.
There is good reason to be suspicious of the internals of the cat, that would create the blow by & increases the crank case pressure.
The chances of “easily” dropping the cat out to test is unlikely, even a recently changed unit can be reluctant to depart.
It is, however, worth the ball bust to eliminate that & that will give you the opportunity to change the fixing hardware. You are guaranteed to wreck the original.
Of course if you were local to one of our number, if they were willing & technically proficient, I’m sure they would spare a few minutes.
I would & so would Cobber, but he’s sunning himself in an Australian summer; that would rule him out.
M

Yep sunning is the word.....41C today! Hotter than a curried fart.........Most unpleasant!

It is possible to diagnose a blocked cat by temperature. Something like one of these is invaluable.(£12 on amazon)
 

The cat inlet temp will be significantly greater than the outlet...

Try removing one of the breather pipes between the engine and the inlet manifold. That should give you some clues if it is over pressure.

Now there, gentlemen, is a great idea!
M

I’m a bystander in this topic and can add little I’m afraid.
But I am very interested to learn more about oil coming from the cam cover gasket area.
12 Months ago mine was showing some seepage down a couple of spark plug recesses. I had mentally prepared myself to tackle this job but on lifting the engine cover found a lot less oil down the plug holes than I had expected but some down the sides of the cylinder head. Alll the screws holding the cover in place were loose. So I have tightened them with the intention of monitoring the situation rather than leaping into a gasket change.
The point or relevance is this . How tight are the screws holding the cam cover in place?

My next question relates to the cam belt. When was it last changed? Has it jumped a tooth? That would no doubt set the MIL warning light off as crank and cam sensors together with the ECU would be asking each other questions.
Apart from that i defer to the experts and will watch this with interest.
 

First of all gents thankyou for your feedback. It is greatly, greatly appreciated!

Plan is I'm going to clear space in the garage and get her in there and up on axle stands. I'll test everything you've all suggested and report back with my findings this weekend.

In preparation I think I may as well just order a new rocker cover gasket now. If I can establish that it is the cat and remove that from the chain to relieve pressure, at least then I can fit the new gasket while I wait for the new cat to arrive. If I can't get the cat to budge I'll likely take the whole exhaust out past the manifold and remove it that way.

I need another back box anyway as I (stupidly) went into a stupidly bumpy lorry yard and hit it from underneath which caused the left side arm that holds it up the car to snap off. So the left tail pipe is looking rather sad and currently sitting on the bumper. Shame I don't know a welder.

Notanumber wrote:

I'm in Bristol & it's a 135 

I always try to recommend the checks that cost nothing more than elbow grease first before getting into potentially more costly diagnostics.
Once you've  settled upon the cat as a contributing culprit, the sole culprit or or even cleared it's name, we will guide you through any further actions required.

You mentioned welding. it's worth you doing a shout on this and the other forums and maybe the F/ TF farcebook pages asking for any owners in your part of Bristol who could pop by with their mig welder for a few beer tokens. Include photos of what needs welding.
Most owners are usually happy to help out another and there are lot of us with mig welders. Unfortunately I'm on the opposite side of the country otherwise I'd do it.