Ok, head is at the machine shop. They want 2 days to tear into it and give a final diagnosis.

Here is their first impressions.....

Probably from the original owner snapping a TB, the head to cam carrier match was never set right. It was missed by me in April 2000. I only fixed the resultant problem. Henceforth the car has never really been right.

There are 1mm oil capillaries throughout that head. They showed me where one tiny section of cam carrier o-ring had smooshed funny due to a nicked groove, again probably from the head crash on the po's watch. Tech got carlesss with a razor blade.

The oil seeped slightly towards the adjacent exhaust lifters on 3 and 4. As the oil migrated outward the cylinder combustion chamber temps dropped maybe 40 -50 degrees. This is enough cooling to leave cylinders 3 and 4 in a constant state of being cold.

RFG plays a role in this...... Listen up!

RFG is designed to burn clean and true in a PROPERLY running engine where all the cylinders are hot enough to support thorough combustion. In this case, where 1 or 2 cylinders are constantly oil bathed and cold, the RFG gas will "TURN TO GLUE" and stick like a sonofabitch.

PART 2#.....

These deposits will scrape at the seals, but also the migration of too much oil into the lifter holes with cause the oil to be pumped past the seals.


So....... Ummmmmm...... how about that?