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Experienced every redblock owner's nightmare last Thursday. Driving home on my 30 mile commute, I got off the freeway to get some gas. As I was fiddling im my wallet to find some cash, another customer knocked on my window and said, "Your car is on fire"! Sure enough, gray smoke was pourng out from beneath the car, 1 1989 244.
The smoke smelled like burning oil. I opened the hood and checked for smoldering hoses/wires, a blown head gasket, etc. I opened the oil cap and no smoke rolled out. The tranny cooler lines were not leaking. The source of the smoke seemed to be the cat. I put my hand behind the head, and sure enough, the camshaft plug was missing. I let the car sit for a few minutes and checked the oil. The level was still in the middle of the safe range (I had changed the oil the previous weekend and it had been completely full).
The station attendant told me I could leave the car at the pump for 30 minutes. By now I was only 5 minutes from home, so I called my wife, removed the plug from one of my spare engines, cleaned it, and had my wife drive me back to the station and drove back. I used some red permatex sealant and replaced the plug. It snapped right in and hasn't budged.
My PVC system was perfectly clean, although I haven't checked the oil trap on this particular car. Interestingly enough, the leak rate doesn't seem too high for this type of failure. Sitll, I am sure a few more miles would have ruined my engine. I believe I might make and install the bars brickboard members recommend for holding these plugs in place.
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