Hello,
I've got some problems on hand, and I'm in need of some anonymous internet advice. My Cooper has 80k miles, and the crankcase vent hose was cracked and causing a CEL. I removed the intake, and replaced the brittle plastic hose with heater hose. Before I was able to reinstall the intake, I had to rearrange the cars in our drive and instructed my wife to put the car in neutral while I pushed. Well, she cranked the engine (probably my fault, not sure how to get this car into neutral without crank) and the car had a fit. I went ahead started it again, and moved it about 10 feet. To add to this, there's a possibility that some water got into the intake. (long story, just believe it).

After getting everything back together and attempting to start the car - erratic, backfiring, not idling, and then stalling. I got multiple misfire codes, so I removed the coils & plugs. Plug 4 was soaked in oil, so I replaced the valve cover gasket - replaced the plugs and attempted to start he car - erratic, backfiring, not idling, and then stalling.

Next up, I did a cold leakdown test - cylinder 2 wasn't holding pressure - heard air in the crankcase. Piston damage I assume? I tore down the motor and was expecting to find something obvious - but I don't find anything obvious.

Here are my questions.
1. with my head removed, how do I determine if I've got a ring issue? Can I just fill the cylinders with liquid and see if they lose volume?
2. I put the crankcase/camshaft into reference position before removing the head. (I left the timing chain, suspended it via bungie) - I'm under the impression that every valve should be at rest position, however the exhaust valves on cylinder 1 were applying pressure to the camshaft. I had some trouble getting the tool removed in order to reach the head bolts due to this - is this normal? (camshaft info stamp was facing up per my service manual)

I gotta get this thing back on the road, I'll keep this thread going until she's back on the road. Please help!

 

I dont remember an instant where all ex valves are closed at once unless you remove the cam caps.

what was the reason for no compression?

 

awesome, I just needed confirmation that it's normal to have pressure on the exhaust cam when removing the timing tool.
I don't know, I removed the head because cylinder 2 was not holding compression. Air into the crankcase. I assumed either cylinder wall damage, piston damage, or ring damage. The cylinder wall and piston look fine, I have removed the piston yet to inspect the rings.

 

MiniToBe is correct --- with cams installed and caps tight, there will always be some valves either fully or partially open, and others closed.

If you pull pistons to check rings, etc, don't expect to be able to replace rings only and have minimal oil usage. Couple years ago, I replaced pistons and rings without a re-bore and then had high oil usage --- cylinders weren't as round as I thought they were. With 80K and in this stage of tear-down, if you plan to keep the car for awhile, go for a rebuild --- oversize pistons, rings, etc.

 

Was it possible for some of that water you had mentioned to have entered a combustion chamber as the engine was cranked? The result of a piston attempting to compress a little water would be a destruction of a piston, ring, connecting rod or cylinder wall.

Carefully clean and examine cylinder walls for cracking (although that usually results in air into water jacket). A bent rod won't push piston to the top and a broken ring or fractured piston would allow the leakage you observed into the crankcase.

Measuring cylinders span in all direction and depth will confirm need for a bore-out and oversize pistons but ANY instance of ring replacement (even within an engine at 8,000 or 80 miles) will at least require cylinder walls honed to 'break the glaze'. This is necessary for rings to seat and without that, you will have an 'oil-burner' or even an oil maker as raw gasoline is added to crankcase oil. Any rotation of crankshaft w/o movement of a piston (except at tdc & bdc) would indicate a wrist-pin or rod bearing failure.
Art

 

I took the head into the shop, and they replaced the valve guides and cleaned everything up.
Here's pictures of the head before reassembly https://photos.app.goo.gl/sCrisJ24cIDJqdD32 https://photos.app.goo.gl/tJxGWCjYOfDIreSq2
Here's what I was left with after removing the head https://photos.app.goo.gl/txeAUQymJZbEc7J43

I've got the head back on, and I've reinstalled my camshafts & rockers - here's where I'm at https://photos.app.goo.gl/UdUUBDHsVY2Sc4eL2
I'm at the point where I need to attached the sprockets, and I'm a bit hesitant because I see what appears to be oil channels on the inside of the sprockets, and they appear to line up specifically to the camshaft. I took pictures when I removed the sprockets https://photos.app.goo.gl/vIQgHeFg2Vw0fEh23 and I'm prepared to use this pic to get mine re-aligned, but again, I'm hesitant. The book I purchased (Haynes) is not helpful here, it says you need specialized tools to remove/reinstall the camshaft & associated parts and gives little guidance.
So, any advice on how to confidently installs these sprockets? Thanks in advance.

 

You need the locking tool to set the timing. if you have that already, then use it. I dont think there is a "special" way to put the sprockets. there are no pins or marking it for a reason. if you match the orientation from before disassembly, then you should be fine.

 

Thanks, I got everything back together and it's working great. No more backfiring!

 

 

Here's a not-so-happy update. I had put about 500 miles on the car (by yesterday) - and I did notice an oil burn smell each time I parked the car. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so I went ahead and decided to drive from Nashville to Indianapolis today. After a couple hundred miles, I got a low oil light as I stopped to clean my windshield (fluid was frozen), proceeded to add about 2 quarts. I'm an idiot, so I kept driving forward to the next milestone - check engine light - P0012 Camshaft position - timing over-retarded (bank 1) - and pending misfires. More oil, decided to park the car and inspect things. Oil has been leaking out the left facing (as you're in front of the engine) spark plug, and landing on the exhaust manifold. There's my loss of oil, there's my oil smell, and my problem. It was giving me the "damn you for being low oil" upper engine chatter. I've got it parked, and i'll trailer it home tomorrow. The valve gasket was installed before I did the head work, so It's been on and off. Damn me for being cheap and not buying another set.
On that note, I plan to seal in addition to the gaskets - this was leaking before I did all the work on the head.