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[DerekT]

Hi Folks,

Recently my omega 2.5cdx had to have new rocker cover gaskets fitted. Oil got into the cylinders during the process and it now drives like a pig. Definitly not firing correctly.

Took it back to the garage and they advised that I drive it for at least 100 miles to burn off the oil and if that doesn't help they will change the plugs.

Dont know much about cars but this sounds like I might be putting my CAT at risk of failure.

Can anyone advise if this is OK to do and what the chances are of it getting better?

Many thanks,
Derek

[vauxfan2k]

Im suprised they didnt soak up the oil before removing the plugs, even if oil got into cylinders I would have thought it would have been gone by now, try removing the plugs that you can get to, give them a clean in petrol and a wire brush, making sure the gaps are equal on them all, ad refit. if it still runs like a bag of spuds, then they may have disturbed something else while doing their substandard work.

does the engine managment light come on at all?

[DerekT]

no engine management light just running poorly. To be honest I've only driven it from the garage to the house (about 2 miles).

[vauxfan2k]

oh, that explains it, try and find a nice private road and give it a good blast, dont be shy as the heat generated by the "thrashing" will burn off the oil.

afaik its only unburnt fuel getting pushed thru the cats that damages them, such a small ammount of oil as this shouldnt hurt them.

cheers  

[Darth Loo-knee]

Being honest I thought oil too would damage the Cats...

[DerekT]

many thanks, I'll give it a good run tomorrow and let you know.

[vauxfan2k]

Being honest I thought oil too would damage the Cats...

according to manuals ive read in the past, its only prolonged use of the car whilst burning oil that causes damage. the plugwells wont have contained much to worry about. as the chap says the oil is in the sylinders now, so the only way to get rid is to burn it off.

[Darth Loo-knee]

Not sure I entirely agree mate.
But never mind  

[JamesV6CDX]

Being honest I thought oil too would damage the Cats...

Possibly not as much as unburnt fuel - but I definately agree, any amount isn't good

When we spilled a load of oil into my 2.0, some time ago - it was about 1.5 miles until the exhaust ran clean again...  so I'm not sure where they get 100 miles from

[Abiton]

If the garage were daft enough to let significant amounts of oil run into the cylinders, perhaps they also killed one or more HT leads (which may well have been weakened by the oil around them previously)?

Burning lots of oil may not do lambda sensors much good, but I'd imagine that would mainly be the case if it were ongoing rather than a one-off.

[Tawfield]

Give it a run should burn the oil out in a mile or so and if the engine is still not running properly the so called fitters have`nt put something back properly or worse damaged something.
Best of luck mate.

[feeutfo]

quite common this, for some reason garages dont seem to wonder why the cam cover gaskits fail. Age is an issue as they go hard, but the main reason, from personal experience and from what i have read on here is... Blocked crank case breathers!
 
These get full of mayo similar to what you may find normally on the filler cap with short journeys. This sets and blocks the breathers and the first place the pressure can escape is cam covers, then oil escapes and fills the plug wells, after a short period the ht leads rubbers cook in the oil and split, usually during the process of removing the oil. This leads to a missfire and an engine that wants to get out and walk.

First you need to clean your breathers or they will most likely blow again, make sure black gaskit goo is used sound the half moons only and not all the way round or the seal will be to good and the crank seal will go instead if the breathers block again, then once your sure the oil wells are dry change the plugs, vx are cheapest, and check the leads and rubber boots for splits or damage. You will probably need new leads. Motor factors for them or breakers on here possibly, vx want ton plus a side last i looked.
Try not to run the engine until any spark issues have been sorted or you may over load the dis pac, breakers on here for those if you need one.

The route cause of all of this seems to be vx lengthening service intervals to impress fleet managers and grab a few more sales. Change the oil regular once the work is done and your should have on more grief. Not sure what the oof recommended interval is but mine was done 3k ago when i got it and i will change it this weekend. I may then stick to 5k intervals(someone please advise if thats wrong)  
 This hole issue was the start of a load of agro with my old car, plugs, leads, breathers needed doing as said plus the alternater went as it was covered in oil,then the exhaust manifold started blowing but not sure thats related but it was directly under the worst leaking cover.
Hth
Ps. Imho you probably wont have any lasting issues with the oil in the cylinder, and its too late now anyway. I would be more worried about the breathers, cam seals and rough running.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Oil in the cylinders will not make it run rough......it will smoke heavily for the first few minutes (normlay seconds) but, thats about it!

If its not running right then I would say:

1) They have connected the HT leads up wrong on the 2-4-6 bank

2) The leads are goosed

Oil will not knacker the cats, it gets burnt in the cylinders, its unburnt fuel that causes issues!!

Trouble is, when its running rough there will be unburnt fuel in the cats!

[Martin_1962]

Cam covers can leak even if the breathers are clean - they go hard and just start to leak.

This happened with mine.

To this one - plug leads or wrong plug lead order

[tunnie]

i got a bit of oil in the cylinders when i last changed my spark plugs, it smoked on start up for about 15 seconds, couple of revs and it ran clear.

It never ran rough, just smoked a bit.