1988 Ford Escort engine question?

Z

Zachary

New member
I am buying a 1988 Ford Escort for my girlfriend. Its our one year anniversary... I went and looked at the car and i understand a little bit about cars. When i looked at the car it has a single overhead Cam with a breather cap right on top of the engine... with the carb and what not inside.... But there is oil running through a tube into the carb and burning off. Now i assumed it was just an over flow cause it is on the top of the engine. But i just want to make sure i am correct before i buy this car. The car is 300$. I think is very good deal but if it is going to be a problem with the head or head gaskets i dont really want to get involved. Can anyone help?
the car is mint the inside and out is mint no marks or scratches on outside. never been in an accident. interior is perfect! RUNS PERFECT just sits there and purs but that oil thing just doesnt sit right...
yea there is no smoke or any marks on the engine from oil pressure. What i mean is there is a breather cap on the top of the engine. when ii press the throttle the butterfly turns in drawing air in so yea i guess its not the carb. but the oil is still running from a stock tub into the side of the breather.....
its not a constant flow... but a little bit does run into the side of the breather and buns off pretty fast and it doesnt actually reach the air filter... it just kinda drips in every once in a while and burns off a little bit. Like i would have never even noticed if i didnt take the breather cap off to check the air filter and notcie a little bit of oil in there starting to burn off...
ok i am getting mixed answers down there... the car runs great no noises from engine. nothing like that the hose is not the air intake it is the hose that is conected to the top of the engine right by the spot where u put oil into the engine! i wouldnt even be able to fit my pinkie finger in the hose and it only runs to the breather cap and it is like 2 inchs long! thanks for the help any more advice?
 
That is the crankcase fresh air breather hose. Fresh filtered air enters the crankcase through that hose and then that air along with blow-by gasses is drawn out of the engine at the PCV valve and hose. If the blow-by gasses in the crankcase are too excessive for the PCV valve to vent or if the PCV valve sticks closed or if the PCV valve vacuum supply hose becomes clogged the excess blow-by gasses will reverse the PCV system air flow and exit the engine through the crankcase fresh air breather hose and be drawn into the throttle body through the crankcase breather element in the air filter housing. I suggest you check that the PCV valve hose is not clogged and that the PCV valve is functioning. If those are okay then the piston compression rings are worn and so the blow-by gasses in the crankcase are too excessive for the PCV valve to vent. On a $300 car I wouldn't worry much about that as long as the engine is still running good and I would just frequently replace the crankcase breather element (a $1.75 item) in the air filter housing if it gets oil saturated and keep oil accumulation in the air filter housing mopped up and assure that the air filter does not become oil saturated.
 
Thats the crankcase ventilation system. The vapours from the crankcase are sucked into the carby to be burnt. It sounds like the oil hasn't been changed for a while and thats why you are getting the drips inside the aircleaner housing. Its no big deal.

The car sounds like a good buy, if it runs well. Just change the oil and filter as soon as you buy it.
 
I would check the PCV valve if it is plugging up you will have pressure building up in the crank case and some oil is being pushed through that tube and burned off at the carb / throttle body .The only thing that your engine should be pulling through that tube while running is mixed air and oil vapors from inside the engine block NOT ANY OIL .
A lot of people forget to change or clean the PCV and they get clogged up.
 
oil does run from the engine to the crab it is a breather pipe for the engine but there shouldn't be a constant flow if the oil in the pipe if the oil is burnt or crusty the please be aware that the oil may have boiled and could of damaged the engine and this will block up oil ports in the engine so that the oil wont flow through properly
also take the oil filler cap off and look at the cap if there is a creamy looking sludge around it it means that the head gasket has blown allowing water to get into the oil
 
The car has major piston ring wear. The crankcase blowby fumes have enough pressure to force oil up the vent hose into the air cleaner housing. This is a common problem with high milage Escorts. Walk away from this car and find another unless you enjoy the smell of engine fumes while driving.
 
You say that you know a bit about cars but you haven't explained properly.How can the the carb be on top of the engine inside the breather cap and also oil running into the carb would cause the engine not to run.However i think that you mean the engine breathing system,whereby fumes from the engine are re circulated through the air filter,If the engine looks clean with no signs of excessive oil pressure from compression gasses coming up past the piston from the crankcase and the exhaust doesn't smoke excessively,the engine should be ok providing there are no nasty noises coming from it.
 
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