Ok... this could just be coincidence. But I had the valve cover gasket replaced along with new RTV sealer used to refresh the breather cover gaskets last weekend. The work was done by a mobile mechanic in the area who seemed reputable and even sent me a few photos of the work in progress, to prove he actually did the job I paid for.

As I drove the car later that evening, I smelled burning oil. But when I got home and examined the engine, I saw no evidence of leaking oil anyplace. (He definitely cleaned up the area around the valve cover where I started seeing oil seepage before.) So figured it was just burning off some leftover oil that spilled someplace during the work?

Didn't drive the car after that until yesterday. But when I did, it started fine but felt really bogged down under acceleration -- almost like I was trying to drive around with the emergency brake on? No check engine lights, but it was just a short trip up the road to the library and back.

Any ideas?

 

I have made my guess, get him back.

 

I actually took the car to him to have the work done, even though he usually does mobile work. (He's a lot cheaper if you come to him and drop it off.)

I'm not sure if he'd be willing to drive out to me without charging a trip charge, just because I have a concern his work might have caused my new problem....

That's why I thought I'd run it by people here who might know more about it. Again, I'm not seeing any oil leaking anyplace, and I had a few occasional, random issues with the car's RPMs suddenly dropping and making a quick shudder when slowing to a stop at a stop light or sign, before I had the gasket repaired. (I was advised that those "hiccups" could have been caused by oil seeping down and getting onto a spark plug -- hence motivation to get the gasket fixed sooner rather than later.)

If this turns out to be a vacuum leak or something, I'd rather not get stuck paying him to diagnose and/or fix it and bill me. But if this sounds like a case of, "Yep..... he screwed up. Been there, seen that." -- then I'll call him right away!

 

Just a Q? Did you remove the engine cover to see if there is any 'weeping' on the top side of the covers? Also, while the cover is off, check if any hoses were left off/came off. I would do this before calling him. Good luck!

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Bet u it's a vacum hose he forgot to put back on, or ur vacum hoses from the valve cover get destroyed they tend to disintegrated from the inside out from the oil. I would check first

 

Was the car lacking in power the first time you drove it?
How long is the RTV sealer supposed to be allowed to set up before use, maybe it was weakened the first time you drove it and it failed just sitting there later before you drove it again.

 

No, the car seemed fine when I drove it home, right after he repaired it.
He didn't mention anything about needing to wait before driving it after he finished his work. But I know it was at least an hour or two before I got over there after he called, saying it was done.

How long do the RTV sealers typically need before they're "set"?

 

Just an update:

I went outside today and took a look. Couldn't find any disconnected hoses. Started the car and listened for any sounds of an air leak and heard nothing.

Went for a drive to get some more gas and up the road to the shopping center, and the car felt completely normal again.

So now I don't know what to think? Possibly a CPS just starting to fail on me or something?

 

Start car. Let it idle. Remove oil cap - if the engine kinda surges and burps - you have no vacuum leak. If you can't tell that you took the cap off, there is a big leak besides the one caused by taking the cap off.

My bet is that one of the hoses is deteriorating and leaking. When I did mine, I used hose clamps where they go on the nipples of the breathers - there were no clamps there before, but after breaking the seal and goofing with it, I just knew I"d have leaks without the clamps.

(The above advice applies to N/A's - I can't say if it applies to SRTs)

As to how long to let it sit? I used Max's (I think it was his) procedure:

I took my valve covers off and then separated the breathers from them. I used gasoline to clean all surfaces of old RTV. I then used Purple power to clean all four pieces and then let them all dry overnight in front of a fan.

Next day, I applied the RTV. Put things together and tightened bolts to finger tight, waited 1/2 hour. Tightened bolts to 7 ft-lbs and let them sit in front of a fan overnight.

I then put the complete assemblies on the car - all is fine over a year later.




The oil smell could be just left over spill from his work - if it does not continue and you see no leaking oil - it's fine.
As to running rough, I think a hose is bad - the car is at or over ten years old. You cant disturb those old hoses and expect them to seal if you don't use hose clamps. I bet he didnt' use hose clamps.


That's my two cents.

 

Check IC pump.

 

I saw nothing in the thread stating this was an SRT6. Did I overlook something ?

 

It's in the SRT6 sub-forum

 

DUH !!!! [ head-slap ]

 

One sure fire (pun intended) way to check for VAC leaks, spray LIGHTLY carb cleaner around the vac hoses (while all the intake tubes are still connected to the front grill air intakes with any wind blowing towards the rear of the car). Keep the spray AWAY from those grill intakes or you may get a false reaction. I use the spray without the thin tube nozzle, the spray is wider and less is directed (a very small amount will cause immediate increases in rpm if there is a vac leak). Hope you do not have one BUT it will help you troubleshoot for sure! Good luck nailing this down!

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George, you can accomplish the same thing with an UNLIT propane torch, less messy.

 

I'm going with IC pump. Funny when NA owners forget what subforum they're in....lmao

 

I actually don't 'forget', I just read the thread in the 'new posts' and fail to pay attention to the forum on the right. My bad habit.

 

Thanks! I think you hit the nail on the head.

My car is an SRT-6 roadster, but I had the original IC pump replaced back when I first bought it, used, off a dealer lot and discovered it was intermittently cutting power on the highway, on the drive home from Chicago to St. Louis (where I lived at the time).

I know what the failing IC pump feels like .... and I don't think it has anything to do with this issue because I was feeling this power loss as soon as I started to drive out of my driveway and down the alley to exit my street. There was no surging or cutting in and out of the power. It just felt like the car was dragging a boat anchor behind it or the e-brake was on or something.

I'm sure nearly all the hoses on the car are the originals. I didn't see any obviously hard/brittle ones while giving it a quick once-over, but I didn't even look at the one in front of the manifold that I see several threads discussing/warning about. For all I know, that one might have a crack in it. There's lots of engine heat given off in that whole area.

Will definitely try that oil cap test though.

I also decided to take out my K&N drop-in air filters over the weekend and clean then, and "recharge" them with the K&N filter charger kit. They looked a little dirty, but not necessarily bad enough to be ready to clean and re-oil. But I figured it couldn't hurt. During that whole process, I noticed one of the large rubber hoses pulled lose that goes from the driver's side air box to the engine. It looked like it was originally glued in place, since I saw some residue around the end of it? The passenger side hose from the air box seemed to still be attached/glued in place. I made sure to push it back in as well as I could when putting the filter back in and screwing the lid shut, but wasn't sure if there's something I should have put back on it to help seal it?

I haven't noticed any oil smell again (drove the car to and from work today, just to see how it did -- and that's about an hour's trip both directions). And no more power loss issues during that whole trip either. I think once, as I was braking to a stop at a red light, I did momentarily feel the engine "flutter" and saw the RPM gauge dive from the 600RPMs or so it usually sits at, at idle. Looked like it just momentarily jittered between maybe 400 and 700RPM right when I felt the quick shudder, and then stayed rock solid at 600RPMs again. That was a small enough issue so I'd almost write it off as "normal" for one of these cars though. Or is that maybe the sign I still have a small vacuum leak, but possibly found the bigger one if that airbox hose was loose all along?