Yes, you can run engine without alternator just off the battery for fairly long time.

 

Well looks like this thing is bleeding oil several places - passengers valve cover at rear, passengers head gasket above manifold, base of mechanical tensioner bolt, top of oil pump. Cam seals look fine.

After checking the timing at least 3-4 times I started it up. Heard some knocking on the passenger side then it quickly went away (hadn't been run in 5-7 days). Engine now runs very poor which is quite odd as it ran its normal self prior to taking the accessories off the front. Rough idle, won't rev properly at all. UFB.

Any chance the heavy dose of break clean did something to the crank and/or cam sensors screwing up the coil firing? I have a hard time thinking it somehow had pistons hit valves. I even checked the timing after shutdown.

Really thinking hard on pulling the plug on this beast and sending it down the road...

Oil dripping from crank timing cover seal after 10 minutes

Oil pooling on top of oil pump behind crank sensor

Oil pooling in oil pump housing below mechanical timing adjuster pivot

Oil puddling on head passengers side near firewall

Mirror picture showing oil at base of mechanical timing tensioner arm

Passenger cam seal dry

Passenger valve cover dry at cam seal

Looking up from below at passenger exhaust manifold, Front and next studs wet with oil as is block.

 

Dang. That's a lot of places the leaks started all at once. Very weird. I have absolutely no idea what could cause that. The only thing that comes to mind is something a mechanic friend told me - if you have excessive blow by, it may get too much pressure in the crank case and behind all the seals. Some blow by is normal and that "bad" air gets consumed through the positive crankcase ventilation. Too much blow by - can't get consumed fast enough and may force oil out. Recalling that you never were able to solve a misfire, makes me wonder if there was somehow related to that?
Any change you might be able to do a compression or a leakdown test?
As far as brake cleaner - it is safe for cleaning oil around sensors. The rough running may be related to computer loosing the memory as far as fuel trim maps. This happens when you disconnect the battery. It takes some time to re-learn it again.

 

Related or not, all of this oil leakage occurred after changing to Castrol synthetic 5W30. All prior oil was regular 5w30 of various brands.

Never did fix the cylinder 6 misfire and its apparent low compression. I did a compression check one time and I put oil down the plug hole and redid the compression test with no change so its not the rings (or at least wasn't then) and thus not high blow by.

Compression and leakdown test requires diving in deeper and deeper into this thing - removing plenum, etc for access. Not sure I have the stomach for that and throwing more $ there. Various gaskets etc.

Prior to disassembly, I did remove the PVC valve and shake it. I also disconnected it from the valve cover and used my finger to open/close the engine port side of the PVC valve and engine rpm's responded so the PVC valve was functional.

Regarding fuel trims and relearning, how long should that take? I ran it for at least 10 minutes and still ran horrible. Frankly, it ran smooth as glass on first fire after rebuild 3 years ago (battery was disconnected for 6-7 months) compared to now. It also ran very smooth prior to taking off the belts recently to try to figure out the leaks.

Wife and I are discussing getting rid of it and getting another commuter car for the fleet... Downtime, money pit, time sink, very poor mileage (13-15 mpg) all factors weighing in...

 

Geez man that sucks. All that work and still issues. This is why most shops just swap motors. The modern motors are so finicky no one has the bankroll to pay $125 hr to chase down dozens of failure points. Give me old school carbs and early simple fuel injection on a Chevy or Japanese motor all day long! But we're stuck with this modern overcomplicated BS...

How much oil is it losing? I have 200k on both of my 2003 Limiteds. And near that on my 5 other ones I've had of previous generations 3.0 and 3.5L. I've never had a Sport but same basic motors in most of them and pre-3.8L from what I gather. They all used and leaked some oil. Sometimes it would lose a quart in 600 miles (rarely), usually every 1,200 - 2,000 miles. I couldn't make sense of it. I park on gravel so I really don't care how much they leak as long as no more than a quart every 500 miles. The more I idled them in winter for heat, the worse they lost or consumed oil. I have gotten in the habit of rarely idling them for more than 3-4 minutes at most summer or winter.

Rather than change the oil every 3k like I use to do, I now change it every 10k bc I'm putting new oil in every 1,000-1,500 miles. I swap the filter at 5,000 miles.

I doubt it's the oil brand. I've used whatever is on sale and mixed and matched and stuck to one type for long periods of time...made no difference. I do tend to stick to heavier weight oils now like 10W or if I use 5W-anything I mix it 50% with 15W.

Did you change oil filter type/brand? If so could be a choke point if no bypass.

Did you spray out PCV with cleaner to make sure it wasn't getting stuck with junk in it while running?

Have you thought about putting a vent-type fill cap on the valve cover oil fill opening? Ya know, like those ones that have a mesh and spongy type filter element you clean every oil chamge so it keeps oil from blowing out but allows some air to get in/out of top of motor in addition to PVC?

Since you have new oil, let it leak or use about 1.5-2 qts and try a double dose of stop leak product with a guarantee. There are several. They do work at times. If it doesn't work just refund it. Part stores honor that as long as product says it's guaranteed. I've done that a few times before doing other hard mechanical repairs.

But if it's not losing more than 1 qt every 700+ miles I wouldn't ditch it. Just check oil every fill up and before long trips. See if oil stop leak product may work.

I'm about to buy another 1999 Montero with 156k ($3,500) if I can get to it before anyone else does 4 hours away. I only buy used 15+ year old SUVs and trucks. If Japanese, I only buy Montero. The other option of Toyota is the next best motors but they're usually twice or at least 30% more, and have lightweight metal suspension parts (compared to Montero) and the interiors are so small...I don't like how I feel like I'm laying down in them. Poor visibility also in my opinion....sorry I rambled drinking coffee. Lol

But I'm speaking for the full size Montero. I've never liked the Sport model and have seen more broken than I care to admit.

 

Larry, I was wondering about the PCV. Everyone says - if it rattles, it works. I found that it is not the caset. I had oil leak at valve covers, checked PCV many time - rattles just fine, but still was forcing oil out of the covers. Replaced PCV with new one - no more forced oil exjection (how is that for a new word). Try that first. I also like Wilde's idea to try the breather vent on the oil fill. See if that will relieve crank case pressure. I also agree with Wilde on oil consumption, but that is on the old engine, yours is freshly rebuilt, so it shouldn't consume/loose that much oil. There some other obvious issue that is causing that.

 

Engine has been leaking about 1-1.25 qts every 1-2 days. Asphalt driveway so not acceptable. Near 20" diameter oil stain from parking 12 hours. Top off oil more than fill the tank almost.

I am gravely concerned over the knocking heard and now very very poor running situation. If time permits I will try to put a scanner on it as I suspect it will now show many more misfires. I cant explain why this occurred. Ran fine, timing spot on, take accessory belts off, start engine knocks badly and now this meanwhile timing is still spot on.

We are really leaning towards pulling the plug on this thing. It has been a black hole for $ and time, has left my daughter stranded etc. My brother had some outfit pay him $400 for his clapped out Ford work van with failed rockers - cash and picked it up with a rolloff. Done and gone.

Edit 10/30/10 PM - Started engine and it now shows P0300 code (multiple misfire) vs prior P0306 (cylinder 6). Distinct knocking sound on passengers side. I think it somehow slipped time and ate valves. Not sure how, but that's my best guess. Won't idle worth a damn (stalls out) and won't rev up properly either. Yes the oil level is and was fine.

Opportunity for addition of snake oil to stop oil leaks is gone.

The PVC valve I had removed from the valve cover and put my finger over the engine side of the valve; the engine would respond with RPM change depending on how much I blocked it so that and the shaking tells me its fine. This PVC check was immediately prior to removing accessory belts for inspection.

I think its done.

 

So sorry to hear that. Your rebuild thread was an inspiration.

 

Thanks Hunter - the vehicle was basically dead as it was before rebuild. I learned a lot more with this rebuild than my prior 440 I built in high school (1979-80) for my Cuda..

The engine rebuild effort I had about $1800 in it not including my labor. Daughter got 3 years out of it afterwards and 22k miles so in this context not bad for a used car.

Looking into options to have it picked up and hauled away. Hoping to get some cash for it. Not real keen on listing it on Craigslist.

Donated a prior dead vehicle to a non-profit and was able to deduct $500 off taxes. Would rather get some cash for the Montero if possible.

IF anyone is interested in it that's local (Warrenton VA), PM me.

-larry

 

^^^THIS x 100000

I learned soooooo much about a new to me Montero Sport with the 3.5 reading through this post. It should be a sticky!

Sorry to hear about your problems.