Ford Essex V6 Smoke from Filler cap at Motor Car Forum

Hi, I have a ford Essex V6 3 litre in my Stag. It runs fine, however once hot, smoke escapes from the filler cap (which is a simple push on). If I remove the dipstick smoke comes from there as well. It has not had a lot of regular use in the past 13 years and I wonder if it needs a good dosing with something. Has anybody had the same problem or got any ideas?

Hmmmp....same problem as mine...need also help on this.

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clearly you have worn cylinder bores/pistons/rings or the piston rings are stuck.
if the smoke is a trickle with no real pressure the engine could be usable and there could be a problem with the crankcase breather valve or hose.
if the smoke has that certain enthusiasm the engine will almost certainly be suffering from low compression, poor starting and performance and be ready for an overhaul.
if the smoke puffs regularly the problem is likely confined to just one cylinder and likely be more dramatic.
a cylinder leakage test or a wet and dry compression test would help pinpoint the cause.
Redex treatment might help free stuck rings but a stripdown is almost unavoidable. do not forget to glazebust the bores and run in the new or refitted rings in with special running in oil or a straight SAE 30.

I have just done the compressions and they are all around 50psi. Is this low for a 3l V6

50 psi is very low. the rule of thumb for bread and butter engines like this is 100 psi minimum or its a strip down. certainly the basics must be checked first so that you are not misled because something else is wrong and as part of the process of gathering as much information as possible before major work starts. in other words it is a good idea to know where the problem (or problems) is before a strip down.
a dry compression test is only the first step. a wet test is needed next with a dessertspoon of oil in each cylinder or an oil spray is better... crank the engine a few times then recheck compressions. a rise in readings will indicate faulty piston rings and/or worn bores. considering the smoke this should be your findings.
before all this happens you should have checked the valve clearances, points and timing and so on. this is not because a mystery cure might be available by doing this but as an essential part of gathering clues and to make certain that the compression test is as fair and accurate as possible so that the most guilty cylinder can be identified, if there is one before stripdown commences.
a few wide tappets will indicate debris trapped under the valve seats or bent or sticking valves while tight tappets are likely to indicate valve seat wear or corrosion. unless the valve clearances are found to be more or less ok it would be wise to get the cylinder heads sorted at the same time as the rings. valve sealing can be further easily checked on the bench after removal.
a cylinder drop test or cylinder efficiency test is far superior to a compression test if you have acces to compressed air because where the air escapes from immediately indicates the faults and removes much guesswork.
i suggest that my previous on this is re-read about how the smoke is emitted because this provides further clues.

I'm a German living in South-Africa, driving a Ford Ranger with a 3.0 V6 Essex , 1997.

Maybe you can help me with the carburator jetting from the original Weber carb.

To improve the fuel consumption on my Ford, I put bigger air floodvalves in, but now the car is jerking on low revs, when the engine is not on operating temperatur.
Maybe you guys in England have another idea to improve the fuel consumption. With my 80l fueltank, I drive 450 km.

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hello from us to you. my long unused math tells me your metric fuel consumption is roughly 16 miles per gallon. i have no idea what you should be getting, what sort of driving you do, what your style of driving is or the terrain you do it over, or even the altitude; all factors which have a strong influence on fuel consumption. assuming not much above sea level, flat terrain and sympathetic driving over medium to long distances then your fuel consumption does sound heavy even for a heavy car like the ranger (not a model i am familiar with).
my easy answer is to suggest that you buy a diesel!

when trying to improve the economy of a motor the first thing is to know as accurately as possible what the fuel consumption is now.
fact; for most people most of the time the manufacturers have made the best compromises and it is usually folly to tinker with them.
fact; successfully mucking about with carburettors is a skill that is akin to the black arts and is best left to those who dabble...
fact; the most successful tuning (or modification) is always carried out after "blueprinting" or returning the whole car to its proper specification. often further modification is rendered undesirable after that treatment.

in other words it is a ground up operation to squeeze as much as possible out of every litre; half a percent here, another somewhere else, ad nauseum.
cut down rolling resistance to the minimum...
the right tyres for instance (no point wearing cross country boots if you dont go across rough ground) at the right pressures (modern tyres often need more air than stated in the book) and the wheel alignment should be spot on. brakes need to be perfectly free and in good order so they come off as cleanly and completely as they go on. transmission oils should be the correct grade or it might be possible to put a lighter grade in without hurting it if a synthetic is used???
wind resistance;
unused roof racks and aerials and such like are robbers of fuel.
weight;
stuff tends to pile up in our vehicle like it is some sort of attic so it pays to have a bug out sometimes and lose a few pounds.
gasflow;
exhaust systems sometimes get restricted by damage or being repaired with low quality stuff or sometimes just wrong stuff. exhaust centres have been known to use copious amounts of sealer that can restrict and some types of exhaust box can break up inside without being visible outside. you didnt say whether it has a cat fitted but these can become partially blocked and cause much backpressure...
now the engine;
auxilliary belt tension and pulley alignment should be right, the cooling system and especially the thermostat working properly as henry ford intended, the valve clearances, the timing and ignition system and all vacuum units to spec and in good order. all this first is best practice and where the real results are obtained.

my best advice is to put the carb back the way it was. check the jets against the spec for your area. if your car is well used then spend on new jets because they do wear, sometimes a lot. spend on new diaphragms and possibly a float valve. then set the float level accurately to the lower end of its setting tolerance and the accelerator pump stroke to its shortest setting. this is all assuming that the carb is very clean and in good condition. if it is a really high mileage jobby then a reconditioned replacement might be best. if it is an automatic choke it needs to be at least as good as new. a new heat mass for the choke can sometimes halve the time it takes to come off.

finally when it is back together and running the fuel pump pressure needs to be adjusted by adding thin paper gaskets until the lower level is achieved. now it is time to get the idle speed and mixture right then check that it "leans off" properly for cruising (this needs a co meter). if all the economy devices are working the mixture should go very weak during that almost slowing down but not quite scenario.
although it is cold starts and periods of acceleration that costs most fuel on average, excessive speed also does. not very aerodynamic! the greatest savings might be made by adopting a lower cruising speed.

my final bit of wisdom is; all this will come to nought if as part of a drive for economy the nut holding the wheel is not adjusted also to its lower setting!

The Essex V6 is most sought after, even though it shares its design with the V4. However, the V6 didn’t need a balancer shaft and it’s far less stressed. That said, the oil pump drive can still break. The V6 also has a tendency to overheat, especially if the radiator has clogged up with silt. ****n head gaskets and even cracked cylinder heads are common, so look for oil and water leaks in the engine bay along with white emulsion on the underside of the filler cap. Another common and costly problem is a tendency for the fuel pump to vibrate to bits, with push-fit brass pipe fittings in an aluminium body, leading to engine bay fires in 3.0-litre cars.

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