Howdy folks, me and my SO were living the vanlife for quite sometime and loving it but that very well might be coming to an end. A few days ago we were driving on the highway going about 60mph and i began to loss power quickly. The engine was stuttering and trying to run but just not creating enough power to keep speed. I pulled her over and got it towed to a shop. At first they thought it was the cat and o2 sensor. We replaced the sensor and then they test drove it and told me that we 4 misfires. They changed all the plugs and it came back with only 2 misfires on cylinder 1 and 7. They checked the distributor, fuel injectors, and did a compression test. Every piston was around 170 with very little difference. Next they wanted to replace the valve gasket, i was told that would take a week of work and 1000s of dollars. I called my grandfather who used to be mechanic and he was confused as to why that job would cost so much and take so long. He also thought it was strange to get full compression and it be a gasket. He’s and older guy though and hasnt been in the business for a very long time. Im just wondering if there anything i could dyi or check out myself? I know a little but not much. Id be shame to see the van die like this but were not willling to put a ton of money into something thats 20 years old.
You’re going to need to provide some more details, such as the year, make model, and engine in this vehicle. Any ideas of recent problems and/or maintenance?
A friend of mine decided to retire, sell her house, and buy a brand new RV to live the “van life”. It broke down on her far from home in the middle of nowhere. Ford took a month to determine they could not fix the problem. I think they either bought back the RV or gave her another one. Regardless…she now has a house again and no longer wants any part of “van life”. Kind of the “dark side” that no one likes to talk about…
Oh theres a dark side even beyond just break downs. We’ve been doing it for a year now so were not broken hearted about giving it up, but we’d love to have the van for little trips and such. If at all possible.
Its a 2002 gmc savana 1500, with 5.7 V8 engine. We lost and replaced the wheel bearing probably 6 months ago. I changed the oil personally probably once every 2-3 months when we were driving alot. The oil was a little low in the garage he assumed if it was the valve gasket leaking, there was also a little bit of shavings in the oil which i know is a pretty bad sign, which is another reason why i wouldnt want to put alot of money into it.
What bothers me the most is it was running perfectly normally after i had pulled over on the highway turned it off and turned her back on but now after leaving the garage it idles like a rollercoaster.
This van has the imfamous “spider” injection system. They are a problem and I am surprised the shop didn’t go straight there.
Compression is good, plugs are new, O2s are new, and they checked the fuel injectors… It would be really helpful to know the error codes that were stored in the cars computer.
I’d still suspect the injectors but also a coil and ignition module. Both DIY-able but “knowing a little but not much” could be beyond you. I think you should find another shop… suggesting valve cover gaskets for an ignition misfire is just blowing smoke over your wallet to obscure things.
Shops are often bad at electrical diagnosis. New plugs could improve a weak ignition problem so that some cylinders sort of work. Once you test spark, and test that it is not a weak spark which can be hard to diagnose, then it must be a fuel injection problem.
The valve cover leak isn’t a likely cause of the engine-power problem. From what you say above, good chance this may be a relatively inexpensive repair. It does need to be addressed quickly however, b/c misfires can damage the expensive to replace catalytic converter.
The first step is for your shop to check for diagnostic codes. If no codes, these are common problems of low power and misfiring.
- exhaust system is clogged
- fuel pressure incorrect or clogged fuel filter
- clogged engine air filter
- ignition module or crank position sensor
- spark plugs/plug wires/distributor/ignition rotor
- battery/alternator
Suggest to defer valve cover leak problem if just a minor leak. $1000 to replace all the gaskets related to a valve cover leak on a V8 seems a little higher than I’d expect, but not beyond reason. If the engine is a transverse-configured v8, the estimate seems about what I’d expect, or possibly a little lower than I’d expect.
The way I would check the “injectors” on this engine . . .
Hook up the fuel pressure gauge
Hook up the professional level bi-directional scanner
Perform the injector balance test
You’ll get your answers soon enough