Do not spray down into that motor. You will get likely wash the cylinder out and unseat the rings. Just clean as much sludge from the everywhere off. Do not touch the intake runners. Put it back together then run some kind of intake cleaner through it

 

Merry Christmas All!!

Alright here my latest update...... took it all apart, cleaned all the sludge up from in there, just scraped and shop vac as best as I could, changed both upper and lower gaskets, got both upper and lower intakes tanked, cleaned throttle body, and IAC and changed gaskets, IMRC connectors, did plugs, wires, changed oil and filter and oil pressure switch.

All seems to be running 100% better at idle. No leaks or coolant loss so far or no more white smoke

its now throwing codes P1537 & P1538, IMRC's are free and moving, it appears that there is no vacuum going to the lines that connect to them? I tried taking a line that had vacuum for sure and hooked it up too both of them one at a time, reset the light and it dropped the codes for each respectively.

So I'm sure that there is no vacuum getting to them. I checked all of the lines and no breaks, even the ones behind the battery were good so not sure where it can be losing vacuum and no hissing or anything. I'm a little stumped. Its making it stall out when in drive and struggle to pick up when at a stop or low speeds. I can hear the motor loping slightly at idle in park but not major.......Any ideas?

Thanks,
Omar

 

OK changed out both IMRC solenoids, ran a new vacuum line to them and good to go.

Now I'm throwing code P0102 guess I'm going to try cleaning the MAF now....round and round I go..LOL

 

Dupps thanks for sharing your experience. you are on the right track and should be able to get all done. You completed the difficult part.

 

Thanks msk59!! I cleaned the MAF and it was still running like crap, so I just replaced the MAF and bingo bango its running perfectly, no check engine light (I ran it through full driving cycle) Thanks everyone for all of the info and this site itself was full of a ton of information that helped out along the way massively.

Omar

 

Good to hear! I had a friend with a 4.2L, immaculate body, only 80K miles and the engine ran like crap. I told him it was an easy fix but he deicded to sell it to a scrap yard for $500. It was a shame. There should be more determined people in this world. Great job.

 

pressure test the cooling system at 15 psi for a couple of minutes, then turn the engine over by the front crankshaft bolt slowly by hand with a socket and long johnson bar. If you feel it turns 360 degrees a couple of times around with not too much effort you should be ok but if it locks up and you can"t turn your most likely getting an hydrolic lock in one or more of the cylinders. Take all the spark plug out 2c which one the coolant is in. Either intake, head gasket, or cracked head. Remove tool from crank with plugs out and crank engine over with key to force rest of coolant out. If you decide 2 proceed with repair check intake gasket for breaks on side where leak was and if it's broken then replacing gaskets should resolve the problem.
One more issue if you show no oil pressure, remove oil sender and check with a pressure gauge (hot engine..10-25 lbs at idle..25-50 at 2000rpm). If pressure is below 6lbs then main and or rod bearings and crank need replacing.

good luck

 

OP already fixed it bud

 

You may want to check the oil seals in the valves. They could be letting stuff by causing the smoke as well? Bad rings.

 

Ahem........

ALREADY FIXED. Don't you read the whole thread before jumping in with a comment?