Did I destroy my engine?

[jrg05a]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post on the site and I'm glad to be here. I just purchased a 1979 Fiat spider 2000. While giving her a tune up I made a mistake and I need help.

While pouring oil into the top of the engine, my dog, (a 93lb boxer) bumped into me causing me to miss the funnel and spill oil on top of my engine where the plugs are. It was quite a bit but I soaked it up as quickly as I could.

However, Now when I start her up she runs very rough, engine shakes, I can give her gas and she will smooth out but will idle very low and sometimes die. I pulled the plugs, they had oil on them, replaced them and I'm still getting the same results.

I love this car but I have no clue what is going on or how to approach it.

Please give me some input of direction so I can get her back on the road.

Thanks everyone.

[azruss]

pouring oil into the spark plug holes should not create any issues. If you had oil seep into the combustion chamber and foul the plugs, then your plugs are tight enough. No oil should leak by. It does sound like you have a fouled plug. when the car is running rough, pull each spark plug wire one at a time to see if it changes the motor. If you pull one and nothing changes, then that is the fouled plug. could be a bad plug or plug wire. you can check the plug wire by interchanging with one of the other wires and see if the "fouled plug" moves with the wire. Be sure and wear a heavy glove when pulling the wire off so you wont get a big surprise.

[jrg05a]

Thank you for the response and input. I replaced the plugs and the same thing was happening. I will replace the wires and plugs again today.

After reading your response I would assume that the plugs were not tight enough because I do believe that oil made it past the plugs.

Worse case, if oil did make it into the cylinder, will it just burn up or do I need to be doing anything else?

Also, There were a few times that I would turn the car off and a puff of white smoke would come out of the filter on top of the carburetor. What could be the case of that?

Thank you once again for your help. I'm hoping that the wires just got soak as well and that's all that needs to be replaced.

[azruss]

if oil made it to the combustion chamber you would see billows out blue smoke out the back. It should eventually burn away. If you got lots of oil in there, it may contaminate the plugs until you can get the car good and warm. shouldnt require new plugs, just clean the new/old plugs with solvent. the puff of white smoke out the carb filter is probably gas vapor. could be an indication of issues. solve the rough running and it could solve the other at the same time.

[124JOE]

i think it may be leaning out and getting hot
the low end stumble could be a small gasket leak
re tighten the base or your carb and the intake
you can search for a leak by hearing it and touching it and spraying carb cleaner all over slowly
vacume leaks can also be a old hose

good luck

[bobplyler]

When you said "doing a tuneup" what else were you doing other than changing the oil? The oil spilled shouldn't make much difference if you cleaned it out. I ran my car years ago with the oil filler cap sitting on the porch. It smoked a lot when the oil got on the exhaust, and there was a lot around the sparks plugs.

[jrg05a]

I replaced the plugs and oil and filter change.

But as of now, I have replaced the plugs again and wires and I still have a really rough idle. When I drive her it's almost as if I'm not getting power from all the cylinders. I'm not sure what to do at this point. I can drive her but she feels underpowered. She idles at 600 now and it rough. Maybe there is still some oil in there that I am trying to burn out.

[dmwhiteoak]

Did you check timing ? Check points ? Dennis

[jrg05a]

Noob question: how do I check points or timing?

[124JOE]

heres a pic

theres a pointer at the top that points to the cam gears they have holes that line up with the pointers
theres a big rear that drives the oilpump its hole is at 1oclock then the crank pully it has a flat spot that faces forward
and the line is on the outer rim right there.ok thats the engine timing

now the dizzy"distibutor"
look at the cap for where #4 goes unscrew the cap.remember that spot the rotor should be pointing at it #4.

timing by ear
advance=speedup when the spark sparks "counterclockwise"
retard=lowering the spark timing "clockwise"closer to 10 degrees some years differ.

[burlybryan]

Rule of thumb with any new problem is to work the issue that created it. I don't want to knock the timing suggestion, but since you didn't mess with the timing, your problem still lies in the dog bump. Did you knock or break a vacuum line when bumped or while poking around? Are the new plugs the same type as before? I know that my old SAAB 900's were very fussy with anything other than NGKs. Are the plug wires seated? I just changed my plugs tonight (from Bosch platinum plus 4s to platinum plus) and my idle went to sh!t. I also noticed that the plug wires were kind of loose on the plug so I crimped the fitting a little in effort to firm up the contact and to be able to feel them snap onto the plug. Have you taken the car out and run it?

[redcars]

Are you sure you got the plug wires on the right plugs. Just a thought!