Any views on forte seal treatment ?

[Zfourever]

Dear forum. Facing the dreaded blue smoke crossroads :thumbsdown: have gone down the forte seal treatment route as a first response for my Montego blue 108's 2.0L 2008, in preference to lashing out 2grand on an engine rebuild. Breathe . May still have to go rebuild route. Was just wondering if anyone has used it for similar blue smoke issues? Does it work? Mostly works or not that brilliant in your experience? Any thoughts most welcome as usual. £30 spend would be so preferable to a £2000 one :?
Thanks for any responses
Zfourever

 

[Jfgoldfish]

Sorry, I cant help you with the forte juice. I suppose you have nothing to loose apart from 30 quid, I would probably try it as a last resort too!

Do you get blue smoke under load or when you blip the throttle ofter idle?
There can be many causes of blue smoke, thankfully not all of them end in a £2000 repair bill.
More common for the valve stem seals to go on these engines rather than the piston rings (if it has had regular enough oil changes).

Even a busted CCV can cause oil to make its way into the combustion chamber but you have probably ruled that one out.

 

[Zfourever]

Hi jfgoldfish thanks for the info. I think the ccv might be next port on the troubleshooting journey. As well as hoping a compression check this weekend might shed light on the engine internals. The blue smoke is mostly after start up and when I rev the engine. After driving for a while and the engine's warmed up the smoke is gone. I would rather it wasn't the piston rings because it's then that old uncomfortable question of how much should u spend fixing your z4 when the value might be £3grand but the driving experience priceless
Thanks once again for your help.
Zfourever

 

[Jfgoldfish]

Hopefully the compression test tells you the compression rings and valves are ok.

That sounds like the valve stem seals have failed to me. That is not such an expensive job.
There are a few tests you can do to check if it is the stem seals.

Check these guys out http://pmp-cars.co.uk/our-services. They offer valve stem seal replacement for a fantastic price.
I cant vouch for them personally, but they have good reviews.

 

[wonkydonkey]

£30 seal treatment.

£2,000 rebuild.

£1,200 3.0 engine and gearbox for a nice little power hike
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/153638868782


There's always more than one alternative! :evil:

 

[oldgitdave]

Personally I wouldn't go down the forte route. Seal treatments only tend to work temporarily at best. They work by swelling the seal which involves softening it slightly. The thing is it will do the same to all your rubber type seals which is not necessarily a good thing imho.
You're going in the right direction getting the ccv & compression test done. Hope it works out for you .

 

[Jfgoldfish]

The thing is it will do the same to all your rubber type seals which is not necessarily a good thing imho.

That is a very good point.
The seal treatment certainly wont cure ring problems and if the issue is with the stem seals you might as well put that £30 towards stem seal replacement.

 

[Smartbear]

Hopefully the compression test tells you the compression rings and valves are ok.

That sounds like the valve stem seals have failed to me. That is not such an expensive job.
There are a few tests you can do to check if it is the stem seals.

Check these guys out http://pmp-cars.co.uk/our-services. They offer valve stem seal replacement for a fantastic price.
I cant vouch for them personally, but they have good reviews.

It’s not the compression rings that stop oil burning though, it’s the oil scraper rings that do that
Rob

 

[Jfgoldfish]

It’s not the compression rings that stop oil burning though

Very true, that is what I was trying to point out (I worded that poorly though! )
The compression test is only really testing if the compression rings are worn out.

I still think it is far more likely that the valve stem seals are shot but it could be the oil scrapers. I believe it would smoke under load if that were the case, not particularly at startup.

 

[Smartbear]

It’s not the compression rings that stop oil burning though

Very true, that is what I was trying to point out (I worded that poorly though! )
The compression test is only really testing if the compression rings are worn out.

I still think it is far more likely that the valve stem seals are shot but it could be the oil scrapers. I believe it would smoke under load if that were the case, not particularly at startup.

The ccv systems on these cars seem to fail easily & commonly cause oil leaks/oil burning issues. I’d look at that before pulling the engine apart :?
Rob

 

[Jfgoldfish]

The ccv systems on these cars seem to fail easily

Oh yes, always worth starting with the cheap(er) stuff first.
But unlikely that the CCV is letting oil into the combustion chamber whilst it sits overnight, unfortunately the smoke at startup is a typical symptom of stem seal failure.

I did the CCV on mine a couple of months back but unfortunately it still consumes a little oil.
The valve stems seals are a very common failure on these 4 pot motors

 

[eddiemunster]

Personally I wouldn't go down the forte route. Seal treatments only tend to work temporarily at best.

Actually, they recondition the seal, it's in more often than not permanent; Forte is used all the time on diesel N47 engines, they suffer from horrendous valve stem seal leaks. Indeed, I've used it several times, and every time it has been a permanent fix; my own 123d has had it, for 18 months, and hasn't so much as puffed once.

 

[Zfourever]

This forum is fantastic. Thank you so much to jf goldfish, wonky donkey, old git Dave and smartbear. I've now got real options to help fix this problem and save a ton of much needed money hopefully for proper tyres. £400 roughly for new seals sounds pretty reasonable in comparison. if it is the seals. Thanks for sharing your insights and experience. Have a great weekend.
Zfourever

 

[oldgitdave]

Personally I wouldn't go down the forte route. Seal treatments only tend to work temporarily at best.

Actually, they recondition the seal, it's in more often than not permanent; Forte is used all the time on diesel N47 engines, they suffer from horrendous valve stem seal leaks. Indeed, I've used it several times, and every time it has been a permanent fix; my own 123d has had it, for 18 months, and hasn't so much as puffed once.

Yeah, after I posted I thought about it & I was thinking more about oil leak seal treatments rather than the valve stem seals. Sorry for any confusion :roll: .