Help! Just got alot worse!

[compta96]

I have recently been having a problem with my car throwing missfire codes (P0300) and evap codes P0441 (no flow during purge). So anyway those of you who have been helping know this and you also know that I replaced the whole ignition except the opti and the entire evap system except the charcoal canister.
Well last night I went out to do a little racing and during my first race against a 02 TA I noticed smoke coming out of my engine bay kind of like when oil touches hot metal. At first I thought it was smoke from my tires because I was fishtailing all the way through 4th gear.
Well the second race of the night 5 min later, I was racing this sick sounding Mustang with slicks. The same thing happend I really noticed it this time and so did the other guy. He asked me if I had blown a head gasket. I said know I think I left my crankcase breather unplugged and the oil was hitting the headers. Oh yeah and I toasted him by 2 car links and was still pulling away.
So I pulled over and noticed the car runnig a little weird and a little low on the idle. I went home and checked for any oil leaks and found nothing.
The next morning I started it up and turned on the AC and the motor wouldn't idle above 500 RPM almost died. I tried resetting the IAC and that still didn't work. As soon as I turn on the AC the car goes from 1000 RPM's to 500 and shakes like crazy!
It drives ok on WOT, gunned it a few times to see if anymore smoke came out and nothing did. A very strong gas smell is now present along with the AC causing my car to almost die everytime.
I also checked for blow-by and condensation from my exhaust and it checked out ok. What should I do?

[compta96]

I changed the plugs out. The last set started out as carbon fouled but since I replaced the coil with an MSD, it cleaned them up. (Still missfires)
Well it turn out that the oil was blown out of the dip-stick at the bottom. It got all over my starter and exhaust. Thats where the smoke came from.
On the other side I noticed that one of the nuts backed off my header flange. So that thing was just dangling there causing me to smell gas/exhaust. I need to find out what size that nut is so I can get another tommorrow. Does anyone know what size it is on a set of Mac headers?
As far as the A/C bogging down my motor, I guess it has to be the compressor getting ready to lock down. I turned the clutch by hand and it did not move that easily. Could this be the problem?

[compta96]

Well I got the flange all tightend up, so no more leaks. But you know how it goes, fix one problem and here comes another. After i finished with the exhaust, I started up the car and now it is barely idleingwith the AC off! It's acting the way it did when I was turning the AC on barely holding on at 500 RPM's. I am really irritated now, at first I thought it was the A/C bogging down my motor and now it's happening with out it on. If I do turn on the AC, then it kills the motor.
So all I can guess is it is now the IAC aswell as the AC. What do you think?

[Fire67]

Well, to diagnose this, you need to look at a few key things that are happening.
First being a WOT puff of smoke out of the engine bay.
Next being that your dipstick was blown out.
Third, your engine is barely running.
Time to do a compression check bud. My guess would be a burnt head gasket or worn/brocken piston rings.

The dipstick is a sign of this for sure, if it popped out, your building crankcase pressure that pushed it out. What do you have for a crankcase breather? Is it the factory setup that plumb's the gasses to the TB? If so unplug it while running and see what comes out of the valve cover.
If you get greeted with large amounts of smoke, youre onto something. Do the compression check and find out which cylinder is leaking. Then tear that head off to decide whether the problem was the head gasket or the piston/rings/ring lands.
Good luck, but unfortunately it sounds like a serious issue. Sorry man.

[compta96]

I forgot to mention that I had accidently overfilled the crankcase with 1 quart of oil. " I was on an incline"
So the motor had to find a way to get it out. Comression test checked out ok. So I think I lucked out. Anyway this is what my speed shop found out about the other problems.

Well I took it to my local speed shop "Lethal performance" and this is what they found. The IAC is definitley toasted/non responsive. So that covers the problem concerning my idle problem w/o the A/C on. They suspect just as everyone has that the engaging of the A/C clutch is bogging down the motor. It is not yet doing it with the the AC off, but I suspect it soon will.
As far as the IAC it's a special order item so I won't see it for a few days. The AC compressor is an expensive item, ranging from $210.00 for a ac delco reman to over $500 for a new one. So I won't see that for a couple of weeks.
They also said that my MSD wires might be faulty. They have recently come across a few people that have had bad experiences with them arcing and falling apart. Some people are saying that the wores are only good for as long as your plugs last. Once you have to change the plugs, they never work the same. Well thats what I heard at the shop today. That could be what causing my multiple missfires.
Does anyone have a recommendation for some good wires?

[Fire67]

Ive never had trouble with the MSD wires. In the 4yrs Ive owned my TA Ive only gone through two sets of them. In case you dont know, those 4yrs have included 8-10 sets of plugs, two motors, two blowers, 5 transmissions, two diff MSD boxes, and two ignition coils.
All thats needed is a quick resistance check of each wire with an Ohm meter to be sure they're still good.
Most of the problems Ive seen people have with these wires was caused by the people, not the quality of the wires. Actually, the only problems I ever had with them were cause by me. There is absolutely nothing wrong with them, in fact they are among the best as far as durability and energy transfer. With the least resistance per foot of any wire Ive seen.

With ANY spark plug wire, you'll have problems if you bend them too tight, dont carefully route them to prevent abrasion, etc. Most of the problems Ive seen with them falling apart was purely the owner's fault. Usually the boots will pull right off if you pull on the wire instead of the boot. Also, a common thing I see is people not securing them on the plug properly (not listening or feeling for the 'click') therefore getting random misfires or a misfire on a certain cylinder that eludes them for months. When removing them, if you pull on the wire end of the boot instead of the actual plug socket end, you risk separating the contact metal from the wire core or pulling it all out of the boot.
The reason people seem to have them not work properly after changing plugs is usually due to their own error.
MSD wires are the best Ive ever used, and Ive had the least problems with them. Some people shouldnt be allowed to work on their own $hit because they are too ignorant to realize their own mistakes.

[compta96]

That makes perfect sense, you can't believe everything you hear. My car has had that misfire ever since I got my car back from my speed shop. So either they accidently got careless or the wires were faulty to begin with.

[Fire67]

Did you check over all the connections to the spark plugs? They sometimes dont 'click' on properly and cause a wierd and hard to diagnose misfire.

[compta96]

Well I finally got everything done. It turns out that idleing problem was the IAC and the missfire problem were the wires. The new set of Taylor wires ae working great and they were alot easier to put on since they have a shorter boot.
The car now idles great and has a smooth acceleration again. Although the A/C is not locking up I do want to replace it before it does. It already leaks from the o-rings and the clutch is a little hard to turn by hand, but the pully freewheels nicely when the belt is off.
The only problem that I have now, is a result of me overfilling my engine oil by a quart. If you remember I was talking about how the motor blew the oil out of the lower part of the dipstick when I was racing a couple of weekends ago. Well the oil is still coming out from the dip stick. I guess I blew out that gasket/o-ring that seals it. Does anyone know how to fix this? I dropped my starter and exhaust and it seemed easily accessible, but I wanted to ask before I start pulling things out.

[Fire67]

Yeah, unbolt it from the block and pull it out (it sits 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 into the block)... Then clean and coat the portion that goes into the block with a good sealer like Ultra black RTV or Permatex Form-a-gasket.

The form-a-gasket (black gooey stuff) would probably last longer.

[compta96]

I checked the dipstick again and it turns out that the 2 spot welds that attach it to the support bracket, are broken. So the oil is coming out of the 2 holes. I orderd a new one and it will be installed today.
Thanks for all the help.