WonderV-76

Today I have the 2nd instance of my car suddenly not accelerating on the highway (frigging hot and running AC) but this time I was able to get it off the road before is stalled. As with the first time, I waited a bit, let it cool down, and it was able to leave and drive again under its own power. The check engine light came on right as it was all going down, and the temp gauge was showing normal.

Here is what I noticed from todays instance, since I was not the one who looked under the hood the first time. I saw a lot of oil around the engine near the valve cover and it was pretty much all over underneath as well. I recall smelling something burning the first time, but my friend who WAS under the car didn't notice, and I smelled it this time as well. The first time we did have the parts house put it on a computer but the results were so random and all over the place, it was not helpful at all.

In general I have also been hearing some ticking in while driving and noticed it isn't accelerating as well.

So, while it is obvious that I need to replace the valve cover gasket, would that cause enough oil pressure loss to make it stall and tick, or do I need to keep looking?

drhawkinz

I would think it'd be hard to miss the smell of burning oil. I know you said the CEL comes on, does the oil light come on at all? How much oil was left on the dip stick when you pulled over?

I'd clean up under the hood and wipe up/clean up the oil that you can see. Then check it in a few days and see if you notice the oil leak. I would think if it was leaking enough to spray from the valve cover then you'd also have some puddles under the car.

How many miles are on the car and when was the last time you changed your plugs? My haynes manual says the following reasons could cause engine stalls:
1) Fuel filter clogged and/or water impurities in the fuel system.
2) Faulty emissions systems components
3) Faulty or incorrectly gapped spark plugs
4) Vacuum leak in the fuel injection system
5) Valve clearance incorrectly set.

I think the best bet is to take it to autozone or somewhere have the CEL light codes read. Then that'll help point you in a better direction.

WonderV-76

I checked the oil and it was full, so not losing a ton of oil. As I said, I did notice a burning oil smell, and had occasionally, but not to a huge degree as I had from a previous car that had a leaking valve cover gasket. No, the oil light never came on, just the CEL at the time it was failing.

I will take your advice to clean up the oil that is heaviest around the valve cover and keep an eye on it. As for the codes, as I said, we did have the codes read and they were everywhere from replacing the computer, power sensors, some sensor or part the parts guy couldn't even identify...it was ugly. However I do need to get the CEL cleared, so I take it and have them run again.

ezone

So the leakage is relatively minor.
And the code is?
You need to obtain the actual fault code(s), not a shopping list of parts they are trying to sell you.

Get the freeze frame data too, if possible. The cheapest of the cheapo code readers omit this important data.

Erase the code(s), then see what comes back and how quickly it comes back.






LOL
I can add about a hundred more things to that list, and still not hit every possible cause.