OK, so here it is... ive got a 98 Rodeo, yesterday the Check Engine light came on. this morning it started running a bit rough and there was a smell coming from the exhust. the CE light has come on once before but after an oil change it went away so i figured it was related. but that was last year. (maybe i should mention im not nearly as savy with cars as i am with computers) :) ok, now lets back up. this car has a serious oil consumption problem. im talking like 1-2 quarts every time i fill it up. and im only getting ~270 miles/18g. is that average? so i've tried to remedy that with after market products. first RESTORE. but that didn't help atleast not that i could notice. maybe a month later while buying more oil i noticed LUCAS OIL STABALIZER and it claims that with solve oil consumption and stop engine breakdown. and that has seemed to work. atleast really slow the rate of consumption. i put a whole bottle in a few weeks ago and have only needed to at 2 quarts of oil sense. im wondering if maybe that LUCAS product is causeing something to clog. or maybe the whole reason i have an oil consumption problem in the first place is because something is clogged. and now lets mention the last problem which probably was cuz due to the fact that i didn't notice the oil consumption problem when i bought it and the oil was way too low. but i have an engine ticking noise. you don't really hear it at idle but you can really hear it when the car gets to certain RPMs or like a constant speed up a hill or if i just put it in neutral and get it to like 2k rpms. its like metal pinging metal. i had a somewhat knowledgable friend listen to it and he said, "This thing has solid lifters, i think your lifters need adjusted." does it? i didn't even know what a lifter was but he told me that, and now i forget lol... but do you think that might have something to do with any of these problems? let me rephrase them...
1 - engine noise, possibly lifters 2 - excessive oil consumtion, that has been slowed thanks to LUCAS 3 - (as of this morning) rough engine with irregular exhaust smellalso i know there is some blowby.
maybe that will help.
i need some real help, please... i need my car to deliver my news papers. luckily i have a 89 Corrolla with a engine fan problem, but thats for another NG.
Thanks in advance.
Ethan