96 SL1 burning oil... Suggestions?

Year and model and mileage and maintenance schedule used?

How as the car cared for before? Did someone use the 'extended' maintance period oil changes?

Also, check your oil frequently. ;)

imho,

tom @

Monitor usage by checking the dipstick, and do it frequently. If it is low, add oil. People report that excessive oil usage is commonly caused by a gunked-up PCV valve. They're less than $3 so it would be a good idea to change it to rule that out.

Idle is controlled by the PCM and should be around 800 RPM (if I recall correctly) when the engine is warmed up. If it is not, you may have a malfunctioning idle air control valve. Refer to a Haynes or Chilton manual available for $10 at any auto parts store to know where this is on your engine.

Lane [ lane (at) evilplastic.com ]

The year and model are in the title, but it's got a little under 141,000 miles.

I've only had this car for 3 weeks, and I didn't get a maintenance record with the car. But, I got the oil changed as soon as I got it, as well as put a new radiator and thermostat in it.

Tonight I'll check the PCV and see if the IAC needs to be cleaned.

Yeah, remember the year and model was in the the subject line after I replied.

I had a 1996 SL2, oil change every 3k miles, sometimes sooner. It ran like a champ, before it was smashed at about 128+k miles. It did eat oil, about a quart per 3k miles. This is typical for saturns I've been told.

Monitor the engine's oil, and other than rebuilding it, the highly suspect oil/piston rings cannot be replaced.

Remember to use an oil with proper weight, per saturn's instructions. Like right now I have 10w30 in my 97SL2, rather than the 5w30. Meaning it might be eating less oil on me now.

Good luck, and if you want real advice, you might have to take the car to someone that can actually look it over physically.

tom

My '95 SL2 (bought it new) started burning oil last year (at about 100,000 miles). The local shop, which I trust, decided the leak was in the engine, and it needed a ring-and-valve job. That was a big deal, very labor intensive (it's one notch below an engine rebuild), and it wasn't clear it was worth sinking the money into an old car. But I did it because I figured the car was overall in good shape, so my best bet was to stick with it. This would be your worst-case scenario, because it's obviously not a thing you want to find in a car you just bought. Hopefully your oil consumption is caused by some other factor.

When you say your car started burning oil after 100k miles, am wondering how much oil it was burning? Also am wondering if you could ball park what you had to pay for your ring/valve job? Did they replace the jugs too? Am assuming you didn't do the clutch at that time cause you probably have an automatic right? I'm over 120k and am at that decision point myself. Ouch.

Jugs? are for air cooled engines. Start off with the less complex first and read the following.

Blue smoke on hard acceleration would be rings. Hard deceleration is valves. PCV valve can vary do to location.

It was burning about a quart every 1,000 miles. The car is a manual transmission; didn't do the transmission and I don't know what jugs are but I don't recall the term coming up. The total bill came to about $2000. They told me I could get the engine rebuilt for another thousand, which I might have done if I'd had higher mileage, but I guessed that it shouldn't be necessary. Then again, I'm not sure why the ring/valve job became necessary. By the book, I assume the car isn't worth much more than that, but it serves me well. If I lose it, I'll probably want a new car, so in my mind it's worth the price of a new car.

Jugs is an old slang term for pistons. Just wondered if they replaced those as well. Did they replace the clutch also while the engine was out? After this engine was repaired, is your oil levels holding as you had expected from this ring job?

Talk>

None. "Jugs" is the term for air-cooled cylinders, including the head, mainly as used on aircraft engines, where the head is essentially integral with the cylinder -- hence the term "jug."

No, the clutch wasn't replaced. The parts replaced were rod bearings and piston rings. I guess most of the job was getting into the engine and cleaning it up, burnishing the cylinders, whatever. It stopped the oil loss. Also, on the following smog check, the car passed easily; the previous check had been marginal.

Of course I'm wondering why the problem happened, but I don't think there's an answer to be had. The car didn't have high mileage (about 100,000). It was ten years old, but I thought this sort of thing was brought on more by miles than age. I've been good about the service and the oil changes, and the car gets mixed use, but nothing too stressful. The service people suggested I might switch brands of gasoline. I'd been buying Arco because it's a bit cheaper, and I assumed that all the brand names were pretty much similar. I'm almost afraid to raise the question again, because a lot of people seem to have strong opinions about which brand of gas to choose, but I haven't found any consensus. It feels more like an argument over a sports team, and I don't know what to make of it.

Well, I replaced the PCV, and now it's worse!!

It's not blue smoke like I thought, but rather white smoke.

It smokes ALL THE TIME now. It doesn't matter if I just start it and let it idle, rev it, put it in gear, or anything.

Thoughts?

This vehicle is ESSENTIAL to get me to and from work so the quicker I can figure this out the better!!!

If it's a head gasket, is it something I can do, or is it best to take it in?

White smoke is a bad sign. Since I've had this twice, and upon checking my oil, I had valve gasket leak. Was this car ever overheated?

later,

tom @

No. It runs warm alot, but never overheats.

It's in the shop now, they'll tell me what's going on.

I'm thinking head gasket.

So how did it turn out?