Saturn loosing oil?

This is why you should check your oil level once in a while. If you run the engine with not enough oil you can cause damage. The damage usually of the form of galling or scoring of any or all moving parts that require lubrication. The oil you are losing is likely being burned and at 300 miles per quart it can burn it fairly efficiently considering the catalytic converter handles what the engine can't. The good news is this will probably never happen to you ever again since you now are getting used to checking the oil so often.

-jim

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Have you overheated it? You should watch out the back when someone starts it first thing in the morning. If you get a puff of blue, the valve seals are cooked.

Next would be a compression check, wet and dry to see if the rings have failed.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos:

There were oil-burning problems with early SL1's. I think there were valve seal issues. And timing chain lubrication issues too. Google the Saturn newsgroup.

--Vic

I have never had it over heat when the oil light finally flashed for a couple of seconds. Is it possible that even though the dip stick showed empty there was still some oil in the engine, that is why it did not overheat?

forgot to mention its a 2002 saturn with 60,000 miles.

The dipstick only samples the topmost quart or two of oil, so yes, you ran it alarmingly low but quite probably not dry. (How much dod you have to put in to bring it back to normal, and what is the total capacity?) Running it dry would have caused increasingly horrid noises followed by (if one is so poorly attuned to the needs and behavior of machinery as to ignore the noises for long) a smoldering hole in the side of it.

Oil performs a bit of cooling but most of that is done by the water/ antifreeze mix, which the water pump circulates through internal passages in the engine and through the radiator, in a mildly pressurized system. In other words, it's a separate issue, though as others have mentioned, overheating the engine can cause minor damage that results in oil burning (and, potentially, major damage in other ways).

If you want to chase this down, a trustworthy mechanic can perform a "wet/dry plus bleed-down" compression test to tell you the health of oil-related hard parts of the engine. This can also diagnose some head and head-gasket problems that result from overheated engines. A pressure test of the cooling system can also be performed if you think it may have overheated.

Or, if it's driveable, passes smog, and doesn't make scary noises, you can just check the oil more often and continue driving. (A particularly scary early symptom is a rhythmic thump from the engine, in time with flashing of the oil light, when idling.) Heaven knows I've had cars a lot worse than burning a quart every 600 miles, and used to consider a quart every 1000 unremarkable in an otherwise healthy engine, though smaller and better-engineered engines, perhaps built to a higher standard, have spoiled us.

Note that the acceptable fill level is a *range*, shown on the dipstick, usually by crosshatching. The reading should be taken under consistent conditions -- e.g., when the engine is full warm (or full cold after sitting) and the car is on a reasonably level surface and the engine has been off for several minutes to let the oil drain back down. Too much oil can be damaging too.

Cheers,

--Joe

--Joe

Thanks Joe.

P.s maybe this is related, but this last winter I started having a problem on the freeway, often the car has no power. It takes a long timer to reach 60 miles per hour. I still have this problem, some days not as bad as others.

Time for a compression test. Auto parts stores sell compression testers pretty cheap and the test is easy to do.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos:

so if it fails the compression test, what does that mean. Is it an expensive job?

Yes. Pretty much any way you look at it.

If the compression is fine and you just have a valve seal issue like someone mentioned Saturns were bad for, that can be done without tearing the engine apart. Really watch the exhaust from outside on the first start in the morning, if you have a blue puff, you have seal issues.

If it is bad rings, you need an engine rebuild, if it is just a blown headgasket sometimes shown by two cylinders side by side with low or no compression, that isn't too expensive, well up to $600.00 I have seen quoted for some so.... If it is a burned valve, it can get more expensive.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos:

If the compression test is bad, it means your problem is inside the engine. If it's good, it means your problem is outside.

In general, opening the engine up will be expensive. How expensive? That depends on how bad a problem you have, but a ring job is no fun and even changing a head gasket is a pain.

You could have valve guide seal problems, or a crankcase ventilation system problem, or all kinds of stuff. But check the compression before spending any money looking at other problems.

--scott

Well summarized..

A cheap ring job may also be money wasted. Price of any work depends upon policies of the shop, on the seriousness of the problem, and on the quality of the work done.

A dealership shop is not a guarantee of quality, and prices may be high. The OP should really research shops, get estimates, and discuss second opinions.

Oil performs at least three, or four jobs.Lubricating, carrying away heat, and dirt/crud to the oil filter.I forget what the forth job is.Oil carries away more heat than you may think it does.

Like someone else said, it could be your Saturn car needs a ring job or new valve seat(s).First, get a compression check done. cuhulin