97 Lantra.. oil usage, and question about remaining life

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- Chris
  
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posted
18 years ago

Mon, Aug 8, 2005 11:40 AM

Hi Hyundai experts,

I'm hoping for some solid advice here on where to proceed with my 97 Lantra.

In short at the moment its going through a fair bit of oil. I can tell because it develops a light ticking sound. I check the oil, and its very low. Fill her up, and sound is gone. I don't mind refilling the oil every couple of months (its cheap compared to petrol) - but I want to know if its normal or not. The car doesn't leak any oil, and doesn't appear to visibly burn any, so should I be concerned?

The other question is what sort of effective life could be expected for a car of this 'vintage' ? Its currently got about 150,000 on the clock, and aside from the oil problem above, and a slightly funny oxygen sensor, it runs just fine. Great fuel economy, has a few shakes and rattles in it (as does just about any car from 1997 these days) and the little thingers that stop the doors over-opening / hold them open have rusted out on the driver side. I'm in no hurry to get rid of it, unless its very soon going to die a horrid death. If anyone has some advice on how long I might get out of her, it'd be good to hear.

I'm going to line up a fairly major service shortly, with the mandate to make it good as new, and hopefully this will add a couple of years to the useful life of this otherwise fine performer!

Hope to hear from some soon.

Chris

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- hyundaitech
  
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posted
18 years ago

Mon, Aug 8, 2005 9:47 PM

Since you're calling it a Lantra, I'm going to presume you're not in the U.S. and 150,000 represents km.

Presuming you drive about 5000 km a month, two quarts of oil in that time period is considered normal by the manufacturer. I think it's a little much.

How do you know it's not leaking oil? Not seeing anything under the car is not sufficient. I'd expect to see some oil leakage from the valve cover gasket and cam and crank seals on this car.

If it's indeed not leaking oil, then you need to be very concerned about where the oil is going and why. If it's blowing by the piston rings, you could be looking at a major repair in the very near future.

You have a 1997 vehicle with 150,000km. Consider the value of the vehicle before spending too much money on it, especially to "like new" condition. This vehicle would be worth very little money in the U.S., even in perfect condition.

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- Chris
  
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posted
18 years ago

Wed, Aug 10, 2005 7:13 AM

Thanks HyundaTech- you're right, its an Australian vehicle.

I'd just as happily trade it in and get rid of it- the problem being, its under finance, and the amount I'd get on a trade won't come near paying it off.

I've got it booked in for a service on Monday, and I'm going to get them to have a good look through the engine and see if there's anything to be concerned about. Its been running fine for a long time, with no indication that anything is severely wrong with it. Hopefully it'll last another couple of years so I can pay it off, and start again.

Such is life in buying motor vehicles. You drive it off the lot, and it loses a few grand... give it twelve months and you almost have to pay someone to take it away from you.