I have an Twin cam SL2, has it been figured out where all the oil goes? About every three weeks I need to put oil in, if I forget I will be reminded by the ticking .... ouch!! It's a few years old now, but has been like this since I bought it new from the dealer. Thanks in advance for any info.
Lorie,
You are either burning the oil or leaking it through bad gaskets/seals. To eliminate the latter as the cause, you need to inspect the underside of the engine or at the minimum look for oil stains on the garage floor/driveway where you normally park. If there are no obvious signs of leakage (and from the frequency you state there certainly should be) then you would almost have to be burning the oil through the combustion chamber. You generally can see this as light blue smoke coming out the tail pipe, especially when you accelerate under load. If you are burning the oil, then it is either:
1) through the valves (needs a valve job with new valve stem oil seals) or 2) through the rings (needs a ring job/new rings and to have the cylinder walls re-honed) or 3) both through bad rings and valves. Repair costs for this vary, but basically require either a rebuilding of the head or short block or both.Since you do not provide a mileage or maintenance history, it is hard to say much more on if this is normal wear and tear or from abuse or poor maintenance. The way to try to avoid this is to regularly change your oil following the severe maintenance schedule or even better, every 3,000 miles. I also like to use a good 10W30 oil for the summer months, but stick with the recommended 5W30 during winter since this provides a bit more protection and reduces long term wear. Good luck.
Bob
PS When you hear that ticking sound because the oil is low, you are doing damage to the engine since there is too little/no oil getting to the engine head to lubricate the valves. Keep the oil level up to the full line and get the problem fixed or you will likely be incurring major (several thousand dollars in) repairs.
My 94 SL1 gives off bluish exhaust so I'm assuming it's burning the lost oil. The most popular folk lore is that Saturn (in homage to the shortcuts they pulled in the Vega I suppose) used the cheapest material they could find for the rings so eventually all Saturns will burn oil.
I got to the point where I quit checking the dip stick, I just add a half quart every thousand miles.
ron
The ticking sound is usually the Valve rocker arm tapping against the valve stem due to air being sucked into the oil pump pickup. Air makes its way to the hydraulic valve lash adjuster (where it gets in easily and is slow to leave) making the adjuster spongy. Valve tap will eventually mushroom out the end of the valve stem. Check the oil level every few days or as needed and don't wait to hear sounds before adding oil.
Seems the twin cam engines are famous for burning oil. I have the LW300 ('01 with 63K on it). Oil consumption is not too bad but every now and then there is a very embarrassing thick blue cloud of smoke at start-up. It goes away almost immediately. Most likely a nick on one of the valve stems that when it is in the right position over a long period of time, allows some oil seepage from the head into the intake. I check the oil level once a week and wind up adding a quart every 3k miles. Like Bob said, I also use 10W30 for the summer and 5W30 in the winter. Oppie
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