High mileage, burning oil, but love car! Help!

Engine rebuild, perhaps? At 200k miles, it's not worth trying to figure out where the majority of the consumption is coming from, and you might as well just swap the whole thing out.

--scott

i was afraid you'd say that. very expensive, huh? if i decide to do that, how would i find a shop to do this, i wouldnt want to take it to the mazda dealer for this, right? and, is there any way to 'test' the transmission, because with my luck, i'll fix the engine (also has a power steering leak, would engine rebuild fix this too?), and the tranny would go out. problems!

also, i was reading one of the posts, to have the compression checked to find out if the seals have to be replaced or something like that, or the whole engine needs to be replaced. is this something i should do ?

Rebuild the engine, if the rest of the car is in good shape. But I have to say, 199k is AWFULLY low mileage to be burning that much oil. Did it get regular oil changes, was it ever overheated? I've got 3 cars over

200k miles that don't use anything like that much oil. Of course they're not Mazdas, either :-)

yes, one owner (me) since new, oil change every 3K religiously, gets a little warm sometimes, but never overheated. it does leak a little oil, but it has done that for a long time. it has been using oil for a while, but seems to have gone up quite a bit here lately (from 1 qt every two weeks to 1, sometimes 2 qts a week.

The thing is, if you have leaky valve guide seals, you can fix them. If you have leaking bearings, you can change them. If you have bad rings, you can change them. But at 200,000 miles, you're probably close to having all of the above, and if you change one part, you're probably in line for the rest soon.

Now, I admit that I have got 480,000 miles on an engine before, but to be honest it would have been more cost-effective to have replaced the car completely at about half that, and I did it mostly just to see if I could.

--scott

Ask people in your area who they would trust. There are a lot of shops that do nothing but engine work, and that's probably where you want to go.

If you have a manual transmission, don't sweat it and just keep driving. Be sure to change the fluid according to the 'severe service' schedule in the owner's manual.

If you have an automatic transmission, get rid of the car and get one with a manual. Automatic transmissions just have too many things inside to go wrong when the mileage gets high.

--scott

First I would figure out if the engine is burning the oil or leaking the oil. If you are leaving a puddle of oil everywhere you go then have the leaks fixed. If you are leaving a blue cloud behind you then it is time for a rebuilt engine (and no, a rebuilt engine will not fix a power steering leak).

Another way to go might be to look for another of these cars with low mileage. You are going to spend a few thousand getting this one fixed up and unfortunately after spending all that money you are still going to have a well used car that is worth 1500 to 2k. Also consider that the rest of the car is well worn as well. The transmission could go soon costing you another couple of thousand, front end components are going to need attention at some point and the interior parts are going to start going at some point. Steve B.

Sounds like it broke a ring, assuming the PCV system is in good shape and it isn't needlessly sucking oil mist down the intake.

By my 93 626 as a replacement! : )

Currently has 0w30 synthetic oil in it and doesn't leak or burn a drop!

Steve wrote in news:gbudnTsvuI0yD5DbnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@texas.net:

Might it be excessive oil throwoff from worn crank bearings?

Look in the yellow pages for "engine rebuilders".

If the rings were in any kind of good shape, they could scrape the excess away. Could be both contributing to the problem.

NOTE: use advice below at your own risk! (standard disclaimer)

Hm...reminds me of the 89 S10 Blazer 4.3 V6 I used to have. Bought for almost $10K (dumb!!!), 120K miles, with leaky rings (excessive crankcase pressure) and leaky valve seals . I reconfigured PCV to pull vacuum all the time ( no valve)...it idled around 1000, but ran great to 220K until I sold it. I used 20W50 or 15W40 oil, whichever was cheapest. Yes, it did smoke a bit on startup but never failed to start!

I certainly would NOT recommend fooling with the PCV system yourself, especially if it's working....but you might consider using 15W40 oil..aka diesel oil. It's designed for diesel trucks (big semi's), is resistant to smoking and being burned up (vs 30 or 10w30), and has extra anti-wear/scuff additives. Your bearing and valve clearances are certainly much greater than when new, so the extra viscosity (thicker) won't hurt. Also, it comes in 1 gallon bottles, so it's fairly economical-especially when you find it on sale and buy several. Buy your oil filters that way too.

I like the 3K oil changes...if the oil is getting really nasty black or really thin ( diluted with gas from leaky rings) you may want to change it even a bit sooner. Got a kid in the neighborhood who's always under his car? buy the oil & filters and offer him $15-20 labor to change 'em for you if you don't already do it yourself. WAY cheaper than an engine!

Don't (really DON'T) spend your $$ on expensive upgrades or engine rebuilds. If you REALLY love the 626, save up the $$ you'd otherwise spend on repairs...drive yours till it's totally dead...could be next week or three years(?); then sell it to your local motorhead guy for salvage value and buy a new-er one that's in a bit better shape... a

98 or even a nice 2000.

According to kbb.com, a '00 626 ES with 80K and a few goodies is a $6000-7000 car if "excellent". A "good" 98 ES @ 84K is $5000.

Don't make the mistake I once did and put a $2000 engine in a $2500 car...still kicking myself for that one.

Best of Luck...Don

Don Byrer KJ5KB Radar Tech & Smilin' Commercial Pilot Guy Glider & CFI wannabe kj5kb-at-hotmail.com

"I have slipped the surly bonds of earth; now if I can just land without bending the gear..." "Watch out for those doves..."

So you pay $4 a week for oil. Compared to what it will cost to fix that worn out engine you are better off to just keep putting oil in it. There are some products like CD-Engine Restore that claim they will help with oil consumption. I would try some of them and see if they help.

There's also something I've seen from time to time. Might just be snake oil, but I've never had need to try it.

Basically, you pull the sparkplugs, drop a pellet into the cylinder and reinstall the plug. Some liquid goes into your gas tank and then you start and idle the engine for a while. Not really sure of the details.

Isn't the Maz626 basically a Ford Escort? I had my entire engine replaced locally (NYC prices) for $1500.