Not another oil burning thread !

[Triffid]

I'm sure you are all sick of hearing about oil burning but I just want to see about my case. I have a 1997 Saturn SL2 with about 88K on it. I currently have to put a quart of oil in it every 800 - 900 miles. Furthermore, my gas pedal is a bit sticky and I have heard that the problems could be related. I get about 31 mpg on the highway, which i also heard is a bit low for my car.

I took the car to a local mechanic who looked at it for an afternoon. He came back and said I would be best off replacing the entire engine and that he could do it for about $2000 parts and labor.

I guess my question is two fold ...1) Is that is really my best option and 2) will that fix all the problems I mentioned before?

Thanks in advance for your help

[Chris101]

Are you sure that you are only burning oil? Is the valve cover gasket leaking?

[Triffid]

Well... I don't know. Is there a way I can easily check. I am pretty new to this stuff so please explain. Thanks for your help

[sierrap615]

i take it you are not much of a DIYer?

you many be in luck, are you anywhere near dupage county? i have some cleaning procedures i can do for you that may help. cost: $20, maybe $30 and about 12 hours. cheaper then a rebuild. if you are not in the dupage area, or you are more of a DIYer, read these two how-tos, they are basicly the same, but with a few minor tweaks. you may be able to convince your mechantic or your saturn dealership to do the first one, since it is a TSB(saturn approved procedure)

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/sho...hreadid=38790&

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/sho...hreadid=23676&

also be sure the PCV valve is from the saturn dealership, anything other then the OEM peice can also cause oil loss.

[Triffid]

Well... I would have to disagree with about not being a DIYer considering I build my own speakers, cabinets, analog guitar pedals, computers and pretty much anything else I can do myself thats cost effective. I will agree that up to this point I havn't been an automotive DIYer, but that is what I am trying to change.

I have been frequenting saturnfans as well, so I did see those procedures you posted. I do know what a valve cover gasket is, but I can not visibly see any leaking coming out... so I didn't know if there was a more exact way to tell other than visually.

Thanks for your help

[sierrap615]

yes' i'm talking about wolfman's MMO soak, Lucas1's Internal engine cleaning, and cleaning the throttle body with carb cleaner, and maybe a steam clean too.

pull the sparkplug wires out of the valve cover and look in the holes, if the spark plugs are going for a swim in oil, then the valve cover gasket is bad.

[Triffid]

Thanks man... I cleaned the throttle body with carb cleaner yesterday and poof... no more sticky gas pedal... awesome. I found the ects at auto zone yesterday so I am going to change that today too. I will do the MMO soak tonight... can't wait

thanks again

[sierrap615]

Originally Posted by Triffid

I found the ects at auto zone yesterday

don't do that, in time you will have the same problem again, you should replace it with the OEM brass tipped sensor from a saturn dealership.

[Triffid]

Originally Posted by sierrap615

don't do that, in time you will have the same problem again, you should replace it with the OEM brass tipped sensor from a saturn dealership.

oops, already did it. Think I should replace it again right away or wait? How will i know when it goes bad?
Thanks

[sierrap615]

you can leave it in there for now, expect to change it again sometime in the future, maybe 6 months maybe 5 years. a bad ECT will cause almost any problem you can think of. overheating, overcooling, power lose, poor fuel economy, hard starting, high idle, ect...