Burning Oil.... and Alternator Replacing

[Twisted_Reasoning]

I have a 94 stealth r/t. It has about 65,000 miles on it, but i have to add btw 1 and 2 quarts of oil btw oil changes (3,000 miles). It doesn't smoke from the exhaust, but it does from the oil filler cap (white smoke). Someone said that my PCV valve might be stuck, but that wasn't it. I'm thinking piston rings? Get a compression test?

Any comments/ideas/help would be appriciated. Thanks

P.S. Oh and since i don't think i have the experiance to rip apart my engine, anyone have an idea of the cost of rebuilding this?

PPS Anyone have any tips on changing my alternator (Is there anyplace I can find a High Output Alt.)- anything that would help me out B4 i start this PITA.

[Igovert500]

If you check out www.stealth316.com you can probably find directions for swapping an alternator under the 'garage' section. If not, let us know, and we'll help you along.

As far as the oil...compression test would be good, but finding the leak would be better. Have you looked under hte car while it is running? If it were hte piston rings, chances are you would be blowing out blue smoke from your exhaust under hard acceleration. If it were your valve stem seals...it would probably smoke from teh exhaust at start up.

How many miles do you have on it? And when you say it smokes from teh oil cap...do you mean while it is closed, or if you open it smokes comes out?

[Twisted_Reasoning]

It drips a very very small amount when it is running, actually drips a little bit more when its off, but nothing even close to losing a quart every two weeks. If I had to guess, I would say that most of it is burning off, because when I take the off the oil cap when the engine is hot, smoke comes out. Smoke is nowhere to be found when the cap is on. The car has 65,000 miles on it. One thing that worries me is that when i hit 3,000 RPMs I hear something weird- kind of like a chattering. When i'm accelerating through 3,000 i hear nothing but when I'm at constant RPMs anywhere above it I hear the same noise. The only thing i could think of was a hole somewhere in teh exhaust, before the downpipe. but it really doesn't sound like an exhaust leak, It sounds more .....mechanical i guess? Don't know if that makes any sense. Oh and when I checked the PCV valve there was a little oil on it- is that normal?
Sorry to be so long winded, just want to see if this is anything I can diagnose and at least try to fix.

[Igovert500]

Well when my oil cooler was leaking, I noticed it jsut dripping, and thought it was a tiny leak. But I ended up losing a quart or 2 in a week. So that maybe your problem.

As far as the smoke from the oil cap. When I remove mine after driving, sometimes I will get a few small wisps of smoke/steam when the engine is hot. I don't think that is abnormal. The chattering, really can't help with that until you can further pinpoint the source.

Also with the oil drip...see if you can get under the car with a flashlight and figure out where exactly this drip is originating from...an oil line, oil filter housing, oil cooler, block, etc.

I would seriously check out the section near the bottom of the FAQ, where I did the write-up on my oil cooler leak. You have about the same mileage as me, and you live in NY (salt damage caused mine), so it could be your problem.