Misfire Codes, White smoke and whirring sound

[jrehm]

My wife's '99 Prism started running like crap today and she ended up having it towed home. The codes it was setting was for random misfires in cylinder 2 and 3. It was also making a loud whirring sound that would come and go. Other thing it would do is billow white smoke out of the exhaust. Mileage is 145k.

Now, keeping in mind my wife is terrible at checking oil and making sure the oil gets changed regularly. I normally do it, but if I don't have time, which is often, I'll tell her to take it in and have it done. Yea, right... Anyway, the lifters have become noisy and it burns some oil, but not visibly.

I changed the plugs (they were pretty rough) and the plug wires. Didn't completely fix the problem (was setting misfire code for 2 only this time), so I swapped coil packs (2 and 3 are on the same pack) to see if it would set codes for 1 and 4. No go. Still a problem with 2. There is no coolant in the oil and no signs of coolant in the cylinders. I have not done a compression check yet. Has plenty of fire at the plug.

This leads me to wonder about something. Could it possibly be that the misfires may be caused by a stuck lifter(s) that is keeping a valve(s) open and the occasional whirring could be the cam lobe just slightly making contact since the lifter isn't fully returning 'home'?

[jrehm]

Turned out to be a burnt #2 piston. Ended up rebuilding the motor.

[highlandlake]

Originally Posted by jrehm

Turned out to be a burnt #2 piston. Ended up rebuilding the motor.

Did you hear the root cause of the burnt piston? How much total $ if you wouldn't mind to share?
Running OK again?

[jrehm]

Not sure the reason for the burnt piston, but all told it was $3700 for the rebuild. I took it to the dealer because I don't have the time to deal with it. But, looking back on it I would have done it myself. The dealer, while seemingly ok, botched a bunch of things that I had to fight them to fix.

I will offer some advice though. This car has a history of the engine not turning over. From the day it was new, it had problems and the dealer was unable to find the problem. Finally, it has given up the ghost. The starter is going south.

Seems to be a few things, but primarily when you turn the key the solenoid will click, but no starter action. Do this three or four times and it will eventually start. I thought it may be a bad ground for a while, but have since come to believe it is the starter... only because it's a bitch to change and now and then the bendix fails to retract. This, by the way, was the whirring sound we kept hearing that would eventually go away.

[jrehm]

Forgot the advice I was going to give...

If you already have the intake manifold off on a '99 Prizim (maybe other late models with the starter in front of the engine), check the starter and replace while the intake manifold is off if necessary. Changing this thing once the manifold is back on is a PITA.