Do we need an engine or is something else is wrong?
Asked by gwj1043 Mar 09, 2013 at 04:01 PM about the 1998 Saturn S-Series 4 Dr SL2 Sedan
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
This car burns a lot of oil, the spark plug area is being filled with oil and prevents the car from
starting, so we will have the spark plugs changed and the flooded area cleaned. While the car is
warming up it sometimes has black crud coming from the tail pipe along with white smoke. It has
over 120,000 miles and the engine light stays on. Other than that it runs great!
5 Answers
migration_judge_roy answered 11 years ago
Do a compression test. Check for variations in compression between the cylinders, perhaps you've busted an oil ring on one or more of the pistons.
You don't need a engine. You need a new gasket on the cam cover. Get that solved and get the codes read to find out what's is going on with that check engine light. It will clear up that exhaust which is black from the rich fuel mixture. -- That engine should be able to go 200,000+ miles if you change the oil and take care of it. It's a lot cheaper to care for what you have than paying $2000 for another used engine.
sounds like something else,worth repairing like valve cover gaskets for the oil in holes and ck. for crud under cover causing oil fill up around exaust valve stems, simple fix and go another 100
The valve cover is leaking into the spark plug holes, needs a gasket. Check the coolant level to see if it's low. If not, the "white smoke" youre seeing is nothing. And as far as the oil burning goes, that's the curse of the S-series. The oil control rings are gummed up, and there's not cost effective way to fix that issue. So replace the gasket, and keep topping the oil off every so often.
