1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse Oil leak? Thermostat? Or Valve Seal

DAN1982

MEMBER
1998 MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
125,000 MILES

Hi. I have a problem with my Eclipse. It was burning oil before, I see some white smoke coming out of the exhaust alot at idle, and only certain times at highway speeds. But This was fine and good, I was buying a quart every month or so and now my water temp goes up at idle like crazy, It goes all the way up and it goes down at highway speeds. Recently I refilled coolant and it still goes up a little bit maybe 10% over the middle(where it normall was) but at the stop light it goes up fast. And white smoke comes on at random times. Thanks

Sunday, July 26th, 2009 AT 8:30 AM

1 Reply

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi dan1982,

You have 2 different problems and they are :
1. Oil consumption and grey smoke. The most likely cause would be worn valve stem seals and replacing them would cause a reduction of smoke and oil consumption by at least 60 %.

2. Insufficient coolant in system. Seems you have coolant losses issues and when topping up, you need to bleed the system. Recheck the coolant level in the radiator when engine is cold.
If coolant level is low, top it up, start engine without closing radiator cap. After running for a few minutes, top up coolant level when it drops and once level maintains, close radiator cap and retest.

Check if both cooling fans comes on when AC is turned ON.

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Sunday, July 26th, 2009 AT 10:05 AM