1997 Other Saturn Models Oil bur

JIMMY THE NOOB

MEMBER
1997 SATURN
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
180,000 MILES

I bought my first used car.

97 Saturn SC1
180000 miles. Every thing is original.
The car runs fine. But Ive noticed I need to add a quart of oil every 500 miles. Sometimes it will smoke when I accelerate from a stop. But that is rare.

Any ideas?

I'm assuming it's the oil rings but as a social worker I'm guessing.

Is there a cheap form of preventative maintenance I can do before I'm rebuilding?

5 Replies

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

There is not a lot that you can do, no amount of magic fix in a can will help, the motor is in need of some serious attention.

Mark (mhpautos)

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Saturday, August 9th, 2008 AT 6:19 AM

JIMMY THE NOOB

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Hi Mark
Thanxs for your interest.
I was thinking about trying to do the heads myself.
I've always wanted to try auto mechanics but I haven't had the chance till now.
It would be my first try do you think it could be done by an armature or does it get very technical.
I live in Canada and we have a store here that prints up good.
Errr
umm
. Schematic books. Lots of pictures of all the parts and how things are assembled.
Jim

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Saturday, August 9th, 2008 AT 2:56 PM

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

What you need to do first is a leak down test, this will give you an idea as to how much compression is by-passing the rings, this is a cause of oil consumption, if this is bad, actually doing the head up will only increase the oil consumption. Get this test done first.

Mark (mhpautos)

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Saturday, August 9th, 2008 AT 6:45 PM

JIMMY THE NOOB

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Thank you
that advice will be taken. After looking up what a "leak down test" is I think I will try and do the compression test myself and then follow up with a mechanic to see if I got it right.
I would attempt the oil ring change myself but I'm afraid of trying to redo timing.
Are my fears justified?

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Monday, August 11th, 2008 AT 6:29 AM

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

If you want to do a partial rebuild. I would get a work shop manual first and have a good read of what is involved, and if you decide to do the job, you will have all the info with pics and step by step guide, just make sure that you have, or have access to all the tooling you need first.

Mark (mhpautos)