Losing 1 QT of oil per tankful...need some thoughst on what to look at.

[PaulN]

Hi everyone. I just bought a 1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD a week ago. Great car..runs really good, original everything, very nice interior, 0 rust anywhere. I bought it from a friend of my brother who owned it for a year after buying it from his parents who were the original owners.

A little background, as I know it:

It has 151,000 miles on it, completely stock, never modified. 3 months ago the timing belt broke ruining the head. He (the person I bought it from) had the head pulled and rebuilt and put back on. Everything up top is new. The problem I am having is it's going through about 1 qt of oil every tank full. My gas mileage is at 26 miles per gallon. I've been watching it and have noticed it really smokes a grayish smoke when I accelerate under boost. If I ease into it it doesn't, that I can see. If I rev at a stop in neutral it doesn't smoke. My Dad and brother said a car will always smoke if the rings are bad and they think it's the turbo going bad. The guy I bought the car from was also told it's most likely the Turbo causing the oil consumption and smoking under hard acceleration.

My brother is coming up on Saturday and we're going to run a compression test however I have read that a compression test may show good compression but the "oil rings" may still be bad allowing oil into the combustion chamber. Is there anyway to test for that? We will also pull the intake pipe off the front of the turbo to check for play. Also, I am planning to pull the pipe to the intake itself and see if there is oil in there.


Is there anything else I can check to see why my car is burning this much oil? Would a leakdown test be beneficial with the head being new?

Thanks all!

 

[twitch1447]

Here is a link to a bunch of post about white smoke and burning oil. Usually if it happens when accelerating then it is rings. It could also be passing the seals. Could throw some stop leak in, works good. but i hope these posts help out a bit. Sounds like you know what you are doing.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/search.php?searchid=1313577



http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/search.php?searchid=1313599

 

[92GSXBaltimore]

pull your intake snorkel and check your turbo for shaft play, it shouldnt really move. If it does, then its your turbo. I would also do a compression test just to make sure it isnt something more major(ie:burnt valve or piston rings). If your compression is good and it isnt your turbo, then it is most deff your valve shaft seals, but since you said it doesnt smoke at idle it doesnt sound like that is your problem.

 

[PaulN]

Here is a link to a bunch of post about white smoke and burning oil. Usually if it happens when accelerating then it is rings. It could also be passing the seals. Could throw some stop leak in, works good. but i hope these posts help out a bit. Sounds like you know what you are doing.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/sea...earchid=1313577



http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/sea...earchid=1313599

Thanks for the reply! I just wanted to point out it's grey smoke not white.

I have been scouring these forums and others (www.turbobuick.com , Turbo Fords, etc.) reading everything I can about smoking issues on turbo engines. There's so many possibilities it seems. I just read you can check for oil ring problems by coasting down a long hill in gear and then floor it when at the bottom and if it bellows smoke its probably the oil rings. Uggh..what did I get into?

Anyhow, I am just trying to make sure I am not missing something and have my ducks in a row so to speak for when my brother comes up with the compression tester. But again, thanks for the reply and help!!!!

 

[PaulN]

Just a quick update. I last topped off oil in the car Wednesday morning when I filled up with gas. I drive 43 miles one way to work and back everyday for a combined 86 miles a day.

Since it seemed to be using so much oil when I drive it a little hard I have been especially careful not to let the turbo kick in so much to see what happens. As of this morning I checked it before leaving and I may have lost a 1/4 of a quart of oil if that at 200 miles on the tank of gas.

I know nothing is definate, but it seems my driving habits have an affect on my oil consumption which seems to me to point to the Turbo. Tomorrow I'll have a better feel for where the problem lies and will update my findings.

 

[PaulN]

My brother came up today and we tested the compression across all 4 cylinders. From left to right standing at the front of the car we foudn the following:

Cylinder #1 155

Cylinder #2 155

Cylinder #3 150

Cylinder #4 155

These are all give and take as the compression tester went in increments of 5 so it could be slightly off. I figure that with factory at 164 I'm not doing to bad on the rings with 151,000 miles. Thoughts on this?

We'll be pulling the pipes off the turbo and checking that out at some point since the head was just rebuilt and I really don't think it's the heads causing the oil consumption. It looks more and more like a really tired turbo.

While we were in there we did find a nasty surprise in swolen spark plug wires, 3 champion plugs and 1 motorcraft plug All were light brown in color with not much in the way of wet oil. They were black around the thread edge where the spark is actually at. Not sure what that means. Anyhow, I ran all all over town and got NGK plugs as recommended in the VFAQ compression check guide and some new wires. I gotta say that the new plugs and wires made a huge difference in how the car ran. WOW. Completely different car....but it still smokes like a train when I get on it.


Are there any other things that can cause this engine to consume oil?

Thanks!

 

[92GSXBaltimore]

since your compression is great, and your head is fresh, then I would put money on it being your turbo

 

[StandBackImaPro]

We'll Since you said you don't have this problem when your idling, Its The turbo, Check the up and down, and the side to side play on the turbine.

You shouldn't have really any play. Try doing a leak down test and a boost leak test. If you have play this means your seals are bad and its leaking oil into the exhaust causing the smoke.