Motor Help PLEASE!!!!!!

[97ECliPSeDSM]

I have a 97 Eclipse GS and my motor is mixing anti-freeze and oil causing my car to throw white smoke, and the oil is leaking? Could both of these problems be caused by the head gasket ?

 

[Zack Huffman]

Yes, the headgasket is a pretty likely culprit. Check the firewall side of the engine on the driver's side. In my experience, this is the first place DSM 420a engines will show a leak from the headgasket.

It's time for compression and leakdown tests to be performed.

I noticed that your profile says you have a GST and not a GS. If you're actually having this problem with a 4G63 engine, check the POS stock sandwich oil cooler first. It's between the oil filter and OFH.

Just an FYI, if you have an oil leak dripping on or into the flex section of the downpipe on a GST, you may be getting smoke from that. The color of the smoke isn't always an indication of what's burning off either. Are you having to fill up the coolant often? Do you use synthetic engine oil?

 

[Malone]

It could be that, or most likely a cracked head or block.. Not 100% sure but that was a past experience I have seen..

 

[ReYnd]

Does it look like coolant is getting into the oil (check the underside of the oil cap for this)? If not, the oil filter housing or sandwich area mentioned above is probably what you'll want to check first after a compression test.

I have near perfect compression on a fairly new head gasket but oil is finding its way into my coolant. No coolant in the oil though. And after 400 miles I was down about two quarts of oil. The filter housing vicinity looks pretty nasty in my case, so I'm going to clean it and run the car a little to see which part is to blame. Since it's a notorious problem with the 91-94s, it's not something to be overlooked in favor of a more costly repair.

Not to thread-jack, but what is the correct terminology for the "sandwich" and the gaskets involved? Those looked particularly suspect to me, and I don't yet have a lot of experience to know exactly what parts of that assembly fail.

 

[white92talontsi]

Nvm.

 

[FLASH1970]

Do a compression test and a leak down test. Also, drain the oil to see if it's milky looking.

 

[jbl_5star]

from my experience, thats for sure the head. either being the head gasket.. look in your radiator overflow, if it looks like chocolate milk. check compression. where at is the oil leaking?? most time your gasket goes before damage is done to the head but under high heat the head will crack causing the same symptoms. i doubt the block is damaged.
have you overheated?

 

[Zack Huffman]

I'll reply to your PM here since others who are trying to help you can't see it. Anytime you have a problem or need advice, the best method to use is an open thread in the forums for everyone to read and respond to, not a PM to any single member. This way corrections can be made and people who've had similar issues can contribute what worked for them. I myself am probably not the best choice for N/T DSM info, as I've never owned anything except AWDs myself.

Since the car is indeed a GS 420a, you can ignore my comment about the sandwich oil cooler on the turbo 4G63 cars.

Since the car is consuming coolant quickly, we can assume it is either the headgasket, a crack in the water jacket, or a leaking radiator, radiator hose, heater hose, or other coolant plumbing. Now since the car is producing white smoke, we also know the coolant must be burning off. The 420a engine has an open deck design, where the water jacket passes through the deck surface of the block directly into the head without being restricted to small passages. This makes it very easy for the coolant (and sometimes oil) to leak into the cylinders and be burned.

As four of us have already stated, the next step for you is to start checking compression / cylinder sealing.

 

[97ECliPSeDSM]

I don't really know where the oil is leaking but i am constantly having to put motor oil in. and i believe the coolant is getting into the oil because when i looked under the oil cap and there is a lil brown/muddy looking substance.

 

[Zack Huffman]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-engine-fuel/338152-compression-test-vs-leak-down-test.html

 

[jbl_5star]

clean the area around where the head gasket meets the block with brakecleen(watch out for electrical connectors like your sensors.... sounds to me since you got chocolate milk instead of antifreeze then your head gasket is blown...
take out your spark plugs and put a air pressure gauge like you would a spark plug n have someone crank over your engine until the dial goes up no further..
Standard compression 192 psi for the 420a, but im sure youll notice one or more cylinders wont have any compression at all.
have you overheated?? if not buy a new head gasket.

o and pull the MPI fuse on the positive terminal of the battery. This keeps your injectors from spraying fuel during the test.


and the leak down is complete opposite instead you put air into the cylinder, to see if it holds pressure, Remove the oil dipstick, radiator cap, and oil filler cap and listen for escaping air..

just refer to the link above for a full description and the difference.

 

[97ECliPSeDSM]

thanks guys for commenting BTW, and if one or more of my cylinders don't have have any compression does that mean I will need the cylinders fixed? I know its a noob question just started learning about motor work

 

[jbl_5star]

not necessarily .. only time you need to worry bout that is if you throw a rod, or wash your cylinder walls (but being a 420a thats pretty hard to do) and once you fix the head gasket run a compression test again.. n i guarantee it will have normal compression, that is if it is the gasket. but thats what the leakdown/compression tests are for so you can troubleshoot the problem<

 

[colmer99]

Make sure you get a MLS head gasket from felpro because the 420a is known for blowing head gaskets and the MLS is stronger than the stock replacement.

 

[97ECliPSeDSM]

Well thanks once again for commenting guys, I went to the mechanic and I am just going to get a new motor for 1500 with labor and 1yr warranty because i was told that even if i fix the head its still not going to run as good and its was like 800 to fix the head might as well get the whole motor

 

[Zack Huffman]

I guess it's your money... but you won't learn anything or save any cash by paying someone else to do the labor. A used head (like this one) probably could be found for less than $250 in good condition. Resurface it, buy a couple of gaskets and a few fasteners and you're looking at less than $400 to have it running good again.

What were you told was wrong with your head? Is there irreparable damage?

 

[jbl_5star]

??? i want to know also what was wrong with the head?? did you have a cracked head

 

[97ECliPSeDSM]

Um they told me they were going to send in the head to see whats wrong with it, it could have been various things and he gave me an estimate of 800. I spoke to a couple of mechanics and they to me its better to get a new motor because if the head gets fixed it wouldn't run good or efficiently because the motor has new valves and and gasket and the rest of the motor will be old so i just decided to fix the motor. Wrong move?