New Car, Compression and Oil Burning Questions

[dirty32]

I am looking at a Talon that is for sale locally. The car has 140k miles on it but mechanically is very solid.

I ran a compression test today and was very pleased to find that the engine was at 160psi across the board.

Clutch and transmission are both newer and have no grinds.

The car exhaust has some burnt oil in it. Most noticeably on start up.
When taking off the spark plug wire cover, the galley on top of the valve cover had a small pool of oil in it as well.

Since it is the original turbo on the car, my next step would be to check to see if it is burning oil.

Is the easiest way to do this to take off the lower charge piping and check for oil lining the walls? To take off the intake and check the turbo for excessive shaft play?

Another potential issue would be valve stem seals?

Any advice on this issue would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[DSMN]

the valve covers are known for cracking inside the plug well, so that may be were some oil is coming from. For the turbo just take off the intake tube to the turbo and put your fingers in there and check to see if the shaft moves in and out or side to side. If there is excessive play then i would recommend some upgrade. hope the info helps

 

[eeeewidner]

To find out if valve seals are leaking, remove the exhaust manifold and usually you will find the exhaust ports wet. Matco makes a tool for $89 to change the seals out without pulling the head off.

 

[eeeewidner]

The car exhaust has some burnt oil in it. Most noticeably on start up.
When taking off the spark plug wire cover, the galley on top of the valve cover had a small pool of oil in it as well.

Since it is the original turbo on the car, my next step would be to check to see if it is burning oil.

Is the easiest way to do this to take off the lower charge piping and check for oil lining the walls? To take off the intake and check the turbo for excessive shaft play?

Another potential issue would be valve stem seals?

If you are getting oil sucked into your intake tube from the valve cover hose then that still wouldn't tell you if your turbo is leaking oil. Yes by checking for shaft play that can tell the condition of the turbo, some side to side is ok as long as its not excessive. In and out play isn't good and the turbo should be replaced or rebuilt.

 

[SrKegler]

+1 to all the above. Being a 1G, the 14B turbo isn't that expensive if it needs replaced. $100-$150. I would be more worried about the timing belt. When was the last time it was replaced.

When I look at buying a car I list:

Price of the car.
Tires?
Brakes?
Wiper blades?
Paint?
Tuneup?
Maintenance?

Add up all those items, add it to the price and then see if it's still a good deal.

 

[corsair231]

If it is mostly at start up then it is more likely valve stem seals. Especially if it stops soon after the car is running. If it is turbo seals the smoke may come and go as well but it is usually random and not just at start up.

 

[dirty32]

Thank you all for your replies. The timing belt was done 14k miles ago along with the head being rebuilt (belt snapped) the motor was essentially rebuilt and is the reason the compression is 160 across. All the regular maintenece has been performed and it comes with new tires, brakes etc.

Burning oil worries me due to the laundry list of things that could be the culprit.

I requested for the car to be cold when I look at it again so that I can check the turbo.

 

[dirty32]

It looks like the turbo is the culprit for the burning oil.

For 1500 dollars, I think that I will be picking this up tomorrow after work.

If all goes as planned then I will have to turn this thread into a long term build thread!

Thanks everyone for the help thus far.