Crossroads

Hi. I have posted here a few times, but I'm just so darn busy working for my college that I can never find the time to spend here. However, I am at a point where a decision needs to be made about my 93. I bought it 2 years ago with 130,000 miles on it. I did not know when I bought it that it burned oil. I drove it for 30 minutes before I bought it and nothing, I mean nothing, came out of that tail pipe but white smoke (It's Maine, cars always blow white smoke). However, when I changed the oil and drove it for a week or so, I began to notice little puffs of blue smoke every once and awhile. Well, 50,000 miles later it is still burning, up to about a quart a tank now.

But here's where it gets tricky.

I had always been convinced that it was rings, because the burning was so aggressive, and getting worse. But when I transferred to a college in Ohio I drove it there and burned next to nothing. I have driven it back and forth 6 times now and have burned a total of about 1 quart on those trips. But as soon as it idles for awhile or I drive it around town it starts to burn again.

I am trying to figure out if it is worth finding the problem and fixing it, knowing that it will either be valves of rings. Other than burning oil like this, the engine runs beatifully, and always has. It has every bit of horsepower and speed as a 2001 I drove the other day.

But it has 180,000 miles on it. Beside that, it needs a bit of floorboard work too. Is it really worth sinking 400 dollars into a valve job, or possibly a new engine if it ends up being rings? I can't decide.

Anybody know what is wrong with this thing? Would valves cause this oil burning? Why in town but not on the highway?
Is 180,000 miles too many to be thinking about engine work?

Comments would be apprechiated.

Where in Maine are you at?

Might be valve seals. Those little rubber/plastic umbrellas that fit over the valve stems to prevent oil from dripping down the valve stems into the combustion chamber. Easy install if you have access to compressed air -- you use an adapter in the spark plug hole to pressurize a cylinder. That holds the valves closed while you remove the keepers and springs, and replace the seals.

Drive it and get it warm, then park it and let it idle. If it starts smoking in a few minutes it is sucking oil by the worn valve guides. The long term fix is to do a valve job and have the valve guides sleeved, but the cheap and dirty way is to just replace the valve seals like Eagle said. Having compressed air handy makes it pretty easy, but it can be done without it by rotating the engine until the piston is at the top of the stroke for each cylinder. Air is definately easier.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I had done a compression test awhile back and had gotten good results, so I had a hard time believing it would be rings. But it burns a hell of a lot of oil. Anyway, I DO have access to compressed air, so perhaps I can try this out.

If your compression is good then you definately have valve guide problems or possibly a bad seal. The worst case scenario would be to pull the head and take it to a machine shop to have the guides replaced, but the seals might just do the trick, at least for a year or so. Good luck.