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Hi all, I have a full 5 qt. jug of Castrol GTX 5w-30 and a nearly-full jug of Delo 400 15w-40. For the sake of not wasting money/oil, I am considering mixing these for my '84 Land Cruiser. I'd use all of the Delo and then most of the GTX (I think it takes about 8 qts). I've already read on here...

Originally Posted By: eljefino I bet the junkyard owner is tickled. "Someday my ship will come in and I'm gonna sell that tercel motor..." I think you're probably right! At first he saw my out of state area code and told me he wasn't interested in shipping it because he likes to deal in...

Awesome, the advice will help a ton. I'm going to go pick it up on Saturday, so if you have any more thoughts I'd love to hear them. I'll be sure to take photos and post the process when I'm done. I'll definitely try and start it before hand - and at the very least just turn it over to make...

Thanks for the guidance everyone! I picked up the tercel for a couple hundred bucks, but the engine's pretty tired: high mileage, burning LOTS of oil. I know a new-old engine might not be that rational, but I'd really like to get my hands dirty and learn a little more and I figure this is a good...

Hi all, I've found a junkyard engine for a 1981 Tercel, and I'm wondering what I'd be getting myself into if I bought it. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but spoke with guy that owns it. He said it came out of a wrecked car, that it was running when the car was wrecked, but that it's...

Originally Posted By: TFB1 With 120 psi in #2 and a oily plug, it's badly carboned in that cylinder... Sooo either the valve stem seal is non existent or oil is getting by the rings on that cylinder... If it were oil in the intake due to blowby, all cylinders would be affected not just #2...

Okay, I did a compression test yesterday, and had, in order: 105 psi, 120, 100, and 100. Put a teaspoon of oil or so in the first cylinder and compression jumped to 120 psi. On all cylinders the compression built slowly with each crank -- usually going up by 30 psi or so per crank. The only...

Originally Posted By: TFB1 If you can see the seals, prodding with a small screwdriver or pick will give some idea of condition... If the rubber is supple then they are probably OK, but if it's as hard as the cast iron head(yeah slight exaggeration), there's a good chance new seals will help...

Originally Posted By: Donald As other have said, the engine is tired. If you have the time and skill and tools, RockAuto has a re-ring kit for $162 that includes rings, connecting rod bearings and gaskets. Spending much more than that does not make sense. If you cannot do the work yourself...

Originally Posted By: NateDN10 When the engine is warm, the oil is warm, and it flows more easily. You're probably still burning oil when the engine is cold, just not as much. Yeah, that's what I had been thinking, but the difference is pretty enormous. No visible blue smoke for a short trip...

As some of you already know, I've been trying to work on my '81 Tercel's (oil) smoking habit (212k miles). I thought I had it mostly figured out, but I've been fooled! As of now, I don't see any blue smoke on a short trip - even if I'm accelerating fairly hard. But when I drive the car thirty...

Well, I change out the old, cracked, hose for the PCV and what I think is a sort of return hose (goes from the air filter to the engine, right next to the PCV), and changed out the oil for Valvoline ML NG 10w-40, and the consumption has decreased enormously. Now I only see oil burning if the...

Originally Posted By: michaelluscher I distinctly agree on principal, But pulling the plugs and a MMO/Seafoam/B12/AutoRX/Kreen piston soak "COULD"!!! Possibly free up the Oil Control Rings. Okay. Well I think I am going to replace the valve stem seals - I kind of want the practice and the...

Originally Posted By: TFB1 Well I'm still bettin' on valve stem seals... And I still hope you're right! Took it for a slighty longer drive today. There was a puff of smoke at startup that disappeared after a bit, and then just a bit of smoke after acceleration from an idle. On my way back home...

Just realized you accounted for my observation exactly... Originally Posted By: Quest Also: first thing in the morning it puffs out blue smoke and gradually disappears when the engine warms up, that's also valve stem seal. Just took it for a short drive: there was a nice puff of smoke on...

Originally Posted By: Quest blue smoke coming out of your tail pipe when you accelerate---> oil control rings are jammed and oil seeps past compression rings; blue smoke coming out of your tail pipe when you decelerate--> that's valve stem seal. In your case: I still bet on the stuck oil...

Originally Posted By: TFB1 BTW Saying thicker oil doesn't help very much with bad valve stem seals is based on my 47 years of vehicle ownership(yes I bought my 1st car in 1966)... Possibly that's not true in your case, as something apparently made a difference when the oil was changed...

Just sent the PO an email asking for her magic potion! I went ahead and took another look at the PCV valve again and soaked it in carb cleaner. It looks pretty clean now, but the gasket is brittle and cracked, so that could be a culprit. I'll pick up a new gasket in the next couple of days...

Okay, thanks TFB1. I'll try to go ahead and replace them when I have time. In the meanwhile, should I go ahead and change the oil out for something heavier? Or is the valve stem issue simple enough that a beginner meechanic could go ahead do that instead?

So I couldn't wait until tomorrow and went and checked out the PCV tonight. I couldn't get the valve itself off (I'll try a bit more tomorrow), but the hose was tired and brittle -- it cracked around the base of the valve just from me wiggling it off. I tried looking into the PCV, but it has...