2001 Chevy Prizm w/stuck oil ring problem...

[fixitmyself]

After considerable research, I am convinced that I have the notorious Chevy/Toyota oil control ring problem. Oil consumption is about a quart every 1000 miles, worse if alot of highway driving. Replacing the rings appears to fix the problem, but is expensive if the parts are even available. I have read on other boards about this site and some owners who were able to mitigate this problem with something called Auto-RX. Not a big fan of oil additives - is this stuff for real? If this can be fixed with an additive what should I be doing long term to prevent the problem? Any advice greatly and deeply appreciated.

PS - A lot of good info on this site, kudos to member posts!

 

[Merkava_4]

What's the history on this Geo Prizm?

What are the past oil change intervals since it rolled off the lot?

What's the accumulated mileage on the odometer?

 

[mechtech2]

Auto Rx is for real, and is well worth trying. But you are right, there are MANY products that do nothing or are of minimal help.
ARx most likely will attenuate your problem, or get it back to normal parameters.
If all the cylinders are the same, it is likely sticking rings.
Broken parts are another story. But it is unlikely that all the cyls have broken rings .

 

[Headnsouth]

ARX is for real. I'm currently using it my 97 Saturn with the oil burning issue. Neither MMO or Seafoam help with this problem but since I started using ARX my performance and gas mileage has increased. To early to tell how it will effect the oil issue but I'll post as soon as the info is available.

 

[fixitmyself]

The person who owned this car before me was downright fastidious regarding scheduled oil changes. Gave me his log w/ oil changes every 3-4k. Nothing mechanically wrong with the car, gets about 32-35MPG. (auto transmission with no overdrive) Starts first key turn, even in very low temps. One interesting note: If I take the oil cap off there is a very strong air flow. My other vehicles do not seem to do that - neutral pressure or very slight positive flow. Have noticed oil around the cap occasionally but not consistently. Absolutely no oil leaks on the ground, and car does not smoke at all. Have not pulled the plugs or checked compression, will probably do that over the holidays. Thanks for the replies!

 

[fixitmyself]

PS - accumulated mileage - I bought it at 62k last year, have 90k on it now (I put alot of miles on a vehicle, hence the purchase of this car). I suspect the previous owner knew about the oil problem (as much as he changed the oil, he should have noticed), probably why he sold the car. Since I purchased it, and after nearly running it empty, I have been pretty much checking the oil every other fillup.

 

[Donald]

You have nothing really to loose by trying Auto-Rx. I would order 2 or 3 containers and do two clean & rinse cycles. Follow the instructions on the container and website. Then go to maint. does of 3 oz per oil change.

Auto-Rx will most likely clean up your engine, crud around the ring pack, etc. It cannot cause problems since it works slowly.

You may find as have others that you get better mileage and better compression if indeed it does remove crud around the ring pack.

No need to use top tier oil and filters during the clean and rinse cycles. Most people use a ST filter and a 5qt container of name brand oil from Walmart.

 

[Drew99GT]

I'd consider running Valvoline Maxlife after the Auto-RX treatment; my 94 Corolla consumes a fair bit of oil, sometimes up to a quart per 1500 miles.

With the new synthetic blend Maxlife 10w-30, consumption has been almost nill. Previously, I had tried the older formula 5w-30 and it didn't help.

 

[Quest]

While I totally agree on the AutoRx part, I must tell you thou that these 1.8L 4 engines are known to burn a little bit of oil (maybe design issues), so I wouldn't loose sleep over it if the oil consumption rate has been somewhat steady so far.

I would consider replacing the PCV valve asap before starting any cleaning programs.

 

[Merkava_4]

Quote:
One interesting note: If I take the oil cap off there is a very strong air flow. My other vehicles do not seem to do that - neutral pressure or very slight positive flow.


That could very well be your problem! You're not supposed to have a suction when removing the oil fill cap if your PCV system is operating properly. All you may need to do in this case is just replace your PCV valve!

 

[mechtech2]

Strong air flow in may be a stuck PCV valve for sure, but excess flow would tend to keep the internals cleaner. It wouldn't idle right, though.

 

[kelpie]

There should be a little suction. See if it passes the "dollar bill" test. Place a bill on the oil fill and see if it either blows off or stays. If it blows off, you have some blowby. I doubt you have any broken rings. Even one broken ring will cause consumption of about 1 qt every 2-300 miles and also foul the plug on the cylinder with the broken ring. 1 qt evey 1k miles IMO isn't anything to worry about. If the auto rx doesn't work I would just keep adding oil whenever needed. Replace the PCV valve also. Check the breather filter.

 

[Merkava_4]

Quote:
See if it passes the "dollar bill" test. Place a bill on the oil fill and see if it either blows off or stays. If it blows off, you have some blowby.


That a good one! I'll have to remember that.

 

[JohnBrowning]

First replace the PCV valve. Then Remove the spark plug's and put one shot ie 1 once of B-12 Chemtool into each cylinder... Take a rachet and 19mm socket and after the b-12 has sit their a minute rotate the engine by hand the 19mm should fit the nut ont he endof the crank! Let the b-12 sit over night in the bore's... The next morning rotate the crank a few more times tomake sure their is no fluid left ontop of the pistons. Reinstall the plugs and start the car. Take for a drive. If it is a manual find a place were you can take second to redline then coast down and go to redline again then coast useing engine breaking... Go home after the vechile is upt o operateing temp and change the oil. Between replaceing the PCV and doing the piston soak the rings should be ok... I would follow up with Auto-Rx since it is going to do a deeper cleaning but will take a longer time. You normaly do not replace the rings on these they redesigned the rings but have never anyone to change them under waranty.

 

[fixitmyself]

Awesome suggestions all. More data - the air pressure at the oil filler is ~positive~ pressure, and a significant amount. I would be surprised if a flat rock would stay on it, let alone a dollar bill. Question - is there a way to figure out what redline is in my car if I don't have a tach and I have an automatic transmission? Will give the above a shot.

 

[artificialist]

I suppose to get the RPM, you would need a scantool. To know the redline, you'd have to see the version of that car with a tachometer.

 

[Donald]

And then there is the outside chance where the engine was assembled by someone on their first day of work, and he/she thought they were doing a super job by aligning all of the ring gas exactly in a row.

 

[Anduril]

Originally Posted By: fixitmyself
Awesome suggestions all. More data - the air pressure at the oil filler is ~positive~ pressure, and a significant amount. I would be surprised if a flat rock would stay on it, let alone a dollar bill. Question - is there a way to figure out what redline is in my car if I don't have a tach and I have an automatic transmission? Will give the above a shot.
It's 6250. I had the same car (although the Toyota version). It was a POS.

Blowing air out the oil filler in the manner you've described sounds like you've got massive blowby. I'd be looking for a new engine.