Humor!
My 92 Elantra, a Mitsu, had the up and down idle problem early on, and eventually a part called an idle control motor fixed it.
But until that point, I horsed around with the idle-speed, and disconnected (one-by-one) various and sundry emissions hoses around the throttle looking for any component that ran off of vacuum that had an effect. I did find one connection under there that caused the up-and-down idling to stop, and that put the engine into a fast-idle when warmed up. I then corrected that with the idle-control screw. In the winter I turned the idle down a little, and summer, I cranked the idle up a little to allow for the air conditioning. Eventually, the dealer (at timing-belt change time) suggested I fix it with the idle-motor for $200 with labor about 2 years into a nine-year stint with the car. Naturally, I found an auto-reclaimation-recycling firm that had it a month after I fixed it for about 50.00, but there IS a fix for it.
What engine are you guys contending with on that thing? Mine was a 1.6 4 cylinder DOHC, it was used throughout the entire Dodge Colt lineup, and was installed in millions of Hyundais and unknown (to me) Mitsu models domestically imported and overseas for many, many years. It was a great runner that engine, but the car was beginning to fall apart in other ways after almost 1/2 million miles of loyal service.
Larry, I wasn't bustin chops at the top, just kidding, BTW. I know the dilema of balancing what's a worthwhile repair and what's worth chucking the car over. Mine finally went over the top. Have you consulted with anyone over whether auto RX might help out with the oil consumption? Folks have had good luck with tht stuff in all kinda of ways from what I've read. In the interim, maybe a heavy-weight Dino would help with the consumption. Folks seem to like the 15W-40 Rotella and DELO.
Good luck with it.
