Worst oil burner on the planet???

[deepsquat]

MY wife owns a 88 Dodge Colt Vista( Total Mom Mobile) she bought and took care of it long before we met....and like many women ( sorry for that ) she didn't watch oil level or clenlyness very often .
She receantly just started using the car again ( was using my 89 Accord) on days when she drives to school , then to her sons house then to work .and finally home she has driven about 50 miles...and burnt 3/4 quart of oil!
Now the strangest thing about this is the car only smokes slightly when first started up (guides) and not much more...also no leaks...
Anyone out there able to top that ???

BTW the engine is also extremly dirty inside...I plan on using Luge control to attmpt to clean it up...will take photos to document the progress..or lack there of .

 

[moribundman]

Well, the valve stem seals blew out on my '89 Scirocco one fine day. Each time I downshifted or decellerated, I trailed a huge plume of blue smoke.

It started from one day to the other, and if I remember correctly, I needed about a quart in two days. I drove probably not more than 100 miles during that period. After I got the valve stem seals replaced, oil consumption was back to normal.

 

[Patman]

I worked with a guy many years ago who owned a Dodge Omni which burned one quart of oil every 15 miles! He topped it up at home, and then at work. He drove it like this for a whole summer, with so much smoke coming out the back I thought he was James Bond! A cop finally pulled him over and said fix it or it's off the road.

 

[Shannow]

I would have said Barry Lemesurier's XB falcon ute (was the work car for a service station I worked at for a while).

It was a 250 six, had a squillion miles, and consumed 3 litres of 20W-40 a week (don't know how many miles that was, but not many).

We threw in a dose of Nulon E-10 oil treatment (for worn engines), and it dropped to a litre per week.

That was about 17 years ago, so I've no idea what it uses now.

 

[Scott P]

Maybe it's just me, but I swear that almost every old caravan I see still running around is trailing a plume of blue smoke.

I have no idea why I notice this trend, but it is sticking out in my mind.

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Scott P:
Maybe it's just me, but I swear that almost every old caravan I see still running around is trailing a plume of blue smoke.

I have no idea why I notice this trend, but it is sticking out in my mind.

---

I agree! Old Caravans and old VWs are the worst oil burners I see on my daily commute.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Patman:
I worked with a guy many years ago who owned a Dodge Omni which burned one quart of oil every 15 miles! He topped it up at home, and then at work. He drove it like this for a whole summer, with so much smoke coming out the back I thought he was James Bond! A cop finally pulled him over and said fix it or it's off the road.

---

Another Dodge Omni story here...
Back in High School when oil seemed to be cheaper than gas, a guy had an Omni that burned a quart per day. That's 10 miles of driving only to school and back. The cloud of smoke kept any and all mosquitoes (and humans) out it's trail. The cops gave him the warning, he continued to drive it, they got him again (gee--hard to spot a car like this, eh?

) and the car was promptly taken off the road forever.

Has anyone ever seen an Omni go 100,000 miles?

 

[Brian D.]

Two worst oil burnners I have had were a 71 Chevy Chyanne(sp) Super and a 88 Chevy 1 ton.

 

[VaderSS]

My second car was a '73 Corolla with a 1.2L slant 4. I blew the trannie out of it, and when I found one in a junkyard, the owner said he'd throw in the engine for $50 more. The engine only had 35k on it, but it had sat for a LONG time.

I should have re-ringed it, because that is all it would have needed, but being young and dumb, I just bolted it in. Within 500 miles it had broken several rings and had such bad blow by, that I ran a breather hose out to the back of the car.

One day the hose got kinked and the engine suddenly got very quiet. A moment later and the valve cover gasket exploded. The car suddenly looked like a mosquito control truck as all that oil hit the exhaust manifold.

I took the next week off and rebuilt the engine, the right way. There is not much more satisfying of a feeling, then reaching in through the window, and having the engine you built yourself fire on the first tap...

 

[moribundman]

quote:

---

I agree! Old Caravans and old VWs are the worst oil burners I see on my daily commute.

---

I think that may have to do with age and poor or no maintenance. Many people use those cars because they (The cars!

) are cheap. And don't forget old VW cars were not made for unleaded gas, but needed lead for upper engine lubrication. I see so many old Beetles and VW Buses here, and I'm totally sure some of them haven't gotten an oil change in 20 years. I recently talked with a guy who drove a '60s VW Bus. He told me the "engine gets rebuilt every 100k miles or so." How many times had it been rebuilt? He said he forgot. Oh, and he said he changed the oil every leap year.

 

[Patman]

The winner (loser?) of tonight's drive home from work was a 10 year old Toyota Tercel (it looked to be around a 92, my friend's mom had one in this style). It was blowing out a constant plume of blue smoke, whether he was on the gas or just idling.

 

[YZF150]

I had a 70 Maverick once. Straight six 200. Bought it from a farmer. Until I tore it down and rebuilt it, I didn't know that it had busted rings in three cylinders. Anyway, sucker blew smoke out the top end like a battlewagon. Breather tube off of the oil cap couldn't keep up with the vapor, so I got a piece of radiator hose about a meter long and pipe clamped that on to the nipple of the breather cap. Hose hung down the side of the engine to below the level of the floorboard. I had to do something because I was eating so much oil. That fixed the problem for my own air intake, but, man, a concentrated plume there was that billowed out from underneath that car. Other drivers would change lanes so as not to be behind me. Ran it that way for a couple of years until I could afford to fix it. Used 69¢ Rev brand "SAE 30" reclaimed motor oil. Worked at night a lot. Kept my visibility down somewhat so I didn't get busted. After rebuilding it at about 180K, drove it for another 60K. Ran great. Gave it to a needy family when I went abroad. Some of the best engines ever manufactured for motor vehicles, those small Ford sixes.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

Seems like its an inline six cyl engine problem...... probably why the Jeep 4.0L I6 is the only one left (only 1 that comes to my mind when i think about it)

 

[Chris 2421]

The Caravans that you see smoking are the 3.0L engines made by Mitsubishi.The Omni smoking is due to a bad PCV valve breather box on the older models.I'm guessing these old Omni's had the 1.7 Volkswagen engines in them.Poor maintenance is why they smoke.

A Omni/Horizon over 100K?? Sure,mine with the 2.2 Chrysler engine went well over 100k with no problems.10w30 Quaker State and Fram filters all the way baby.

 

[cryptokid]

i know a guy who works on caravans ALOT. he owns 10 of them himself. he said they have chromic valve stem seal problems. its just a defect in the engine or somthing.

he said inspite of this, they are some of the most reliable affordable utility vehicles which are gasoline powered. thats why he uses them.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chris 2421:
A Omni/Horizon over 100K?? Sure,mine with the 2.2 Chrysler engine went well over 100k with no problems.10w30 Quaker State and Fram filters all the way baby.

---

I'm sure yours doesn't blow any oil, either, since it was properly maintained. I thought the early 1980's Omni's had a French-made 4 cyl engine. I remember just how fast my buddy's 1984 Omni with a 4 speed was.

Heck, couldn't find a better car to learn how to drive stick shift on!

 

[Greg]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ToyotaNSaturn:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Patman:
I worked with a guy many years ago who owned a Dodge Omni which burned one quart of oil every 15 miles! He topped it up at home, and then at work. He drove it like this for a whole summer, with so much smoke coming out the back I thought he was James Bond! A cop finally pulled him over and said fix it or it's off the road.

---

Another Dodge Omni story here...
Back in High School when oil seemed to be cheaper than gas, a guy had an Omni that burned a quart per day. That's 10 miles of driving only to school and back. The cloud of smoke kept any and all mosquitoes (and humans) out it's trail. The cops gave him the warning, he continued to drive it, they got him again (gee--hard to spot a car like this, eh?

) and the car was promptly taken off the road forever.

Has anyone ever seen an Omni go 100,000 miles?

---

yes, my grandparents had a plymouth horizon that went pretty far.

 

[Chris142]

The oil burning in mitsubishi's is usually do to the jet valves and not the intake or exhaust seals.

 

[Mike Thompson]

Ummm watch it guys; I have one of those Mitsu Caravans. 165000 miles, quit using oil after a new set of valve cover gaskets, and an AutoRx treatment. Using Chevron 10W30, I don't need to add a quart by the 3-4000 mile oil change. It just won't die.
Mike