Car burning oil, what can I do?

[Bobby Digital]

I drive a 99 Chevy Prizm with around 103,000 miles on it. Over the last 10,000 miles or so it has been burning oil at about a quart every 700-1,000 miles. If I can do something to fix this it would be great.

From the searching I've done on google it seems that it's normal for a high mileage car to burn some oil, but I think its burning too much. I notice quite a bit of white-grayish smoke coming out of the tailpipe, more than other cars.

From what I understand a mechanic can do a leak down test on the engine to check for problems. This can result in two major problems, valve guides or piston rings. The valve guides can be repaired for around 300 bucks and the piston rings would be much more expensive, and not worth it. Is this correct or am I not making any sense? Does this type of test sound like something I need done?

[guids]

If its white smoke, its not oil, its water/antifreeze, oil burns blue. Before you do anything, try putting a spoonfull of black pepper in the radiator.

[Bobby Digital]

[ QUOTE ]
If its white smoke, its not oil, its water/antifreeze, oil burns blue. Before you do anything, try putting a spoonfull of black pepper in the radiator.

[/ QUOTE ]

If that's the case where has the oil been going for the last 10k miles?

[guids]

have you checked under the car after you parked it for awhile?

[Bobby Digital]

Yep, driveway is clean. Its not leaking, at least while parked or idling.

[deucedeuce00]

Not much you can do about it that won't cost a fortune. Just keep a quart in the trunk for emergencies, and laugh at all the suckers that have to drive behind you.

['Chair]

when was the last time your anti-freeze was changed/flushed? There is an excellent thread in here on that procedure [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].

[Ricky_Bobby]

Sometimes oil smoke looks bluish white. Pure white smoke is water in the combustion chamber, a sign of a bad head gasket. Whitish-grayish-blue is oil. And you're right about the valve guides/rings. Frankly, it's not a big deal and it will get worse over time. On my old mustang I literally kept a case of oil in the back because it was using about a quart every other day(about 250 miles).

With valve guides they tend to leak when the car has been sitting and will usually smoke the worst when you first start it. Also, when the valve guides are worn it tends to smoke when you are off the throttle and between shifts if your car is a manual. Rings tend to smoke worse under acceleration and also at constant throttle but not as pronounced.

You can put some Engine Restore in it. You can get it at any auto parts store. It actually worked for a while on my car but it only goes so far. Bottom line is get used to checking the oil often and keeping it topped off because it is not worth it to have it fixed.

[CORed]

Jack up the radiator cap and install a new car.

[Ray Zee]

go to a 20/50 weight oil and live with it.