Burning Oil, Dirty Oil, Engine Weights

[tallahasseegreys]

Alrighty then, my wife's 94 Tercel burns oil. I'm constantly putting oil in it. One thing I've noticed is that her oil turns black very soon after an oil change, whereas the oil in my 850 looks nearly brand new after 3000 miles. Also, her plugs foul rapidly and require changing often. A couple questions...

-Will switching from 10W-30 to 10W-40 reduce the amount of oil burning?

-Is her oil turning black a result of the fact that the car burns oil? I mean, when the oil combusts in the cylinder, surely not ALL of the oil combusts, and I'm wondering if "waste" from this partially combusted oil is contaminating the oil.

-Related to previous question: If I change her oil like every week for 5 or 6 weeks do you think this may help "clean the system out" and then the oil will go longer without turning black? Or will it always turn black quickly since she's burning oil.

Thanks.

[jda2000]

Tallahassee,

you letting the wife drive a ricebox, BLASPHEMY!

I think your tercel qualifies to have a can of SMOKE BE GONE added, great stuff to stop the black smoking and increases the viscosity of the oil, and minimizes oil burning secondary to blowby. Heck, it won't hurt.

Maybe, its time to trade up to another volvo 850 :rolleyes:

[tallahasseegreys]

Wife definitely needs a new ride. Or at least maybe MTV could Pimp Her Ride. But she quit work and is back in school for radiology so we broe as a joke.

As for smoke be gone...the smoke that comes out the exhaust is white, not black. Does that make a difference? And I'm always hesitant to put these additives into my cars. Is Smoke Be Gone ok stuff?

[jda2000]

A few years back in LA, I had an '86 Camry that was a smoker, a mechanic friend of mine at that time rec using a heavier oil like straight 40 wt and adding a can of SMOKE BE GONE. That stuff stopped the smoking and the car even run better.

What do you have to lose, TRY IT.

[Ceenit]

You can also try some of the oils forumated for higher mileage engines. I believe many of these are a thicker weith and also help recondition dried up seals.

None of these will be a fix however, just a way of hopefully getting a little more life out of the car and minimizing the smoke.

Have you checked, your coolant levels. If I remember correclty, white smoke can also be an indication of coolant mixing in with the combusiont. This would be a bigger deal (cracked block).

[freeskier8585]

white smoke = coolant being burned

blue smoke = oil

:o

[tallahasseegreys]

Definitely oil being burned. Definitely not coolant.

[MrBrett]

Hi- On some older cars, when the "modulator valve" (I think that's what it's called) goes bad on an automatic transmission, it will cause white smoke to belch out of the exhaust- just something you could check out if the car is an auto.

[DEWFPO]

Check out Auto-Rx.com. It may be worth a shot.

No affiliation whatsoever.

DEWFPO

[James A Sousa]

Let's not forget that all modern cars have some sort of closed engine breathing system.

From PCV valves to flame traps, this system can get clogged and cause many operational problems.

Instead of extra oil changes, you should check all the valves, hoses, and other doo-dads that comprise the emission control system of your wife's car.

As MrBrett mentions, check any system thst uses engine vacume to operate, such as the master cylinder and things like a modulator that could suck fluids into your engine.

Does your wife's car have a carburator or fuel injection? Does it idle fast before it warms up? An engine with a choke uses extra fuel when cold, this produces soot in the oil. Cars with fuel injection often have relatively clean looking oil.