(edit: I somewow overlooked the fact this is still a active forum before I typed this whole thing so keep that in reference)

Hey guys (derf and whoever else is still on this forum)
this is my first forum/post ever.

I recently purchased an abused 92 saturn sl2 with a 5spd and a fart can straight pipe. I’ve done some stuff to fix some missfire issues and ghetto rigging but that’s it. (Changed the oil, plugs, coils, icm. Cleaned the throttle body and egr valve. Replaced the battery. Gone through all the fuses, ran a cleaner through the fuel system)


(after its maiden voyage to the shop)
drove 40mins on loose front struts, loose motor mounts, and didn’t know manual.. we know it was dumb.. We didn’t die tho..

Side note I paid $500 for the car and have maybe $750 in it tags and all.


Car was/is in pretty rough shape. It has soul though and can be saved in my opinion. I’m not a mechanic by any means. I know basic maintenance and how to throw parts. I work at a orellys part time and do boat patching full time.

i have a list of things i plan on fixing for the car and have done some lurking in Saturn forums for a bit now. I plan on doing the Coolant sensors, intake and exhaust gaskets, getting a new egr and possibly throttle body. Gotta do water pump and thermostat, etc, etc, etc…

i was wondering if there’s any wisdom that y’all might have to lend to me. I don’t know much aside from nuts and bolts (ohms law, and stuff like that is alien to me)

some issues I’m facing right now are the engine mounts are missing hardware and I don’t want to go to a pull a part and just leave a motor hanging.

it’s leaking oil heavily from the rear side of the motor (pancake size pool on ground after turning car off few drips a second while running) and burns oil really bad when under load (going up hill not just high rpm)

It has hesitation randomly and gets a random missfire if you feather the throttle at 2-3k rpm (its most noticeable in 4th or 5th)

if y’all have any advice tips or just want to laugh at me im here for it. I hope to hear from y’all, thanks in advance

-skud

 

Miles?

92 was a rough year as they hadn't straightened out a lot of the important things just yet. A good chunk of the parts for your car are only for 91 and 92. In 93, they standardized.

Take home the compression tester from O'Reilly's, read up on how to properly perform a wet and dry compression test, and post back here with the numbers. This will give you a basic gauge of engine health. If you are blowing oil smoke going up hills, you are most definitely burning a lot of oil.

Since you haven't owned the car long enough to know how much oil it consumes, check the oil everyday before you drive it until you figure that out. No I'm not kidding. Easiest way to kill a Saturn is to not check the oil. You are burning and you have a leak.

The compression test results will tell you whether or not it makes sense to toss money into the vehicle as is. And no more shotgunning parts.

 

Scrap it. You've already got too much money tied up in it. Puddle of oil under the car is most likely the rear main. Have you even checked the oil to se if it looks like a milkshake? If so, the head gasket is shot. The fact that it blows smoke and uses oil tells me the rings are most likely shot and valve seals are leaking. Derf knows a hell of a lot more than I do about these S series cars and the DOHC is a notorious oil burner. O2 sensors aren't that cheap and oil will certainly screw them up.

 

As much as you may want to bring this back to its former glory, if the engine is not sound, there's really no point. Unless you're willing to shell out another few thousand for a reputable rebuild, you're left with buying 3rd hand engines with no clue as to what you're getting or beaten down donor cars.

Do the compression tests. It will likely convince you that the engine is too far gone to avoid a rebuild.

The key here is that you are making the measurements yourself, there is no conjecture, and you see it with your own eyes. No one is telling you whether it's good or bad. You look at the numbers I convince yourself of the state of the engine's health.

100% objective evaluation. Takes the emotion out of the equation.

 

did a dry compression test yesterday and it honestly surprised me, car is making 140 on cylinder one, 150~ on all others. Didn’t do a wet test unfortunately, that also led me to another issues as that somehow burnt my coils out and that’s why I did coils (Ik it sounds dumb)

those numbers seem standard to me for worn four cylinders I know it should be higher though

ive checked the oil every time I’ve driven it and it honestly hasn’t ran low, I try to check ALL fluids before driving it since I’m assuming it’s oil (looks and smells like it) I haven’t noticed any coolant mixing with oil either.

also just a side note since I work at O’Reilly parts are insanely cheap, to do everything inside the engine bay other than a motor it’s about $300-400 and the car has all new suspension from the previous owner

As far as mileage that’s unknown odo stopped working around 130xxx so I’m thinking it’s probably got around 170-200k on the car

 

Those numbers are not bad at all for a dry test. I would try a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil in the crankcase before the next oil change and see what happens. The trick is to get a quart of oil out of the crank case before the oil change and replacing it with the MMO. I'd also run the MMO for a day or two. I've done this to old, higher mileage cars and it's actually helped them. And run a bottle of Techron Fuel System Cleaner through a couple of tanks of gas. It won't hurt any and MIGHT even help.

 

Service limit for these engines is around 180. Fresh from the factory about 220. I'd guess the mileage is indeed probably near 200k.

Rebuild it or pass it on.

 

where are you located? Is rusty underneath?