Hello all I have a 1999 Saturn SL2 200k miles. Smoke bad.
I have completed a compression test after disabling the fuel system. and car warmed up.
CYL1- 122 psi
CYL2 -120psi
CLY3 - 121PSI
CYL4 - 124 PSI

I removed the PVC and ran the car for 20 min no change in smoke also PVC is working correctly. I am thinking that the head/ valves/valve stems may be leaking of the head is cracked. No water in oil, no Oil in water.


Any direction would help. thanks or more test i can do.

Thanks
Mike.

 

 

White smoke
If you are getting true white smoke that smells sweet (coolant), and not steam (which will dissipate, while the white smoke will linger, then it sounds like coolant in getting in the cyls. I don't think it takes much to make a white cloud.
Also, if you get just a small amount into the oil, it will sneak past the worn/frozen oil control rings and that will be 4 cyls worth, not 1 like you might see with a traditional head gasket failure.

Is it overheating/running hot?

Blue smoke
Oil. Again oil control ring issues, no surprise. Valve guide seals also leak oil into cyls. Prob a combo of both.

How much oil do you use per 1000 miles?

SES light on? Codes? Misfires? Mileage?

Compression very low. All consistent with high mileage / excessive wear.
Did you do compression test w WOT and all four plugs out?

You have not recently done a Seafoam, have you?

Has the car been sitting idle for a while?

 

It smeels Like oil and maybe some water. I also did a wet Compression test today 30wt oil 1 tea spoon all compression tests were done with all plugs removed.
CYL1 152
CYL2 154
CYL3 150
CYL4 156
No sea foam treatment as of yet. I dont think its going to improve it much given that low compression. It might be a combanation of both head leaks and bad rings. Looks like time for a rebuild. Ugg
No codes no check light.
No missfires
Mileage just over 200k
No over heating not sure as to how much oil its useing as i stop driving it since it started to smoke were talking smoke screen. more under load. No Knocks no strange sounds. runs fine.

 

 

Or overanalyze it to the nth degree -- that is what I'm known for around here.
Occasionally it is useful.

I know Andy cringes when he reads some of the stuff I post. But when you read all the *&^% I posted below, you'll likely come to the same conclusion as Andy did. Too expensive to track down and you may not track it down.
Just do the rings and the valve guide seals. You;ll be putting on a new head gasket and pulling the intake manifold anyway.

Andy is a lifelong mechanic.
I am I lifelong S car guy (since 92) who badly wishes he had Andy's knowledge and experience
I am also prone to overanalyzing the crap out of anything put in front of me. But it is on a quest to understand the finer points. And hopefully help people at the same time.
I try to label posts as speculation when they are, as seen below.

Andy, with his experience, can call it in one sentence.
I have to go through the following to come to the same general answer.

That's why I thank Andy for remaining on this site. His insight is priceless.

[NOVEL]

Yup,


OK This is a train of thought post that goes in every direction in search of how the coolant might get to the combustion chambers.
I am not a mechanic -- just a guy that thinks too much with not enough information
Some of my interpretations may be wrong. Just thinking out loud.

Definitely an oil control and compression ring issue. And the valve guide seals are another known culprit.
Very interesting that the compression is so even across the cyls. Not terribly common with a head gasket failing near a cylinder or two, vote against the head gasket.

I asked if the car had been sitting awhile before this happened because it could have accumulated condensed moisture in the exhaust, but that would burn off before the 20 run time is over. And car should have overheated if serious coolant leak.

Also, when you get significant amounts of coolant in the cyls, do you see the coolant level dropping.?
-----------------
Possibility there is a leak in the intake manifold or gasket allowing the coolant into the oil. Your symptoms just don't point to a serious head gasket issue at first glance.
This type of internal intake manifold leak would likely not cause a misfire due to incorrect air fuel mix....yet. and your cylinder compression is even across all four. So this seems unlikely

Did the car have a history of overheating before all of this started? My guess is no, as it is not overheating now.
-------------------
You may be correct that there is a tiny crack in the head, where a coolant channel has met up with a "source of oil" and is slowly feeding coolant into the oil in small quantities.
--------------------
Before going forward, I would definitely have your cooling system pressure checked,
Depending on the results, you may or may not be able to determine if there is indeed a coolant leak in the system depending on how small it is.
Which MAY indicate a cracked head or even a crack in the block (rare on these engines, but I have heard about a few)
----------------
Obviously, you can rebuild what you have, and the oil consumption should stop, but if you are left with white smoke, you will still have a problem -- one you may not be able to fix.
You can always have the head x-rayed for cracks, but I don't believe it's cheap. Rebuilding a junkyard head is a possibility, but that ASSUMES the original is cracked and you don't know what the junkyard head brings with it.

Massive speculation below --even more than the rest of the post above.
Suppose you could pull the intake manifold and inspect-- yours is plastic, yes? Hmmmmmmm

I suppose you could do the head gasket with the original head and see if the white smoke stops.

You could do the head gasket and put on a junkyard head--however if the white smoke stops you don't know if it was the head gasket or the junkyard head that fixed it. Though you may not care in the end.
Then you would have to do a teardown, timing set, hone the cylinders as neded, use oversize rings (available---well they made them)...blah, blah blah.....
$$ for an old tired engine that is likely $ to diagnose properly and $$ to rebuild properly.
------------------
Ok I've racked my brain way too far already without seeing what other hard data you have to provide.
You have provided quite useful data so far.

If you can find the source of the coolant leak, proceed.
If you can tolerate the white smoke, proceed
This assumes the white smoke is truly coolant. Sniffing the exhaust should tell you (sweet smell yo exhaust

I hate stop leak as it tends to cause more problems than it fixes so i do not recommend it but the choice is yours.

Otherwise, as Andy says, freshen it up.

Or abandon ship.(always a choice) (Andy did noit say this, I did)

[/ENDOFNOVEL]

 

Thank you all for the feedback and suggestion. I'm going to do a full rebuild on both the head and the block. I will strip it down and send the block and head to the Machine shop. I am hopping the work won't be too painful to the wallet. I will have both the head and block checked to cracks no reason to take a chance when your going this far. I may even pull the tranny and have it rebuilt as well I do not think i would want to have to pull than in maybe 20K miles and than have to pull it.

 

Before the gavel goes all the way down on this one, do a survey of parts you may need in the future -- under the hood, under the car (exhaust, suspension), interior switches, side mirrors, door lock switches.
It's becoming difficult to source some of these parts -- even from junkyards -- as even the 02 SCx's are 16 years old, and not a whole lot left on the road.
After you break it in w 5w30, run 10w30 forevermore (except if winter applies) and the oil burning should be kept at bay.

PLEASE keep us posted on progress.

 

Will keep updates when I start. I have not found a problem finding parts ebay is a good source. But i like to buy local if i can and get it at a fair price.