Hi there,

I just bought a 1998 Saturn SL2 with 85,000 miles.

I don't think the oil had ever been changed. When I changed it today, it came out all chunky.

I put fresh penzoil 10w30 in, changed the plugs, and ran some seafoam through the intake.


After a 10 miles drive, the oil was already really black again. I added a half quart of transmission fluid to the oil for the added detergence, and after driving it to work tonight, am going to change the oil again in the morning.

I plan on putting a bit heavier and higher detergent oil in like Rotella, to hopefully clean all the gunk out, and maybe get the rings reseated.

Do you have any advice that may help me cut down on the oil burning?

I'll most likely end up just going to a bit higher weight oil until I can afford to get a new engine put in if I can't get it to stop burning oil.

 

s car engines are known for burning oil

1) oil control rings seize in place allowing oil into the combustion chamber.
2) valve guide seals are also known to wear out and pass oil.

If the oil is that bad, 1) above most likely applies, and you're not likely to get them freed up, though anything is possible. People use MMO and Seafoam to try to loosen them up, but what helps for one may not work for another.

The oil burning situation is usually pretty manageable on these cars as long as you keep the level up to prevent engine damage.

How much you burning ?

I'm sure Unc will have some tidbits of wisdom regarding higher weights of oil in these engines...

 

If I gun it from a dead stop, it'll blow enough blue smoke that I can see it behind the car.

Well, knowing this, I think I'll just go up a bit in weight in oil, to like a 20w50, and try to manage it until it gets bad enough to warrant a new engine.

I only paid $1600 for the car with 85,000 miles. Everything else is in great shape, so if I have to spend $1000 on a new engine I'm still ahead of the game.

 

You could also read up on doing a MM soak....if you do be sure to replase the plugs when done with proper NGK plugs that were installed from the factory.

 

What is MMO? I can't see where SeaFoam would do much, but then again why not. It is not going to hurt.
I had good luck with Z-Max once, the only car I ever worked on to try to stop the oil consumption. It seemed to have done it, but it took awhile. Face it, if the oil ring is stuck and it seems to be a high probability it did not happen over night. It was accumulitive, trying to fix it with Motor fix it in a can is not going to happen instantainiously unless you get bloody lucky.
As far as oil weight, follow an oil viscosity vs temperature chart and select the heaviest oil your area recommends.
Personaly I live where I can run 20W50 year around and I do on all cars from 1st oil change after purchase, new or used.