Hi friends, my first post here. Just bought 1994 eclipse gs for $1000 , 98,000 k miles, great shape but burns oil badly and has erractic idle when at temperature. My son and I are going to attempt to remove the head , check gasket (oil leaks on ex manifold) and change the valve seals. Im worried about the rings though. I did a compression test and only got 75 psi . However Ifound later I didnt do it right cause I did it cold, butall 4 cyl were within 5 psi of each other. The car seems to have pep though albeit smoky, heavy white smoke when accelerating.The block is original, head was done before Im told. should I bother worrying about the bottom half, or try the valve seals first? About the idle, I checked injectors, wires etc. It only goes erractic when warmed up like a sensor circuit opening maybe . Any nortorius suspects on this model? Any direction would be helpful</P>


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White smoke is normally rings so Ive been told. I haven't had anything smoke wise happen to me except my tsi burning oil once. The leak above the exhaust manifold is a DSM thing...very hard to get rid of and keep gone. Blue is oil, white is rings, and I forgot what black is.....brain fart <IMG src=smileys/smiley11.gif border="0">

 

White smoke means head gasket usually. I was putting out white smoke about 3 months ago and I overheated under boost. Come to find out after getting a new radiator and numerous other parts it was a head gasket gone bad. <IMG src=smileys/smiley3.gif border="0">

 

Yeah, it's most likely burning coolant from the head gasket. That would also cause the loss of compression.Check the Coolant level, and see if it's going down after you drive the car. It shouldn't drop by much, but should be somewhat noticable if you're measuring accurately. Always measure the coolant when cold to avoid deviations. I wouldn't worry about the rings too much, If it's not broke, don't fix it. As for the erratic idle it might disappear when you change the head gasket. If not, check the thermostat and see if it's still operating correctly. It shouldn't be that hard if you have the head off already. The black smoke usuallymeans unburnt gas. Like if it were running too rich. Normally though, it doesn't happen all too much on fuel injected cars. So i'd go with the head gasket. Hope everything works out for you.

 

Yeah, the loss of compression would make sense with a faulty gasket.

 

Well, the rings would also cause the loss of compression if it were done cold. That's why they say do a compression test with a warm engine. The rings will expand when warm and seal the piston more tightly to hold in compression. However, the rings being worn may cause the engine to burn oil, so the white smoke gives it away. Think about in the winter when you start your car up and see all that white smoke. It's actually condesation evaporatingfrom all the water or ice in your exhaust system. It goes away after a while and doesn't mean anything. However, if it just keeps smoking and the weather is good, then it's water coming from somewhere else. Remember,the coolant mixture in your engineis 50% coolant and 50% water. And it's the only watery stuffcirculating in the engine. The most common place for the coolant to actually meet the cylinder chamber is when it's in the block, and the only thing not permantly sealed to the block is the head and head gasket. Since the head is a solid piece(atleast where the water holes and canalsare) it must be only one other thing. So it's most likely the head gasket by process of elimination.