Need HELP/ADVISE on engine problem.

[KNOCKOUT]

I've got a bit of oil in pretty much all of the spark plug chambers. So, I did a compression check on all cylinders. The first 4 were great....172, 174, 174, 175. Then, 152 (which is within spec, buy on the hairy edge) and finally on the last, 120. <P>Also, I have oil in my coolant reservoir! <P>What could be the problem, I'm assuming that it's either a bad piston ring or a head gasket..........ANY EXPERTS OUT THERE?????

[FRCFD6]

sounds like one of your heads went bad. a headjob runs arround $1000 -$ 1500<P>------------------<BR><B>One Man, one Probe, one Mission....<BR> <A HREF="http://www.TurboPGT.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.TurboPGT.com</A> <BR>rlubera@hotmail.com</B><BR><I>Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.</I>

[Raivynn]

I'm not an expert...but if you have oil in your coolant...chances are it's a head/head gasket. That's some expensive work there.<P>--Raiv.<P>------------------<BR>-- Zoom Zoom Zoom --

[KNOCKOUT]

That's just GREAAAAAAT!!! <P>I've never worked on a Mazda before, but, how much work is it to fix that myself, and how much $$$?<P>

[FoxyDragon]

Yanno...after reading some of these posts, im noticing alot of people having oil in thier coolant....think this may be something to bring up to Mazda as a new recall to be corrected... When I bought my car, they had to replace head gaskets due to the same problem.. Luckily, I had them do a 25 point safty inspection before I bought the car.. they had to pay/replace the gaskets and 2 tires....saved me a bundle....(previous owner took immaculate care of the car)<P>------------------<BR>Owner of 93 Raspberry MX-3 GS Special Edition

[KNOCKOUT]

Sounds good to me. How do we go about doing that?

[white fish]

would the head gasket cause burning oil(smoke out tailpipes)as well or is that valves or is it rings?????<BR>

[KNOCKOUT]

It would probably be either the head gasket or piston rings or both. Probably not the valves themselves but rather the valve guides.

[dennisvs]

I also think it are the piston rings.
After 100.000 km I had it also.
I'm don't know how to say it in english but there will be a sort stone on the pistons.
This should be removed or the piston rubbers should be replaced.
There is a liquid wich you can add to your oil.
This stuff might solve the problem for a while if the piston seals are just a little damaged.

[Zoso124]

Black coolant doesn't mean there is oil in your coolant, Coolant gets old after so many miles and oxidation and residue really starts to build up when your in the 130k + range. I would recommend getting a good flush and change it, just changing it isn't gonna do much, it will be black again in no time.

[dennisvs]

Well, if you see white smoke comming out of your car is clear to me.<p>Do you have that problem?

[mattster]

please tell me, isn't some white smoke ok for the first 10 minutes or so? i heard its just burning the condensation in the tailpipe...

[dennisvs]

Yes, its normal to have have white smoke when the engine is cold but if it's water than the smoke wil disapear verry quick when leaving the muffler.
If it's hanging in the air for a long time than it's oil.

[ssmog]

Knockout, Have fun. I have a '92 1.8 GS. I admit I am hard on it, I beat on it to no end and drive approx.2500 km's a week just to work ad back so the miles do add up. I now just finished installing motor number 6, the first 4 I have no idead how they were treated as one was origional, the other three were scrap yard lemons. The fifth one I rebuilt myself but made the mistake of only getting the carnked turned down rather then having it metallized, chromed and then giving it a polish turn. This last one I just finished three weeks back I made sure i did it right, metallizing, chroming, turning, bearing, etc, braught everything all braught back up to "Standard". new rings, valves, etc, etc, etc. In total I spent approx. $2000.00 Cdn. Mind you I also relaced the clutch so as to avoid doing it in the future. reassembly is "Murphy" proof since the parts will only go together one way other wise things like cams snap in half simply by tightening thrust caps. If you only want to do the crank, polish the cylinders, bearings, rings and gasket sets it will run you just over $1000.00 Cdn. My advice to you is if you're going to spend the money on one thing, spend the few extra dollars and do the whole thing, you'll thank yourself in the long run just like I am now since I now have a brand new motor and hopefully the last one.