This car needs WORK! *sad panda*

[SuperK]

Hey guys, I need a quick opinion from you guys. I'm car shopping for a friend, and guess what, I'm looking for an MX-3. He's checking one out right now, and so far, one of the cylinders has a puddle of oil

from left to right, one is soaked, next is dry, third he can't get the wire off, fourth is damp.

I'm trying to sort out the most possible reason for this, it seems odd that the cover gasket would be the issue, if it was, I would think all the spark cylinders would be wet?

I need to know what I need to check further to pin the issue; whether it's a ring that's gone, or seals or whatnot.

he said the cover is very clean as well, probably removed and cleaned up (maybe steamed) I'm hoping maybe he removed the cover and messed up the gasket or or something, causing it to leak.

*nevermind, junker car, went for another

[torpedan]

Your description is a bit vauge but going off what i know I assume you have oil in the spark plug holes.

There is only two ways for oil to get into a plug hole, you can pour it in yourself or it can leak down from the valve cover. Lucky for you both of these are easy to fix.

Nothing is odd about this scenario everything you have descibe is normal for a valve gasket failure. Odds are the top of the motor has been cleaned or even detailed but something like that will not clean out oil that gets down into area.

Any used car in reality is a gamble, if you want better advice call around and find a shop that will inspect it for you at a reasonable rate and take the car there.

[SuperK]

I was told by a local mech. that it's possible its an indicator of ring failure/wear. Is this true?

[torpedan]

This calls for some clarification.

First off If you have excessive oil in the COMBUSTION CHAMBER which also called a cylinder yes it is a sign that the rings from the motor might be going bad. The mechanic you questioned on that is right, but dont freak out over this.

As i said your description is vauge and we have to assume some things but here is what i assumed. Your friend removed the spark plug wires and in the holes they come out of he found oil. This is perfectly normal for an oil leak from the valve cover. If you have removed the spark plugs and put them back in the oil will drain into the motor and burn off causeing one hell of a smoke screen.

If the motor smokes out of the exsaust before you even inspected it, the rings might be going bad. If the exsaust did not smoke which i am guessing it did not (or atleast not bad enough to notice) then i assume my presumtion above is right.

Please let me know If i was going in the right direction.

[SuperK]

That deal fell through, we're looking at a different car. $1500, 170k, new valve seals, engine clean. Problems: loose shifter, spongy clutch pedal. The biggest problem is idle varies from 700 to 1500 constantly. Is the idle problem because of a vacuum leak, or maybe injectors? Would this be expensive to fix? Is it worth it? Please advise.

[torpedan]

Its hard to say without it in front of me. Most of the times its a the idel contrel valve or a vaccum leak though.

[SuperK]

well, for 1500, we got the car anyways... it's cheap enough to put money into fixing it...

... apparently, put money into fixing it is JUST what we're going to do... we got the idle pinned down, but MYSTERIOUSLY, the car drove and ran just fine friday, the day we looked at it, and saturday, the day we bought it... but then, fateful sunday morning, we start it up. bam, smokescreen so thick, nice and white, it crushed our hopes and dreams completely. Doesn't smoke when it's all warmed up, but when it's cold, for-get it.
they said they just did a valve stem seal replacement, but I dunno, I don't believe them...
also read it might be a cracked head or something?
anyways, with the money to spare, I'm considering just a BP swap instead of trying to fix a motor that most likely will have something fall apart in the upcoming weeks.

[ariesdude]

What color is the smoke? Most probably its the valve seals - Do you see coolant in oil and/or oil in coolant?

[SuperK]

smoke is white. mmm, mmm white. literally a smoke screen... I'll have to check and see if there's oil in the coolant... we had the oil changed saturday and they didn't say anything about the oil being unusual.. course, they could have been stupid and not known better

they specifically said they did the valve seal job, though. they most likely were very lying though

[SuperK]

my friend dumped buncha water in the radiator, the overflow didn't show any signs of oil, though. just that nasty puke-green watered down look of dirty coolant.

but, like I said, changed teh oil saturday... oil is black again today... pulled the oil cap off right after I ran it few seconds, and white smoke was coming from inside as well? :S

Smokes like the dickens. Idles at 1200. but she sounds good on an idle