Now, I know enough as a general mechanic that this is not a good thing... I'm just trying to think of all the possible reasons before I go ordering replacement parts.
Reason 1: my rings on my pistons are shot
- possible and easily checked with a compression test but I haven't really noticed any loss in power and my exhaust doesn't smoke at all
Reason 2: my valve guides are worn and need to be replaced
- more likely considering since I've had the secret cams installed I've spent probably a little too much time than I should in the upper RPM range
What's everyone's thoughts maybe there could be another reason?
Are the plugs wet, like dripping wet? Rings. Definitely rings.
Or are they oil covered, black and crusty? Valve guides.
Scenario #2 sounds most likely to me. Especially if you're not noticing smoke out of the exhaust once it's running or excessive oil consumption. You would have to be the judge of excessive oil consumption. My '95 2.3 with 138,000 miles goes thru a quart every 1000 miles. However, IIRC, the usual symptom for leaking valve guides is if you get smoke (not white) when you first start up but stops once the motor gets up to temperature.
Either way, a compression test should give you the story.
George (geozinger)
'95 Sunfire GT-my second Pontiac from Hell!
'97 Cavy Beater-still running like a champ!
'04 Sunfire - my kid's car, but I get the bills...
'09 Pontiac G6 - Sport Package 1
Thanks for the reply. Yes, the plugs are physically dripping which indicates rings... but whatever it is, it is very minimal because I have no noticeable oil consumption every 3000 miles with Castrol Syntec. Would this be "normal" on an '01 with less than 75k? I know it depends on how you treat it but I've been using synthetic oil every 3,000 miles for the last 4 yrs. I also wonder if this is one of the causes of the 2.4L's indecent oil capabilities. I'll probaby just run a compression check but also planned on building a head in the near future. For now I may not get too excited.
Re: the wet plugs but no oil consumption - that's weird. No smoke either? No oil in your PCV system?
OTOH, I don't use synthetic oil, maybe in small quantities it doesn't burn like dino oil, I don't know for sure.
My 2.3 has a thin film of oil everywhere, in the PCV, in the exhausts, all over the block... Of course after 12 years, some of the gaskets are giving out. But I know that someday I will either have to do something or sell the little beast...
George (geozinger)
'95 Sunfire GT-my second Pontiac from Hell!
'97 Cavy Beater-still running like a champ!
'04 Sunfire - my kid's car, but I get the bills...
'09 Pontiac G6 - Sport Package 1
Yeah, absolutely no oil consumption at a 3000 mile intervals. The only place I noticed oil that I don't really care for is in the breather hose that runs to the intake. But that's not even oil it's all the foam created by the stupid oil pump in the LD9 engines. You would think that I would have to be loosing a lot of oil past the rings for the plugs to look wet because that's oil that you would think would've been burned off in the first place. I can't really explain what could be happening. All I know is there's oil where there shouldn't be so I have a problem.
