1995 Saturn SL2 Repairs

I bought my '95 Saturn a year ago for $3,000. I noticed shortly
thereafter that it was consuming oil at an incredible rate... approx 1
quart every 300-400 miles.

I don't know if I accidentally added too much one day or what, but I
was driving home on the freeway at speeds a little faster than I
normally drove (maybe 85mph), and when I got off the freeway and
slowed down, the car was running very rough. Ever since then, it
would die if I took my foot off the gas pedal such as when I would be
stopped at a red light. I'd have to put it in neutral and keep the
RPM's up or it would die.

So I decided to try and improve things by replacing the spark plugs --
when I did that, I noticed that two of the four plugs had OIL all over
them. There was apparently a bunch of oil in two of the cylinders --
definitely a bad sign!!

So I took the car to the shop and they did the following:

1) Replaced engine head gasket, spark plugs, and various hoses.
2) Oil and filter change (they said it needed an oil change very badly
-- I had not been having it changed because I was constantly adding
new oil since it burned so much and I thought it always had new oil
anyways, but apparently there was a lot of slime and gunk that needed
to be gotten out).
3) Replace two tires and rims
4) Replace tie rod ends
5) 4-wheel alignment and balancing
6) Replace brake light switch and right turn signal bulb
7) Emissions testing and inspection

Total Bill: $1,120

My main concern is, once I'm finished paying off this bill and I have
my car back from the mechanic, is my engine really going to last much
longer? The mechanic said there is still a problem with one of the
cylinders, and who knows how much damage was caused by not changing
the oil. Are replacement engines available, or is it cheaper to have
an engine repaired?

I would like for this car to go another 100,000 miles. Is that
unreasonable? It already has 100k on it.

Jeremy

 

The oil on the plugs may have also been because of the valve cover gasket
leaking. They commonly leak around the plug wells, and then the wells fill
up with oil. When removing the plug, it gets oil on it. I've had this
happen.

Oil consumption can get this bad if someone (previous owner?) neglects oil
changes. But, even though it's thirsty, if you keep the level where it
should be the motor will probably still last a long time.

Watch eBay for engine deals. I got one with 39k on it for a couple hundred
bucks off eBay.

Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]

 

That's exactly what my '94 did. The valve cover gasket leaks and the plug
wells fill up with oil. I've been ignoring it for over 50,000 miles since
there don't seem so be any other adverse effects.

 

The oil leak sounds like it was for real, but you may still have
another problem. The stalling sounds like the typical Saturn sticky
EGR valve, which is exacerbated by oil burning. The two times that it
has happened on my '95 SW2, the Check Engine light did not come on at
first, but only after the second or third stalling episode.