My car has 110,000 miles...what maintenance should I do? *UPDATE*

KingNothing

Diamond Member
Apr 6, 2002
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I bought the car (1995 Geo Prizm) when it had 86,000 miles. So far I've replaced the starter, timing belt, and fuel filter, as well as oil changes every 3000 miles. Right now it burns about a quart of oil every 1000 miles. Sometimes I think it doesn't feel quite as strong as it used to but that could be in my head.

The reason I ask is I'll be taking it to New Mexico (about 1200 miles away) for a summer internship so I want to do this stuff before I leave.

UPDATE: Scroll down.
 

JCobra14

Senior member
May 14, 2001
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Coolant/Transmission fluid change? Brakes/Tires?


Not a whole lot you can do for the oil consumption...
 

GagHalfrunt

Lifer
Apr 19, 2001
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What's the car worth and how do you use it? That dictates what you should do to it, you don't want to pump too much cash into a beater, but you also don't want to let an everyday driver degrade to the point where it's a beater.

A quart per 1000 is the sign of some trouble lurking. You either need a valve job or piston rings. I'm guessing rings as that would explain both the oil and the lack of pep. Probably blowing oil and losing compression in one or more cylanders. Fixing it would be too expensive a job given the value of the car, you probably just have to live with it, always carry extra oil though, you never know if it's going to get worse. A 1200 mile trip isn't that extreme if you're not towing anything or doing mountain driving. Just have a tune-up, oil change and radiator flush and fill before you set out. I'd also have the suspension checked, you're at the stage when front end pieces could be starting to go.
 

Armitage

Banned
Feb 23, 2001
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Agree with Gag ... and a AAA membership wouldn't be a bad idea. 1 qt/1000 mi ... damn, I had an 8 that burned that much toward the end. That's a hella lot on a 4 banger
 

Lifer

Banned
Feb 17, 2003
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probably due for another fuel filter, and tranny fluid change (assuming auto).
spark plugs are good too.
 

Armitage

Banned
Feb 23, 2001
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Originally posted by: Lifer
probably due for another fuel filter, and tranny fluid change (assuming auto).
spark plugs are good too.

If he's burning a qt/1000, don't bother with new plugs, just keep a plug socket & wire brush in the car
 

KingNothing

Diamond Member
Apr 6, 2002
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It's a manual, so no transmission maintenance is necessary. I was thinking about switching to a heavier weight oil to see if that helps, right now I use 5W30. The funny thing is, the car's gas mileage is still what it was when I bought it, 32MPG. I get that year-round, no matter how I drive. When I say the car doesn't feel as strong as it used to, it's slight. I can still merge on the highway with no problem.

How often are fuel filters supposed to be changed? It's only been about 20K since I put the current one in.

Coolant is due for a change, now that I think about it. I just replaced the tires, and the brakes haven't had any work done to them yet but they still work fine.

The car's worth about $2000. I use it mainly for city driving, although like I said it'll be going on a long road trip this summer to New Mexico.
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
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Some things I'd do...

Check the brakes, if they have more than 50% left on them, just flush the brake fluid since it's probably never been done. If there's less than 50% on the pads, but the rotors are in decent shape, you might consider just replacing the pads, and maybe even have the rotors refinished. If the rotors need to be replaced, I wouldn't do anything, that's gonna cost probably 10% of the car's value.

If the transmission has never had the fluid changed, I'd do that, even though it's a manual... it needs service too after that many miles.

Coolant flush, like you said.

Check your PCV valve and make sure it's working properly... an easy way to do that is to just take it out and shake it, if it rattles it's probably working fine, if it doesn't rattle, it's stuck for whatever reason and should be replaced, and that could be the reason you're burning oil. A neighbor of mine had that problem, blue smoke pouring out the tail pipe every time he drove away... he thought he needed new piston rings... I looked it over for him and happened to notice the PCV valve looked pretty old, so I took it out and it was frozen. Went and picked up a $6 PCV valve for him and his blue smoke went away, as well as the burnt oil smell every time he parked his car in the garage every night =)

To find out where the oil leak is (if it's not just cause of the PCV valve), blue smoke on acceleration is almost always piston rings... blue smoke on deceleration is almost always valve stem seals. Pray for valve stem seals cause they're much easier to replace than piston rings.

If you have an external oil leak, DEFINATELY get it taken care of... I'm pretty sure that's why our (my family's) car burned up on our way home from a vacation. Had an oil leak that my dad refused to get fixed because in his mind, old cars leak oil, that's just what they do, it's nothing out of the ordinary. Well... after driving for 4 hours, the engine is pretty hot, and oil was probably leaking down onto the exhaust manifolds and started a small fire. Since we didn't have a fire extinguisher, it just spread through the rest of the engine compartment that was pretty much coated with dirty oil as well. Whole car burned, from bumper to bumper... the aluminum hood melted completely away, as did the aluminum brackets for the A/C compressor, alternator, power steering pump, etc. etc.

You might also consider getting the fuel system professionally cleaned. And take it to a shop that backflushes the fuel system. Many places don't do that, but you want that done because the fuel injectors have little screens in them to catch any debris that may have originated after the fuel filter. Backflushing it reverses the fuel flow through the fuel rails to dislodge any particles in those screens. A good shop will also spray the inside of the intake with a cleaner and let it soak to remove any built up carbon before it actually runs the cleaner through the engine.

Since you'll be driving down into New Mexico, you might also want to have the A/C system checked out... that is, if it's equipped with A/C =) Last thing I'd want is my A/C to fail in 110 degree weather =)
 

KingNothing

Diamond Member
Apr 6, 2002
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I've had the PCV valve replaced recently, now that you mention it. The thing about my oil burning is, there's never any smoke. I've had someone watch the tail pipe while revving it in neutral, I've had people follow me while I'm driving, nothing. There's never a leak on the ground either. It just burns clean away. I cleaned my engine a while ago, and there weren't any places I could see oil leaking onto it.

I had the oil changed in my transmission about a year ago also. I remember because I had to have them redo it because the oil they put in made my shifts stiff. Is there anything else that needs to be serviced on a manual? I do have A/C, thanks for reminding me to get it checked out. So the list so far is:

Coolant flush
Fuel system backflush/clean
A/C check
Brake check
Oil change with heavier weight oil
Spark plugs (don't know that they've ever been changed)

I should mention that I want to keep the car for at least 50,000 miles more, as long as it doesn't cost too much to do so.
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
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If you put a lot of miles on the car, like, if you'll be doing an oil change again before winter... you might try a straight 30 weight or straight 40 weight rather than a multi-grade. Straight weight oils have more base oil, which is what does the lubricating. But you ONLY should use them in warm climates where you don't need the multi-grade oil to keep it viscous at lower temps.

*EDIT* Also consider spark plug wires... take a look at them, make sure the insulation isn't cracked and that the boots don't feel brittle. You could also check them if you have an ohm meter. I believe normally they should have 1000 ohms of resistance per foot of wire... so probably somewhere between 1000 and 2000 ohms per wire depending on it's length. (someone correct me if my numbers are wrong, but I believe it's about 1000 ohms per foot)
 

KingNothing

Diamond Member
Apr 6, 2002
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New Mexico will be 2400 miles round trip, plus whatever driving I do while I'm down there so I'll definitely need an oil change before winter. Is it bad for your car to switch back and forth between oil weights like that? I live in Nebraska so I definitely need a multi-grade oil for the winter here.
 

Compton

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2000
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Maybe it was mentioned and I missed it, but you should take a look at your radiator hoses and heater hoses. And while you're at it, how about a thermostat.
 

Priit

Golden Member
Nov 2, 2000
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If your car loses oil, valve seals may have gone bad. I had to replace them on my VW Golf when I got it (made in 1990, had ~200 000km on it then), it burned about 1 litre of oli during 1000km. It didn't even smoke, just burned oil. After replacing valve seals, I don't have to add oli between changes (15 000km). Replacement parts (new seals and gaskets) cost around $5 :)
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
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No... it's not bad to switch between grades of oil... I do it every year in my cars... straight 30 weight in the summer, 5-30 in the winter. My 1977 Olds Cutlass has near 100,000 miles on it an uses about a quart every 3000 miles. It's used that amount of oil ever since I got it at around 60,000 miles. So... I'm convinced my oil changing habits work fine =)
 

KingNothing

Diamond Member
Apr 6, 2002
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gear oil? As in manual transmission oil? I had that changed about a year ago, I think.

Anyone know how much I should expect to be charged to check and/or replace the valve seals?
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
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Originally posted by: Skoorb
At the least switch that oil to 10w-30.

What would that do? It's still a 30 weight oil when the engine is at operating temperature whether you use 0w-30 or 20w-30.
 

KingNothing

Diamond Member
Apr 6, 2002
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What do the different W ratings mean for oil? In case anyone missed it, I spend most of my time in Nebraska where the yearly temperature range is about -10F to 100F.
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
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A straight 30 weight oil for example, has been tested at 212 degrees F (or 100 degrees C) and meets the SAE requirements to be labeled 30 weight oil when it's hot. A multigrade oil, such as 5W-30 has been tested at both 0 degrees F (-18 degrees C) and 212 degrees F, and meets SAE requirements to be labeled 5 weight oil at 0 degrees F and a 30 weight oil at 212 degrees F.

That doesn't tell you a whole lot does it? Basically, the numbers are just numbers. They actually have a scale called the viscosity index, and these numbers fall on that scale. Oils with a high number thin less with heat than oil with a low number, and obviously, a higher number will thicken more at lower temperatures than a lower number. Lemme see if I can put this into perspective...

------------------------|__________|------- Here's the useful temperature range of a straight 30 weight oil
-----|_____________________|------- Here's the useful temperature range of a 5w-30 oil

As for what the W means specifically, a lot of people think it means Winter. That's untrue. It means weight. 10w-30 starts out as a 10w oil (10 weight), and additives are added to it to keep it from thinning so much at higher temps. A straight 30 weight oil starts out as a 30w oil, and doesn't have those extra high temp viscosity improvers added because it doesn't need them, however, it will get VERY thick at low temperatures.

Here's a little tidbit of info from one of my old books from college... it's a chart of how many % of the oil is made up of viscosity improvers.

SAE 5W-30 - 7-8%
SAE 10W-30 - 6-8%
SAE 10W-40 - 12-15%
SAE 20W-50 - 6-8%

At first glance, you might think, wow, 10W-40 has the most, it must be the best. I'd disagree. If it has 12-15% viscosity improvers, that means only 85-88% of the oil actually lubricates the engine. Minus all the other additives like oxidation inhibitors and anti-corrosion additives.

Also... the viscosity if your oil changes as your oil gets dirty, it gets thinner because the polymers that are used to make a multi-grade oil stand up to heat break down. Which is why you may notice the engine uses more oil when you need to change the oil. And, sort of ironically, thinner oil is more subject to oxidization, which forms sludge.