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From: guzman@ttidcb.UUCP (Marc Guzman)
Newsgroups: net.auto.tech
Subject: Oil burning and piston rings
Message-ID: <518@ttidcb.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 1-Nov-85 19:13:31 EST
Article-I.D.: ttidcb.518
Posted: Fri Nov  1 19:13:31 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 3-Nov-85 14:28:25 EST
References: <314@g.cs.cmu.edu.ARPA> <187@cdstar.UUCP> <289@watmum.UUCP>
Reply-To: guzman@ttidcb.UUCP (Marc Guzman)
Organization: Transaction Technology, Inc. (CitiCorp), Santa Monica
Lines: 34
Summary: Burns oil, smokes on shift, how to fix ? 

< who is for dinner >

	My `79 Plymouth (Mitsubishi) Champ, with ~92k miles, emits a puff
of grey smoke when I shift. Oil consumption has gone up also. This obvious
pollution bothers me. My question is, what is the most cost effective
solution that will last around ~25k miles. Some possible solutions :

	1) Poor some kind of gunk into the oil that 'fills and seals
	   scratches'. I imagine this just postpones the problem for
	   a short time.

	2) Replace the rings. Is this job too tough to do myself?
	   Should other things be replaced at the same time? Are
	   they a hassel to replace. Can this sort of stuff be done
	   with the engine still in the car. The Champ is fwd, with
	   a transverse engine.

	3) Replace the engine with a used, rebuilt, new engine?

	4) Replace the car.

Seems to me, that solution 2 or 3 is probably the way to go. Any comments.
Thank you in advance.


p.s.	I realize the unburned hydrocarbons from the oil, may have
	fried the converter, but that's a different problem.

p.p.s.	While searching for a new car to replace my wife's `75 Honda, I
	found that the Champ is very reliable, economical, coffin.
	In both the NHTS(?) crash tests, and the Highway Insurance
	Loss Data, the Champ and it's identical twin, Dodge Colt, have
	very poor scores. This means deadly in a crash.