My 91 Protege LX is smoking really bad. It's a 1.8 DOHC and it's blowing a white-ish/blue color so I know it's oil. It tends to smoke at idle, starting out from a light or from a stop like for a stop sign, and if I give it a lil gas. Any ideas/suggestions on what could be wrong and what I can do to fix it?

Adam
91 LX

 

I can never remember whether this is piston rings or valve seals, but either way, it's bad news.

Just keep an eye on your oil level (you may be burning as much as a quart every 250 miles) and start budgeting for a new motor (JDM motors are around $500-700). Rebuilding is considerably more expensive (like $2500+). You might be able to get away rebuilding the head if it's only the vavle seals.

And if you don't keep track of your oil level, you could be in for a new engine much sooner.

But, friends have driven cars like that for years. It's just not good for your catalytic converter or the environment.