Two Questions, Please help

General discussions about the Pontiac Vibe & Toyota Matrix. New members, introduce yourself here!
Post Reply
JerBear
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 5:18 pm
Location: Reedsburg Wisconsin

Two Questions, Please help

Post by JerBear »

First it's been a while since I was here as we sold our Vibe but I know that someone here might have a good way to fix my dilemma.

!st. My son's car, 2007 Base 2wd approx 107K on odometer. There is a heat shield in the center of the car that is held on by three bolts. The rear bolt is rusted and the treaded portion is stuck in what seems to be a plastic connector that is between the shield and the bottom of the car. I want to help him but he has VERY limited mechanical ability and lives in an apartment 8 hours drive away from me. At home I could probably jack it up and fix it but He's in Cincinnati. would removing the shield be a horrible idea? it is rattling against the tailpipe, is noisy any I'm concerned it may damage the tailpipe wearing a hole in it. It insulates the plastic gas tank from the exhaust heat that is why IDK if taking it out is a good idea. A mechanic in a strange town that is trustworthy not too easily found either.

2nd. The car we sold but I work with the purchaser and I want to help him if possible: 2004 Base approx. 150K I maintained this vehicle for 3 years and about the last 35K of milage. I always used Mobile One synthetic and quality oil filters. They put about 6-7k and went to change the oil it only had 2 quarts in it and when we sold it to them I had just changed the oil I even checked it before they left. This car (1.8) has never used so much as a drop in 6-7k mile changes now nearly 2.5 quarts? No smoking exhaust what would be a good place to start with that type of oil loss/consumption? It totally puzzles me. These motors are nearly bulletproof.

Thank you all for any ideas.
Jerry
User avatar
vibrologist
Posts: 1598
Joined: Sat May 10, 2014 8:24 am
Location: Iowa

Re: Two Questions, Please help

Post by vibrologist »

Removing the heat shield is not a good idea. The combination of heat, plastic and gasoline worries me. Maybe you can find some pipe wrap to put around the pipe and silence the rattle, at least until you can fix it properly.

I don't know about the oil problem. It is my understanding that the oil rings are getting clogged and weak over time and thus let oil into the the combustion chamber. You may have sold the car just as this process completed itself. That's pure speculation on my side.
Vibrologist
'05 Vibe

"It is important to know the difference between 'accurate' and 'precise' even if you are neither!"

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=43476
LobsterMan
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Jul 07, 2017 6:49 pm
Location: Oklahoma City

Re: Two Questions, Please help

Post by LobsterMan »

A brand name muffler shop (Midas?) should be able to fix the heat shield and would tend to be reputable. If the bolt can not be removed and replaced, chances are the shield can simply be wired up in place. Bailing wire is a great tool for many purposes. Don't knock it.

There are only two places oil can go. It can get consumed by the engine or it can leak out. Oil consumption will generally show up as black gunk on the spark plugs. The spark plugs are easy to get to on this engine so checking for this is straight forward. Four bolts removes the plastic engine cover, then each plug has a 10mm bolt holding the coil in place. Remove the first bolt, lift the coil up out of the hole, then put a spark plug wrench and extension down in the hole and remove the spark plug. It may be kind of tight. Do this to one plug at a time. Take a picture of the plug, then replace it. Continue to the other three plugs. If three spark plugs look good and one is gunky, there's your smoking gun - so to speak. Bad piston rings or valve stem seals can cause this - or a similar issue.

A leak is not too difficult to check for. If the car is parked in a garage, place some newspaper under it and see if any drips accumulate. If the car is not parked in a garage, try to park it in the same place each day for a few days to see if an oily spot appears. If so, someone will need to crawl under and have a look - or maybe have a look under the hood.

Personally, I'd hope for a leak rather than an internal engine issue. A leak is much more likely to be the cause and is easier to fix.

Lastly, it is possible that some doofus at the local oil change shop didn't put the right amount of oil in it the last time it was changed. Be sure they show you the dipstick each time they change the oil.
JerBear
Posts: 75
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 5:18 pm
Location: Reedsburg Wisconsin

Re: Two Questions, Please help

Post by JerBear »

Thank you for taking the time to answer/read my post. The "baling wire" method may be a good answer. The shield is intact and the hole where the rusted screw was has good metal all around it. I could Skype with him and walk him securing it with that method and while cobbled, would hold for quite a while.

The second issue is what really has me stumped, I changed the oil myself and I am very a-nal about following the same procedure ,even on something simple like an oil change. I literally put all of the quarts out in front of the car and count them before checking the dipstick at least three times. You can make huge mistakes by being too cavalier about how simple the job is.

I will talk to him about checking a plug for fouling. If a car is burning 2-3 quarts in 5-6 thousand mile it would be smoking badly. He said he was going to look for leaks and park it in the garage to get an idea if the car had a leak. The only other thing I can think it may be is a head gasket but usually if that happens the coolant goes into the oil, not the other way around but I'll mention for him to check the coolant level 2.5 quarts would cause a coolant overflow I think.

The thing that has me totally surprised is the 1.8 engine is not known for oil consumption and having had 4 cars with this motor and my history of oil changes with it the motor gave me back everything I put in it for the most part (albeit dirty) and now it goes wonky right after I sell it, I don't want the guy to think I hosed him.

Anyway, I appreciate all of your thoughts.
Jerry
LobsterMan
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Jul 07, 2017 6:49 pm
Location: Oklahoma City

Re: Two Questions, Please help

Post by LobsterMan »

Jerry,

I think I missed the part about you having been the last one to change the oil. My guess then is that the car has developed an oil leak. A puddle can usually be traced back to a source, but it might require crawling under there with a flashlight. You have to kind of get to know the lay of the land under there. If oil is everywhere, wipe it all down and check again the next day.

I forgot to mention that removing the coil from the spark plug will require a pretty good tug. When you reinstall it, push it down and it will snap back into place.

Before you have your son crawl under the car to fix the heat shield, be sure he can jack it up and secure it. Don't count on the car's scissor jack. You do NOT want to risk having a squished kid. Another method is to drive the car up on a curb with both wheels on one side. The higher the curb the better. That leaves a lot of space under the car to crawl around safely. The car can not fall off a curb. The exhaust is on the passenger side so drive the passenger side wheels up on the curb. Have someone outside the car provide left-right hand signals if necessary. After that, the repair should be a snap.

Good Luck!
cq358
Posts: 348
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 5:19 am

Re: Two Questions, Please help

Post by cq358 »

At low load, oil flowing into the combustion chamber was found to be the major consumption source (90 percent), while the
contributions of oil evaporation and of blowby entrainment became more significant with increasing engine load.
ftp://ftp.astmtmc.cmu.edu/docs/gas/emis ... 1-2909.pdf
Caretaker

Re: Two Questions, Please help

Post by Caretaker »

JerBear wrote:The thing that has me totally surprised is the 1.8 engine is not known for oil consumption and having had 4 cars with this motor and my history of oil changes with it the motor gave me back everything I put in it for the most part (albeit dirty) and now it goes wonky right after I sell it, I don't want the guy to think I hosed him.
Actually, these Corolla engines are notorious for burning oil mysteriously. I've had 3. All of them did. No smoke; no head gasket issue. Just poof; gone. I lose 2 quarts per 5,000 miles which is within specifications. I just give my alcoholic engine what it wants and plan on getting 300,000 miles out of it unless its "liver" gives out. :twisted:
Post Reply