I've just about had it with this car...

[RobK]

I don't know where to start but at the beginning...bare with me please:I bought this car last year in January as an R title for 3000. Original miles was 150,000. Day 2 of owning it the temp. went up and heater died. After resurfacing the head and replacing the head gasket all was well until August when it did it again. Car up and just died in November. In Feb. this year I went to a reputatble junk yard and bought a whole new motor with 70,000 miles for 960.00. Car ran great for two months. But then I noticed white smoke BILLOWING out for a while then it would disappate. This happened here and there for the next month, like once every two weeks. I also noticed some performance loss, like when going up hills I would lose power. Local traffic isn't a problem at all, highway driving I notice some hesitation when hitting 70mph or higher. Now...the worst part. I am either seriously leaking oil, or it's burning off, because I had to drive 200 miles yesterday (had to, seriously) and I checked the oil level before leaving...no oil on stick. I put 2 quarts in, oil stick reads full. I get to my destination, which was like 100 miles away: check oil stick, no oil. Put 2 more quarts in, reads full. get back home, guess what? no oil on stick. I am seriously stressing out so much because I need this car bad for work and I've already paid just as much in repairs as I did buying the car. I always keep up on all fluid levels!!! Now the old motor that went bad had coolant leak issues. But temps and coolant levels in this motor are fine...a/c, heater, all are doing their jobs and aside from this oil issue the car runs as well as you can expect...Now, I looked for leaks under the car, and I did notice an oil drip...timed it to one drop every 7 seconds. but here's the weird part, it looks like it's leaking from either the transmission area (it's oil, I know tranny fluid is red) or on the exhaust line area...but I'm not sure if the oil is running down a seam somewhere and dripping from the lowest point it flows to...I've been on this forum for a while, and I respect all the advice given with my old problems...is there ANYONE out there with my same problem that can give me some good advice???

[VforVIBE]

What happened to the car that it's got a salvage title?

[star_deceiver]

Take a few pics. Try to look around and see if it's coming from up the side of the engine. This is easier with the engine dirty so don't wash it off.Have a look at and grab a wrench to see if any bolts are loose on: The Valve cover, VVTI bolts, Oil pressure switch, Oil pan, ect.Is there a space between where the transmission mounts to the engine. I would think that a rear seal leak would go directly into the tranny but I've never seen under the hood (in person) of an auto tranny Vibe.Good Luck!

[RobK]

well, the old registration card was in the car...and I googled their phone number...they were actually real nice about me calling them and told me that the car was in a flood, and that the car was ran from florida to west virginia and hit a deer on the way up, and she basically ran the engine bad most of the way, with low oil and stuff...but since that info, I bought a new(er) engine with half the mileage of the original...now I also replaced the cat last spring, but didn't replace the two O2 sensors which is recommended.

[RobK]

also, I replaced the oil pan last month...pulled too close to a railroad tie and bent the bolt inwards...and it's dry all around the pan...now since the engine got replaced, some items came up missing after the replacement such as: the heat shield that goes over the top O2 sensor, and the plastic cover that goes over the engine itself. I checked the coolant and oil fluids to see if I smelled or detected either mixing and nothing like that on either end...also, I don't own a camera so pics are gonna be hard...but I'm a hell of a describer with details so that's the best I can do for now. My dad and I are gonna have a look at it tomorrow so I'll keep you guys posted...keep the suggestions coming in the meantime!

[TONY TAT2]

http://www.ehow.com/how_594854....htmlAges back,but the last junk yard motor i bought had the wrong dipstick in it. Would smoke like a freight train cause it was over filled.

[06pvibe]

Oil leaking from the tranny area is almost exclusively a rear main seal problem.White smoke is water/coolant.Nuff said.

[RobK]

if it is a rear main seal leak...is it a costly repair? Or is it something I can get fixed for relatively cheap? About the white smoke issue, that happens very intermittently...last time was two weeks ago after I parked the car at an incline that had my passenger side elevated a tad bit. When it does smoke I hear the engine knock and the car loses power...then it clears up and everything is back to normal. I'm hoping that problem is linked to the oil issue, and not another separate problem...

[star_deceiver]

A rear main seal will involve pulling the transmission, torque converter, drive axles.... all for a $3 part!Did you take it to a shop the last time you had the head gasket replaced? Has it overheated since then?

[RobK]

I'm going to list all my problems and following repairs in order from purchase to current. I think this is the most detailed I've put the problems into words. Here goes:Jan. 10: Probem - Temp goes to max, heater doesn't work. Solution - take to used dealership to have head resurfaced. May 10: Problem - Car hesitates horribly and bad smell coming from under car Solution - Replaced cat converter Aug 10: Problem - Considerable coolant leak, temp guage goes up and down. Heat and AC don't work. Solution - can't afford a new head, so I contiunously replenish antifreeze when needed, which is every day. Until car just gives out in Nov. I decide in Dec. 10 that I'm going to let the car sit until my income tax comes in and just buy a new motor.Feb. 11: I buy a motor with 70,000 original miles for 960.00.Mar. 11: Problem - large cloud of white smoke billows out of tailpipe for about 45 sec. while knocking noise comes from engine. Car driveability returns to normal. Solution - check all fluids, which are normal, check for leaks, there are none.Same problem with smoke and knocking happens intermittently from March until 3 weeks ago.May 11: Problem - oil pan bolt is shoved at an angle from pulling too close to a railroad tie in my yard. Solution - replace oil panJune 11: Problem - oil completley dissappears from dipstick prior to prior to long drive. Put 2 quarts of 5w30 and it is filled. Get to destination about 150 miles away, oil is gone on dipstick again. put 2 quarts of 10w30 in. Return home no oil on stick again. Put two more quarts in of 10w30. (during this trip, i stayed between 2k and 3k rpms, driving between 70 and 80 mph. during trip, hesitation occured several times as well as loss of power, dropping speed to 60 mph. Solution - Took to mechanic that put new engine in. Oil was still full from last fill, no leaks to be found. all screws seemed firm, complete underbody dry. small oil spots found near tranny area. (since the trip i've kept speeds low no higher than 60mph. 3 days ago: Problem - engine light came on steady. code read out was P420. low bank 1, indicating top o2 sensor.Now this coming wed. I plan to replace the spark plugs and o2 sensors hoping that will take care of some of the problems, but that damn oil leak is my new primary worry. Like I've said before, all the other fluids are perfect. Air works, heat works, no other problems that the oil issue and my exhause smelling rich.

[RobK]

Okay...yesterday I replaced the top O2 sensor behind the engine, and cleaned the mass air flow sensor with the recommended spray fluid...when I did this I had to take off the neg. battery terminal, and of course the engine light went out...took it for a test drive on the highway and up the mountains...car ran beautifully...good gas milege and lots of power...then this afternoon...guess what? Loud rattle from under hood/or under car, and a small amount of smoke comes out of tailpipe again...and engine light came on again...my wife said she notices this only happening after letting the car idle for a while in park......what is going on? I'm afraid to put any more money toward spark plugs and the bottom O2 sensor until I know for sure it isn't the cat or worse yet the engine...

[Baltovibe]

Quote, originally posted by RobK »Loud rattle from under hood/or under car, and a small amount of smoke comes out of tailpipe again...and engine light came on again...I had a Chevy that did this. It was a faulty head gasket that would intermittently fail, causing coolant to enter one cylinder and caused the engine to misfire and lose power, and blow smoke out the tailpipe. It would only happen once in a while.Eventually, the head gasket totally failed, destroying the engine.

[RobK]

well, I went to autozone yesterday for ANOTHER code readout, CEL goes on for a few days, then goes off for a few days...P0420...so I'm thinking bad cat...but as I said before, I changed the cat LAST summer...and about the smoke/head gasket connection...I hope it's not true...but last time I had head problems, the temp. guage would go up to the max, the coolant would always be low, and the heat and a/c wouldn't work...well all those past problems are non existent right now...great heat and a/c, no coolant loss, no temp guage issues...I'm hoping that the only problem is the cat...and if it is that, was I stupid for changing the upstream 02 sensor before addressing these issues?

[djkeev]

Heavy Sigh.....I hate when people have such problems with cars!!I also hate when they throw 1000's of $$ at the problems and still have problems!#1 A junk yard engine is a crap shoot. You might get a good one, you might not. You don't know what happened to the car it came out of or what conditions it was last run under. If a car crashed and ended up at a weird angle, flat enough to keep the fuel pump running but crooked enough to starve the oil pick up tube of oil or if the radiator was punctured losing all of the coolant and the engine continued to run for a period of time. You just do NOT know.I fear that you gambled here and sadly lost. A scrap yard engine's guarantee is most often that it runs. Yours does exactly that!!#2 White smoke, not blue / white smoke is a sure sign of one of three problems. a. Head gasket is shot, most often caused by over heating. b. Head is cracked or warped, also most often caused by overheating. c. Engine block is cracked, caused by overheating or freezing without antifreeze in the system.Often, the white smoke will only happen in the morning or after sitting and the engine becomes stone cold. When cold all of the metal contracts, getting smaller, and any cracks will open up and seep coolant into the combustion chamber. During the night or day, the coolant builds up in the combustion chamber and upon starting will cause clouds of white smoke. Go smell it, is a "sweet" smelling? If so that is a sure sign of being coolant. It will smoke for awhile but once warmed up the metal expands and the crack closes for the rest of the trip. While the coolant is being burned, the car will often run really poorly for the coolant doesn't burn and also water does NOT compress causing knocking and poor running. Extreme cases of water in a cylinder can blow out the top of pistons or bend connecting rods. This is a situation not to be taken lightly. The only plus is that you will have no carbon in the combustion chamber for it will be steam cleaned every day!!!#3 The oil usage. Again, if a car has been severely overheated, the rings can be damaged and stick into the grooves in the piston thus they end up doing very little of the work they were designed to do. The car would burn oil and lack power. Rings on a piston also rotate as the piston moves. IF all three ring gaps line up on occasion (rare occurance) you will lose power and oil.You don't specify what engine you have but all modern engine vent the oil fumes from the crankcase into the intake manifold to be burned. Most often they have a regulating valve (PCV), newer cars have higher tech devices but the result is the same, to let in crankcase oil fumes to be burned. These can malfunction causing excessive oil use. They regulate the crankcase pressure and open at a given pressure. IF they open at too light a pressure, excessive oil use. If the rings are worn which will greatly increase crankcase pressure, excessive oil use not only from worn rings but via the valve as well.Valve stem seals are a prime culprit of excessive oil usage. Focus on the intake valves for they suck in with every compression stroke and can and do suck in oil when the open. The rubber seals go bad and oil almost pours into the valve stem using a surprisingly large quantity of oil. If this is your case, your smoke will be white / blue and smell like oil.Why is this intermittent? Cars are like that, they hate people and will go out of their way to irritate us.The O2 sensors will have little if any affect on the smoke or oil usage. They will however be damaged from burning oil or coolant so the problems are most likely related.Step One is to find a QUALITY SHOP that can do a compression test and a cylinder leak down test. This will indicate the health of your Pistons, Rings and Valves. If these numbers are good, focus your time and money on the crankcase venting system and the valve stem seals.Step Two is to leave the car overnight at a shop with a coolant pressure tester fastened to it and pumped up to about 16 lbs. In the morning is should still be 16 lbs +/-. IF it isn't, there should either be a puddle under the car or a cylinder full of water. Pull the spark plugs and take a look. If there is water in the cylinder, you need to pull the head and find out why it is there in that cylinder. Doing another leak down test cold with a know coolant leak into a cylinder should produce a gusher of water out of the radiator cap!None of this is good news and it will all cost you money. STOP DRIVING THE CAR UNTIL YOU FIND THE PROBLEM!!!! These problems can and do cause significant expensive $$$ to fix problems with your engine.Good Luck,Really, these are great cars, trouble free and dependable. You've got a bad one, so sorry for that but it can be fixed.Dave

[RobK]

wow...very, VERY good info...that I didn't want to hear lol...the engine I have is a 1.8 DOHC and I have the moon and tunes package car. I will most definitely go and get all three of those tests done as soon as possible...do you know how much each one of those tests will run me?

[northvibe]

who did the install on the "new" used engine? the problem is, you bought the car with a bad engine or issues. Then you replaced it with a used engine, with unknown issues. does that junk yard engine have a warranty?

[RobK]

the engine had a 90 day warranty on it...but it's been past 90 days now...the mechanic was a retired GM mechanic that offered to do it for 200 bucks...his son works for my mom... I know what you're thinking, but I don't have the money to take it to a Pontiac garage.

[northvibe]

well it sounds like the junkyard engine is bad :/ for the most part the vibe is a very solid vehicle, but you have gotten stuck with some bad purchases and parts. Auto stores will usually rent or loan out tools, like orielys. So you could get a compression tool to check that. But if its eating oil like that....I'd be slightly worried a ring is bad or at best a seal is leaking the oil out of the car. You'd need to trace that oil to the leak.