Vr Problems...

[steve]

Hi guys, I'm new here, and like it. very handy.

I recently bought a VR 94 station wagon, and have discovered a couple of things that are a problem.

1. When the car starts up, even if it's hot, it blows a puff of blue smoke.

It's only done 130,000kms and it shouldn't be doing this...

I've already had the auto transmission looked at, and had the front pump replaced and a couple of seals and the bush, all under warranty, but it seems this may not be.

2. The other thing, is there seems to be a design fault with the heating coil/pipe in the car for the heater. I've recently installed a cd player in the car, and my cds come out very warm nearly everytime (if they've been in for while). I did have the unit in another, so it's not the cd player.

Is there anything I can do about this? put some insulation around the pipes? or something? not sure. 'cause sometimes you need to just cool that entire middle console. it's crazy.

thanks,
steve

 

[MaNiac_VP]

I can relate with the headunit heating up.
Its bad in summer, but theres not much u can do and i guess that as long as your CD player is still working then there's not much point trying to do anything about it.

The smoke wouldnt be engine damage it would most likely be your engine running rich.

Do the usual, check the filters, spark plugs, leads etc.

Blue smoke usually means wear in a cylinder, rings or valve guides, but on a Buick or ECOTEC its very very rare. Especially on a young engine.

If performance is upto scratch and u dont have to add oil much then i wouldnt be too worried.

Your other option is to take it for a really long drive down the freeway, like 300 km of driving at 110kmh. This can sometimes remedy the problem if the car had been sitting somewhere for a long time and not used.

 

[MuNtEd]

yes i can also relate to the head unit heating up
when i have taken off the face it seems quite hot
not much i can do about it besides get a thermostat and have
a game of lets see how hot i can ge the stezza untill it fries itself.

 

[fergi]

hi steve is car still under warranty
a puff of blue smoke on start up often means valve guides are worn,also on vr,s GMH decided to give the pistons more tolerance in the cylinder bores to improve economy ,only problem was that they started to blow a bit of smoke and use a bit of oil a bit earlier in their life.does the car use any oil,if not then as maniac suggested it may just be a bit rich in the fuel mix on start up.there is a procedure to test wether its valves or rings by doing a compression test and adding about a teaspoon of oil into each cylinder then redoing the compression test.i would suggest if car is still under warranty get a different mechanic to test it out for you.
keep us posted on it
cheers fergi

 

[steve]

QUOTE
hi steve is car still under warranty,


Yeah fergie, it is still. I only bought the car in late August from a second hand dealer, and It's a two year unlimited km warranty. with condtions etc (obviously)

QUOTE a puff of blue smoke on start up often means valve guides are worn,also on vr,s GMH  decided to give the pistons more tolerance in the cylinder bores to improve economy ,only problem was that they started to blow a bit of smoke and use a bit of oil a bit earlier in their life.does the car use any oil,if not then as maniac suggested it may just be a bit rich in the fuel mix on start up.there is a procedure to test wether its valves or rings by doing a compression test and adding about a teaspoon of oil into each cylinder then redoing the compression test.i would suggest if car is still under warranty get a different mechanic to test it out for you.


Very interesting, I'll tell this to my mechanic I think.
His suggestion was not really to worry at this stage that it's using a fair bit of oil, and that when I bring it in next for the service we measure how much it's used. Fair enough I spose, but I'd rather have it fixed than measure the amount of oil that's passing out the exhaust.

Unfortunately I think that there is something seriously wrong with the car. I've done about 8k kms since getting the car (yes, I know it's a lot) but I know for a fact that cars and engines this young shouldn't be going through nearly 3 litres of oil... My parent's VN has done 340k and it doesn't even go through a litre every 10k during services.

So yeah, thanks for the quick responses guys (and girls).

Oh, just before I forget, I had a look at the VIN number, and tried to match it up from the pages here on this site, and mine didn't come up.

It's VIN is 6H8VRK35HRL

The car has airbag and abs. not sure if they are standard, extra or added after purchase - (I still don't know too much about cars, but am slowly learning)

that may be of interest. anyway, gotta go. thanks again.

Oh, and yeah, performance it up to scratch. it runs great

-Steve

 

[MaNiac_VP]

3 litres over 8,000Km isn't TOO bad but i guess there is some engine wear somewhere.
Compression test is the next thing to do mate.

 

[steve]

Hi guys,

I just thought I'd update you on the action that was taken to repair the problem with the car.

Basically, as my mechanic first thought it could be, it was the valve stem seals.

The springs on the valves were broken, so therefore it let the oil flow down the cylinder.

Strangely enough, the valves were different colours. may different for in and out, but new ones were all the same colour.

only cost $150 to fix too. better than first thought at $300 or so.

weird huh? oh well, thought I'd just leave an update.

Thanks for all the help and advice.

-steve