Expert: Roger J.M. Warrington - 10/27/2004

Question
lumina has 144,00 miles .needs 1 quart of oil every 450-500 miles. if theres no oil water mix showing and no leaks found,what could be wrong?current owner says it has been this way since he bought it in 2001.

Answer
OK Jozie, I guess if you got thay many miles on that motor are you shure that it has NO leaks, get a large piece of cardboard and place it under the motor area at night after you drive in with a hot engine slide the cardboard under it, than in the morning look to see if there are any oil spots if yes you found a leak if no than we try this when is the last time you changed your plugs , are thay all black and fould looking if yes you are burning oil and you should go one plug sixze hotter to help with the problum
and if no leak or plugs are good and now go to your tail pipe and put your finger in it and touch the pipe to see if any stuff goes on your finger if it is black and oily you are burning it and if that is ok, well i guess that you are just using it and you are real lucky as if you see no oil leaks or you are not burning it  you are using it and I would think that you must be burning it but there is no smoke at this time so you are real lucky at this time if you find no other leaks or what ever as you will end up with a engine overhaul when you start smoking, if you passed the d.o.t. emmissions test you are not burning much as it would not have passed the test . so try what i told you and see what you find let me know ok thanks for the asking
bigw45