QuestionQUESTION: hi,i bought a 99'eclipse spyder with a 2.4 engine and got the oil changed with a castrol high mileage 20-50 and started smoking and the engine light went on,is this because of the kind of oil? it has 130 k miles and it was ok at first,thanks!
ANSWER: Hugo: I would check with the place that you bought the car at and see what kind of oil you should be using in the car. But to me that sounds like pretty heavy weight oil for that car. 130K is not a lot of miles for a car. I have had cars with 250K now that was high miles. With the engine light on the computer is picking up a problem in the system. If you got an AutoZone close by they will code your car for free and then you would know what the computer is picking up. Either way you need to get that computer coded to find out what is going on with your car. You could have plugged up a sensor with that oil too. Well get the car coded and see what that tells you. The computer controls everything in that car and so it will know what the problem is. God bless: Linda
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: thanks,linda,what kind of oil you think it'll be the best?i took the car to autozone and said that it's one out of three codes,one is a o2 sensor,second was the catalizer,other was valve seals,i asked them if it could be more specific and they couldn't,i changed the spark plugs but did not improve,thanks!!
ANSWER: Hugo: Do the o2 sensors I think there is two in your car and I bet they are causing your problems. That Oxygen sensor well two of them, I think there is two of them but anyway one is located in the exhaust manifold, so if the car was burning oil it could have messed up that sensor. Which is also part of the catalytic converter. You might check with the recalls on your car and there might be a recall on this too. But also could you not take the car back to where you bought it and let them change those o2 sensors for you? It could be there is only one but for sure you need to change the one located in the exhaust manifold. There is all kind of oil for cars, I use 10/30w. I know some of these oil changing places put in 5/30 but I won't use that for a car with over 100,000 miles on it, when I use 10/30 weight. But for these small cars, I think that is heavy enough. Still Hugo, you need to get that o2 sensor replaced and I bet your car will run better than. Changing the stark plugs would not change how the car pushes the oil. Did the car use oil before you bought it? Do you know this dealership where you bought the car? Could be the car has bad rings on it when you bought it and they doctored it up with something. Then when you changed the oil, you removed whatever they put in the car and so now it is burning oil again? I would be taking the car back to where you bought it and be asking some strong questions about this car. Or did it run ok, till you changed the oil? If so then it would be the heavy oil that you put into the car. But a 1999 model might need that o2 sensor replaced anyway. Hope this helps and God bless: Linda
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: thanks again linda,you'll see , when i bought it,it ran ok for about 2 weeks,then i got the oil changed;to start up some kind of record,and it kept running ok,suddenly one morning started smoking after sitting on my garage for about a week,and the engine light went on,i started using it and with the usage the smoke is starting to go away but it still smokes,lesser every day,but still smokes,but only on cold starts,as it warms up the smoke stops,i think that because of this kind of oil,that has some kind of additives that soften the rubber seals;it started smoking and eventually it'll go away,am i correct? the car runs really good.thanks!
AnswerHugo: Ok, if the smoking is getting better than with time it should work its self out. Maybe the car sat a long time before you bought it and so there is a lot of smoke to work through if for a better word. Still I would put in a better weight oil such as 10/30 weight because these little cars do better with that weight. Well I think so better watch it or I will get emails telling me I am wrong on that one. I hope you enjoy your car for many years and those spyders are a fun car to drive. It would help the car if you drove it often too. Have a good year in 2009, God bless: Linda
