Mitsubishi Repair: 96 Eclispe GSX burning oil & low power, fuel accumulation, head gasket

Question
Hi.  I was hoping you can help me out with my problem.  I am having trouble finding an answer about my 96 Eclipse.  About 8 months ago, I took my car to the dealership to have a noise checked out.  Turns out it needed an exhaust manifold gasket, but some how they broke off a stud on the head cylinder.  I had another shop put a double gasket to reduce the noise, because they said the only way to fix it is to replace the head cylinder.  But since then I have been leaking oil somewhere, and when I am in park for over two minutes my car starts to smoke and have a burning smell.  Also my car does not have much power at at all.  It has been the worst this last month.  When I try to take off it will want to slow down and I have to step on the gas harder, then the RPM's get so high it backfires and jerks the car hard.  Please let me know if you have any idea what you think is wrong.  I hope you can help me out.  Thanks.

Answer
Lisa,
It sounds as though you may be leaking oil from your head gasket.  The scenario that may be happening is this:
When you first step on the gas, pressure builds up in your cylinders (as it should).  With a failing head gasket, you will loose cylinder compression, causing your spark plugs not to fire while fuel is still entering the combustion chamber.  After some of the pressure decreases, you gain back compression, your spark plug can now fire, but because of all the excess fuel accumulation in your cylinder(s), the engine generates too much heat, and you get a back fire.  A warped head gasket can also cause oil to seep out, and surrounding hot engine parts will cause it to burn away and you'll see smoke.

If this is the case, I would put the blame on the dealership.  The other shop you went to was most likely correct when they said a head replacement was probably necessary.  The dealreship broke a head bolt (which isn't too uncommon) but they must have torque it to so much to break, that it misaligned the cylinder head, which could be causing your head gasket to warp.  In that case, the dealership should be responisble for replacing the broken head bolt, reomve the cylinder head, resurface it, and reinstalling it with a new head gasket.  It's a lot of time, but if that dealership is worth their salt, they will admit to their mistake and fix this for free since it was their fault.  All parts and service performed by the dealership usually come with a 12,000 mile/12 month warranty on them.  

See if you can go back to that dealership and ask to speak with the service manager.  Tell them your story, what the other shop told you, and what I told you.  Hopefully you'll be able to work out an agreement for a fix that will not cost you much, if any.
Good luck!