Toyota Repair: Oil Useage and AC Noise, 2001 chevy prizm, chevy prizm

Question
Ted,

I have two problems with my 2001 Chevy Prizm, which I understand to be almost exactly the same as a 2001 Corolla. It has 104,000 miles on it and has a 3 speed automatic transmission and the 1.8 liter vvt overhead cam motor.

1. It uses a quart of oil every 400 miles. It has absolutley no external leaks and a new PCV valve. It only smokes on hard acceleration on the expressway. Plugs have to be replaced every 3 months or so due to fouling. It has been this way for at least 30,000 miles. Oil gets changed every 3 months, which is 7500 miles of highway use.

2. AC compressor makes a growling/grinding noise in the morning when I start the car and the defrost is on. The noise goes away after a few minutes. I'm fairly certain it's the compressor because if I pull the 7.5 amp AC fuse under the hood, the noise never happens. Also if I switch the airflow from defrost to floor when the noise is happening, the noise goes away.

Any help you could provide on either of these problems would be greatly appreciated. Other than these two problems, the car has been practically perfect.

Curt

Answer
One reason that there is wxcwssive oil consumption is that the piston rings may be worn, this is probably the case because the engine will smoke on acceleration.
The a/c noise I'm not sure about, if it was the compressor the noise would be there whenever the compressor is turning and it would not change when switching from defrost to to floor etc. Are you sure that the noise is not also there with the a/c off and using the fan only, if so the problem may be in the fan that blows air into the passenger compartment.