QuestionQUESTION: hello and thank you for helping me out well i have a 95 suzuki sidekick and it has the 16 valve 1.6 engine in it with 200,000 miles on it and i just got it to run but it seems like its been awhile sence it ran but when it started i could see some white smoke out the tail pipe and when i riv it up i see oil smoke also i think but its alot of smoke and there was some white stuff on dip stick and oil cap but after running awhile that went away but still smoked out tail pipe so let me know what it could be and what i can do but i also can do headgasket change i have done one on a dodge neon so i can do one but i also wanted to know if its worth doing it or not so let me know what it sounds like and i also done a compression test and they all came out to be 190 in each and the normal range is 175 to 190 lol and also i drained a court of oil out of the engine to make it right at the full mark and also i had a cup under the tail pipe and in about 25 mins i got a ahlf cup of water come out of it lol so what now but the engine sounds real good the bottom end sounds good and all u can hear is the injectors ticking and thats it lol so let me know somthing and thank you very very much and i like long winded answers so tell me all u like and thank you so very much again your friend Holly
ANSWER: Ok, there are a couple of possibilities for each of what you described.
The white stuff on the oil cap and the dipstick could be either coolant from a leak, or it could be moisture from lots of short trips before you got the car. If the engine doesn't warm up completely and run that way for fifteen or so minutes, the moisture from running doesn't evaporate and get sucked out via the crankcase PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve.
The major symptom you will see if it's a head gasket is that one way or the other you will loose coolant. One way is that the head gasket will leak combustion gases, which are at a higher pressure than compression pressures into the cooling system, displacing coolant. You will see a radiator that is not full of coolant when you open the cap with the engine cold, and if you fill the radiator up, and put the surge bottle at the right level for a cold motor, it will have a tendency to overflow the surge bottle when the motor gets to normal operating temp. The other way is that the engine would "consume" the coolant, and you would have a consistent gradual loss of coolant with no external leaks. If the engine is "burning" coolant, and you have an antifreeze mix in the engine (usually 50/50 antifreeze and water), it will usually be possible to smell a sweetish smell (vaporized antifreeze) at the tailpipe while the engine is warming up. The smell changes and gets slightly more acrid after the converter gets warm.
All cars when warming up have a lot of moisture in the exhaust that condenses on the cold exhaust parts, and in colder climates they produce a pretty pronounced plume of vapor while warming up. All that condensed moisture evaporates pretty quickly when the exhaust heats up ten minutes later. That's also why the parts at the rear of the exhaust rust out faster on short trip driven cars, all that moisture stays there and corrodes the exhaust. Now you have to get a little twisted, and go sniff a few exhausts to see if yours has a distinctly sweeter smell, indicating a coolant leak into the combustion chamber.
The compression figures you gave sound like a healthy motor for 200k. One of the things that is a more common problem than worn out rings is rings partially stuck in their grooves in the piston, and not sealing well.
If I remember correctly, it's pretty easy to get the oil pan off, and put in new rings while doing a head gasket on your vehicle. I've done it on a couple of eight valve sidekicks, and a few 16 valve ones as well,and it was relatively easy. If you do that, make sure you change the rod bearings. It's also possible to change the main bearings without a major disassembly by loosening all the main caps, and then you can use a long skinny flexible screwdriver to rotate the upper main bearing out of place while slowly rotating the crank. You get the bearing back in the same way. all you have to do is make sure you put in an identical looking bearing and make sure it's oriented the same way. (There are locating notches)
Since it sounds good, and runs well, I would drive it around a little to see if you are loosing coolant, and if so whether it's being pushed out past the radiator cap, or appears to be being "burned".
Feel free to contact me as much as necessary to get the answers you need.
All in all, the Sidekick motor is very strong and reliable, and I've seen a lot of re ring and changes of bearings done with a head gasket replacement, and it's been quite successful.
More than 90% of the Suzuki motor failures I've seen have come from the owner failing to check the engine oil level with any regularity.
Let me know how it goes, and what you end up doing.
If you ever end up in the vicinity of western Colorado, let me know, I'll be more than pleased to either direct you to some beautiful mountain areas, or take you up some "scenic" jeep roads. (whatever works out)
Your friend, scotty
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: hey scotty its me holly again lol well i have more info on my ridge runner lol well i can leave it at idle for about 3 to 5 mins and then stomp on it and there will be a bunch of bluish white smoke come out the tail pipe and also i can keep it at 3000 rpm and a steady smoke will come out but a small amount comes out and it kinda looks white but the oil leave keeps rising lol have no clue there lol cause i took some out to make it right then it went back up i dont under stand its not milky so i dont know whats going in to the oil lol and it misses a little but i think its cause of the oil in combustion chamber but help a girl out here lol and your the only one that knows these things real well and your the man baby lol well let me know something and plz give long answer again cause i like it lol
your good friend
Holly
ANSWER: Ok, from your response, it seems likely that you have a ring issue. There is something that may be causing the oil level to keep rising. It's possible it's running too rich, and unburned gas is mixing with the oil and causing the level to rise. There is a pressure regulator for the injectors that may be malfunctioning, causing the injector pressure to be too high. Another malfunction could be that it has a hose connected to the intake manifold, and it could be leaking excessive fuel into the motor that way.
What does the oil on the dipstick smell like? Geese! First we sniff tailpipes, and now dipsticks! Welcome to the field of "Automotive Proctology"! If the oil is fuel diluted at all, that alone could cause oil smoke at the tailpipe. I live in cold and snow country, and see a lot of cold temperature short trip caused oil diluted by fuel and all kinds of stuff like oil smoke at the tailpipe. (was that a weird sentence, or what?) If the oil smells at all "gassy", change it along with the filter. If the smoking stops after a few minutes of running with the new oil, then see if the oil starts to smell "gassy" again, and if the oil level rises again. Then all you have to trace down is what is giving the engine too much fuel.
Really, seriously, go to the web site izook.com, and look at the links, and find someone who has real Suzuki service manuals for sale. (the Sidekick is totally different from Samurai, so make sure you get the Sidekick manual) Don't waste your money on Chilton or Haines manuals, or any of those "aftermarket" guys, because if you ever need to do any troubleshooting of electrical or emissions/fuel injection, the factory manual is the only place you can find decent accurate info. The only other way you could get decent info is if you have a friend who owns a shop and has Alldata or one of the other shop manuals on multiple DVDs. Sometimes, shops will, for a "consideration" print out that section of the manual, but I recommend just getting the factory manual, that way, if you need to look at a different piece of info, you have it there, ready to put greasy fingerprints on.
See what you can find out about the oil level and what's almost certainly excessive fuel delivery.
Get back to me, and we'll go from there.
Are you in warm country? We just had a little snowstorm yesterday, only about three or four inches, and it's melted out below 6500 feet. I got to go skiing for a couple of hours. Whenever it snows, we get "powder sickness", and there's only one cure. Untreated, we get grouchy and crabby, and generally unpleasant.
Scotty
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: hey i was driving it today and drove it longer well the smoke was gone at idle and when i gun it then the smoke comes out real quick then goes back down but the water dont look like its mixing and the oil smells like gas lol it real does its crazzy lol its a good ridge runner lol 4x4 works great and i live in west virginia and we got foot hills there alsome to ride on so let me know some more your good friend holly
AnswerFirst change the oil and filter. Then look at the vacuum hose for the fuel pressure regulator. (it's on the log manifold that sits on top of the injectors) Does it leak fuel with the engine running? Then you need to check the fuel pressure, and get into fuel injection and emissions control stuff.
I'll be gone for the weekend to a ski race. I'm going to go out and act stupid, and try to race with a bunch of retired Euro former racers. Anything but last will be absolutely wonderful.
scotty
