Specifically, blue smoke. I can rev to seven grand and no smoke. Only on initial launch after idling. Compression good, and even. Pulls out hard, no stumbles. Drinks oil intermittantly. No water in oil, but a cup or two worth of water has gone from the overflow in a month. Using 10w30 premium oil. No excessive cc pressure or dipstick ejections. Seals, or rings, or hg or vc leaking through plugs?

Thanks,
Nacho

Same symptoms as me, except my compression had alot of fluctuation.

What are your compression numbers?

BTW, here is what my stuff looked like:

based on that pic I can see which cylinder was leaking

Originally posted by RoninEclipse2G
based on that pic I can see which cylinder was leaking

And which one was that Ronin ;)

Originally posted by teklein

Originally posted by RoninEclipse2G based on that pic I can see which cylinder was leaking

And which one was that Ronin ;)

Cylinders with considerably cleaner valves tend to be a good sign ;)

So head gasket probably. It would be #4 that was more likely to fail?

Originally posted by nicho919
So head gasket probably. It would be #4 that was more likely to fail?

Post your compression numbers. Also, let it idle for like 15 minutes. It may eventually billow smoke.

compression test cold and warm. also do a wet one. :)

My compression numbers were 210, 212, 215, and 185. Wet, this jumped to 220. Any chance this is my head gasket? #4 dropped a buttload since when I last compression tested in April. If it's rings, it looks like I'll be doing the 2.4L EDZ swap a lot sooner.

It's smoking. It's always white smoke at idle, and then oil smoke under load. But my bottle is never empty. I'm fearing the worst now, and guessing #4 ring is broken/worn. If that's the case.... how long do I have to drive this thing before the smoke becomes too thick, the oil drains too fast, or it becomes inoperable?

There is no way for us to give you that answer over the internet. 1 day? 1 month? Shit, maybe 6 months.

get your car apart as soon as possible. i dealt with a similar problem 2 months ago which lead to a rebuild. if your gonna replace your headgasket, your might as well drop your pan and pop the pistons up and inspect and replace rings and bearings. dont drive too much. my problem was my ring landings were cracked and ready to come out in sections, had this happened, my cylinder walls would have been destroyed.

I would be doing the 2.4 swap right now, if I had the cash or time. I gotta go to school, and I've not got enough money to buy all the books as is.... This blows.

...take out a student loan and drop it all into your car. hell its what gets you to and from school. right?