general question regarding my 95 with 92K Options

[2celicas2love]

Ok, long story short I just got this 95, from a private owner with 91 k, clearly she didn't drive it much but she didn't up keep it too much but whatever, (it has been sitting most of its life) i got it for half of the blue book value. I took it to my *really good* mechanic and he did a full run down on it full mait, fluids all that good stuff.
he did a compression test and said its pretty good 132lbs, he did say the spark plugs did show some ash and he wants me to bring it back in 3,000 miles to check them again he said that he thinks *one of the cylinders might be having issues or it could be "sticky valves", its consuming oil at an abnormal rate and gas mileage is not what it should be, this may be due to the cylinder not performing,( i'm only generally mechanically inclined, no expert). Anyhow, the car runs and drives excellent , no issues there just looking for any feeback or advice anyone might have regarding the mechanical status.
2nd point, a man I work with is in auto school and said that in jan i can submit my car to his class to work on for free ( i just have to buy parts) and he said they will do a complete valve job, etc to get the car up to par.
Just wondering if anyone thinks I will need a valve job right away ?

This post has been edited by 2celicas2love: Oct 14, 2009 - 2:00 AM

[Hanyo]

from the sound of it, it sounds like you have a leaking valve seal.

From my understanding it does not harm the engine to drive the vehicle with a leaking valve seal. The only problem you will have is fouling out spark plugs and require replacing them more frequently.

But as always, preventative maintenance 100x cheaper then repairs.

Driving now with leaking valve seals will:

1) contaminate your catalytic converter (about 250 dollars in california because all cats sold in california must have a serial number)
2) ruin your oxygen sensor (generica oxygen senser is around $70 for generic or $150 dollars from toyota)
3) lead to a ton of carbon deposit on your valves (this can lead to valve seat failure and possible require a new engine head $1500 because of labor)

Those are just a list of possible problems with running a car that burns oil.

But from my own experience with dealing with burning oil cars, You generally can drive them for many years without problem. However once you notice a problem it will require replacement of the entire engine.

just my 2 cents.

Whoa. That's low. Mine gets 27 mpg, and I'm a very 'spirited' driver.

I'd definitely have it looked at. Our cars should not be getting below 25 mpg.

my car gets less then 25 all the time. The main reason is because I do a lot of short trips and majority of the time the engine is idling at a traffic light or warming up on my drive way.