I'm going to be changing the oil and filter on a TP auto injected with 227,000 on the clock. The valve gear rattles like buggery when you start it then settles down in about 5 seconds. The engine bay is swimming in oil and the back of the car is blackened by what I think is oily/rich exhaust.

Last time I looked at this car (not mine) was about 3 years ago and when I pulled the air snorkel to the thottle body off, there was an oil pool at the bottom of the intake pipe so lots of oil going back to the intake via the breather tubes.

I'm thinking the rattle on start may be because of a non-genuine filter with no anti-drainback valve so I'm planning to get a genuine mitsu filter. The oil in the engine bay I'm guessing is caused by bad rings allowing too much blowby into the crankcase. The PCV valve was completely blocked last time and I'm guessing it will be again - I have a repalcement from a wreckers as the price last time for a new one was over $70!

It looks to me like most of the oil leakage is coming via the oil cap becuase all the other paths are blocked. I guess it could be coming out of the rocker gasket as well but will have to clean it up before I can tell. I'll be buying a case of degreaser as well...

THe owner has no money for repairs so it's a matter of keeping it plodding on at minimal cost. If anyone has any suggestions on what oil (and additives if appropriate) would be best for this situation I'd be interested in hearing it. I've warned him about the timing belt too..

I'm going to be changing the oil and filter on a TP auto injected with 227,000 on the clock. The valve gear rattles like buggery when you start it then settles down in about 5 seconds. The engine bay is swimming in oil and the back of the car is blackened by what I think is oily/rich exhaust.

Last time I looked at this car (not mine) was about 3 years ago and when I pulled the air snorkel to the thottle body off, there was an oil pool at the bottom of the intake pipe so lots of oil going back to the intake via the breather tubes.

I'm thinking the rattle on start may be because of a non-genuine filter with no anti-drainback valve so I'm planning to get a genuine mitsu filter. The oil in the engine bay I'm guessing is caused by bad rings allowing too much blowby into the crankcase. The PCV valve was completely blocked last time and I'm guessing it will be again - I have a repalcement from a wreckers as the price last time for a new one was over $70!

It looks to me like most of the oil leakage is coming via the oil cap becuase all the other paths are blocked. I guess it could be coming out of the rocker gasket as well but will have to clean it up before I can tell. I'll be buying a case of degreaser as well...

THe owner has no money for repairs so it's a matter of keeping it plodding on at minimal cost. If anyone has any suggestions on what oil (and additives if appropriate) would be best for this situation I'd be interested in hearing it. I've warned him about the timing belt too..
umm yer
that noise at start up that goes away after a few seconds sounds like your tappets common magna prob around that km
also the oily/rich exhaust?? do you mean after you start it blue/white smoke pisses out for a lil while?? if so thats the stem valve seals another common thing around that km

also you say that the non-genuine filter with no anti drain back... all the filters ive got havnt been genuine mitsu filters and theyve all had that anti drain back so yer :)

also maybe try draining the oil out and replaceing it with the thickest that will reduce the oil from the exhaust

im sure the others can help you with the rest...

...do you mean after you start it blue/white smoke pisses out for a lil while?? if so thats the stem valve seals another common thing around that km

No, surprisingly it doesnt have the blue/white smoke symptom, either at start up or in normal running. It just puts out a bit of black smoke to the point that it has put a light coating of oily black residue on the back of the car. So the valve rattle on startup isnt likely to be the wrong filter ? I figured that given the rattle goes away after a few seconds that the oil had drained out and was being pumped back in..

Thanks for the advice - any other suggestions greatly appreciated.

The rattle I would say is the counter balance chain, very common in Magnas. The description you give makes me think that it is that, because *most* TP's had auto adjusters running off the oil pump for the counter balance chain, if the chain is worn until the oil pump gets pressure the plunger which adjusts it isnt going out to fully adjust it.

The oil in the intake snorkel is probably indicitive of badly worn rings, again common on the Astron at this age, this would also explain the oil and suit at the back of the vehicle. This is easy to check - do a compression test, wet and dry.

Finally, the oil leaking out the filler cap - try this - turn it all the way then turn it back 1/8 to a 1/4 of a turn, I found on ALL my Magnas if the cap is done up all the way it leaks out there, dont ask me why but it just does :)

Great advice - thanks !

Black deposits out the exhaust isn't oil. It's unburned fuel,

Black deposits on the rear of the car, caused by dirt attracting to the oily film is a result of leakage, not burning. (My Windup used to dump all it's oil out onto the exhaust manifold at 3850rpm. Made a GREAT smokescreen)

well my elantes around 200,000 and i have a few of these problems.

I have the startup noise in the lifters, but id describe it as a rumble and it stops as soon as the little oil light goes out. Im gonna flush the oil and put some fresh stuff in it and see what happens. Also when i changed the timing chain, the gf's stepdad seperated the 2 halves of the oil pump, then put them back together, i think it may be a little dodgy itself.

With the oil in the intake snorkel, once again i had the same thing, fixed by replacing the PCV, i think it has to do with the fact that the oil wont go out that way when air is being sucked in through there via the PCV. You may also be getting oil through the exhaust because of this, the oil goes into the snorkel and then through the throttle body and into the engine. I cleaned the throttle body and it went from black to silver and raised the idle up be around 500 (i reajusted it).

oh and $70 for a pcv is steep, im pretty sure bursons has it for around $30

Black deposits out the exhaust isn't oil. It's unburned fuel,

Black deposits on the rear of the car, caused by dirt attracting to the oily film is a result of leakage, not burning. (My Windup used to dump all it's oil out onto the exhaust manifold at 3850rpm. Made a GREAT smokescreen)
yer ive got this problem too but i find it only spits it out in the morn cos of all the condensation and water in the muffler/system buy yer you cant stand near the muffler in the morn unless u want dotty black pants lol... but onces it warm doesnt do it but annoys me cos its a ***** to get off of the chrome tip

well my elantes around 200,000 and i have a few of these problems.

I have the startup noise in the lifters, but id describe it as a rumble and it stops as soon as the little oil light goes out. Im gonna flush the oil and put some fresh stuff in it and see what happens. Also when i changed the timing chain, the gf's stepdad seperated the 2 halves of the oil pump, then put them back together, i think it may be a little dodgy itself.

With the oil in the intake snorkel, once again i had the same thing, fixed by replacing the PCV, i think it has to do with the fact that the oil wont go out that way when air is being sucked in through there via the PCV. You may also be getting oil through the exhaust because of this, the oil goes into the snorkel and then through the throttle body and into the engine. I cleaned the throttle body and it went from black to silver and raised the idle up be around 500 (i reajusted it).

oh and $70 for a pcv is steep, im pretty sure bursons has it for around $30

Funny you should mention the throttle body, when I was looking at it this week, I found it wouldnt idle, just kept stalling, so I adjusted the idle screw which 'fixed' it but I'm expecting to find a very dirty throttle body and probably blocked passages around the idle control motor.

I checked with Bursons on the PCV - $19. Mitsubishi wants $86 for the same part :bowrofl:

Black crap out the exhaust and suiting up the back of the car is probably burning oil, so long as the smoke is blue :)

This weekend, the brother in law's TP got new oil, filter, plugs, PCV valve, half moon camshaft seal and rocker cover gasket as well as a good dose of throttle body cleaner and 4 cans of degreaser.

As expected, the intake had quite a bit of oil in it with the bottom of the air filter well soaked.

After all the above items were replaced, the car idles better (had to reduce the idle speed) and doesnt appear to be leaking oil in the engine bay. It blows a bit of blue smoke on startup but that goes pretty quickly. Compression is 150 on 1 & 2 (a bit slow to get there too), 160 on #3 and 170 on #4. The rattling noise on start up seems to have reduced quite a bit, no doubt from the new oil (Castrol 20W50) and the fact that it's now running with a full oil load rather than just enough to just touch the bottom of the dipstick. Certainly seems to be around the timing chain area.

Will see how it goes. Next thing that looks to be on its way out is the alternator. Intermittent brightening and dimming of dash lights followed by periods of healthy voltage.

And I got the mileage wrong, it's 277,000km, not 227,000km.

I think it would a good idea to try a cleaner in the oil just prior to an oil change. Find one that has toluene, methyl ethyl ketone, ethylene glycol monbutyl ether, methanol, something pretty strong and volatile. This will clean the lifters and stop the noise on startup.
The same stuff can be used in the gas tank to keep the injectors clean.

Why not look on ebay and see if he can get another one in $200- 300 range and make one good one.
There are some good cars that only "seem" to need a like work to get them right. I will be doing this when I move to the North Island latter this year.