Hi Guys,

Im a relatively big rookie when it comes to cars, but I have a 92 Magna which looks like its experiencing some pain.

Recently the temperature gauge in the dash has been going up and down quite frequently, sometimes as near as 90% to the top (H) but only seems to last maybe a minute before it comes right back down to the middle.... it just does this non stop all the time I drive... nothing I do seems to trigger or make it happen... its just a random times...

Anyway the other day when I came home i thought i'd have a look under the bonnet and to my surprise the first thing i noticed was the main Engine block seemed VERY HOT.... like way too hot to touch... and underneath where i think the "head gasket" is there seems to be some liquid or oil that looks quite fresh....

Can anyone suggest what this may be? - and is it BAD?

Must note I had a similar problem a few months back but I worked out that was a lack of oil so I filled up the Engine with two bottles (i think 1L each) of Oil... that was only a month or two ago - so that should still be fine yeah?

Also about 1.5 years ago by Water Pump died and was replaced...

Cheers!

could be many things just guessing therasate might be sticking bottom hose may be weak and resticting water flow.can you post picture of the oil leak
will give us a better idea off where it is and what may be the cause hope this helps.
if you have trouble understand my grammer pm disciple he will be happy to tranlate it for you

blown head gasket :) poor maintenence..... have you topped up any of the fluids in the last year??

Ill Take some photos tomorrow?

blown head gasket? - how can I tell for sure? - the Car still drives okay...

Ill Take some photos tomorrow?

blown head gasket? - how can I tell for sure? - the Car still drives okay...

Pull out the oil dipstick and check the state of the oil. If its milky then you have water in the oil, caused by a head gasket. If not, then you might be ok.

Milky oil is the first sign

ok cool thanks ill do that first thing tomorrow

cheers dudes!

dipstick oil filler cap and radiator cap. if theres water in the oil or vice versa it looks like iced coffee :)

as you temp gauge is going up and down in temp after check the oil .from cold run the car with the radiater cap of for a while and see what happens (DO NOT PUT YOUR HEAD OVER THE RADIATOR) when the therastate opens see if the water is flowing or bubbles appear.
then check therastate and temp sender,

Hey guys,

Ok so i went to check the oil and was surprised to find the dip-stick was DRY! - Looks like im out of Oil...

I only just put in 2L about 1-2 Months ago!!!?? - Is that how often i need to put oil in?

Also... how much Oil should i now put in? another 2L?

AND.. lastly... What Oil do people recommend? - Can i just get the stuff from the Servo? and what W? - a low one 5W or higher?

Should i go to a store and get some Penrite? - If so can someone tell me which one to get... i dont mind spending a little - If its going to be worth it!

Its a 92 Magna that has done about 100,000kms

Cheers

Um, someone may know better than me and I might get in trouble for even commenting...
But my first thought would be that you have bigger problems than which oil to use, in the meantime, since there is no point spending a lot on an oil if its not going to stay in your engine, I would go for a cheaper, thicker (old engine) oil like Castrol GTX 20W-50, you will use a low one like 5W faster, particularly in an older model already using a lot of oil.

As for how much, I would use enough to top it up to the full mark, however much that is.

(also, you will save money by not buying oil from the servo, go to supercheap or something instead)

If it helps the difference between the low mark on the dipstick and the full mark is 1 litre
As for oil yeah woolies sell hombrand ;)
Methinks you have bigger issues but not much we can do online.

That is assuming he has any oil on the stick at all...

Lady at work complained about the oil light in her Magna coming on when going around corners . . . . took 4L of oil to bring it back up to full.

Some people should look after their cars better.

Keep a 5L container of oil in the car and check the dipstick monthly or every 1,000 km until you get a feel for how often it needs topping up.

Topped up the beast with 2L of Shell 15w-50 i think it was...

let it rest for a bit then checked the oil.. it was sitting about half way between low and high so thats good?

Started her up and straight away noticed the tracktor noise was gone after it got going... usually its quite loud...

drove to work and all seemed fine for most of the trip (good half hour drive) - until about 20 minutes in I noticed the Temp started to creep up again! - It was slower this time, usually does it after 5-10 minutes but it still managed to get pretty close to the top of the temp gauge...

anyway got to work... went for lunch about an hour ago... started her up... drove fine for about 500m then all of a sudden the thing just started shaking and jolting... like it was about to stall... this was only when driving really slow... so i turned around and took her back to work and havent driven it since..

any ideas whats going on here? - I heard from a co-worker it could be the spark plugs are clogged up with old oil or something?

Whats the go now? Is she about to die?

What level is the oil at now?

As i said - in the middle between low and high... which is a good amount right?

should i keep adding oil?

I havent checked the radiator to see if thats empty - might do that before i leave home tonight.

If its Jolting and struggling at low rpms... should i still drive it?

Oh and BTW... ive never seen a Check Engine or Oil light... either they are broken or i dunno?

Im pretty sure they do come on when i start the car... but neither have ever lit up whilst driving

Started her up and straight away noticed the tracktor noise was gone after it got going... usually its quite loud...


That noise is you valves ticking because they have no oil like a ticking time bomb.

Surprised you haven't seized a piston yet......

The closer to full the better, but don't go over the full mark. Can you see anywhere on the engine that looks like its leaking oil, or does it blow blue/grey smoke on startup or when driving?

As i said - in the middle between low and high... which is a good amount right?


No, you said it was between low and high after you added the oil, since then, you have driven the car, had the temperature go up and down, and started hearing a new noise, have you checked it since you drove it? It would help us to know exactly how fast you are losing oil, is it staying in there at all or is it leaking like a sieve?

Also, the full mark is the mark where you should fill it up to, not in between
You should check your water once it has cooled down a bit, don't open the radiator cap while its hot, probably before you go to drive home.

Just took some photos of the Engine.. didnt really know what to snap... but i saw a few areas that looked "wet" where possible oil could have leaked?

last photo is the dip stick... seems like theres more then i thought.

http://imageshack.us/g/824/img1304iy.jpg/

picture 1 pvc pipe,s looks blocked. the 2 pipe,s on top of rocker cover.
picture2 cam seal leaking. they all leak there
picture 4 rocker cover casket
there all easy fixes

Topped up the beast with 2L of Shell 15w-50 i think it was...

let it rest for a bit then checked the oil.. it was sitting about half way between low and high so thats good?

Started her up and straight away noticed the tracktor noise was gone after it got going... usually its quite loud...

drove to work and all seemed fine for most of the trip (good half hour drive) - until about 20 minutes in I noticed the Temp started to creep up again! - It was slower this time, usually does it after 5-10 minutes but it still managed to get pretty close to the top of the temp gauge...

anyway got to work... went for lunch about an hour ago... started her up... drove fine for about 500m then all of a sudden the thing just started shaking and jolting... like it was about to stall... this was only when driving really slow... so i turned around and took her back to work and havent driven it since..

any ideas whats going on here? - I heard from a co-worker it could be the spark plugs are clogged up with old oil or something?

Whats the go now? Is she about to die?

Best bet would be to get a mechanic to look at it. Driving it with low oil and while it's making any abnormal noises is NOT recommended, you could do further damage. There's quite a few oil leaks there for a car that you say has only 100,000km.

Have you noticed any water leaking onto the ground?
If not, and the temp gauge keeps going low and high, perhaps the radiator fans are not kicking in properly or the thermostat or water pump need replacing. It certainly sounds like the car needs some TLC. If you can afford it, I'd get the car serviced by a mechanic.. fresh oil & new filter, cooling system flush & refill & they can check over all hoses etc.

Also, when you turn the key to the "ON" position (without turning the engine over), does the OIL light come on? If this light does not turn on, then you may need to get a new oil pressure switch fitted.

When you drove around with low oil with the "tractor" noise you talked about, hopefully this hasn't done any damage to the internals of the motor but it is possible.

Finally! I didn't want to be the first one to point out that at some point, you should just take your car to a mechanic...

As a mechanic once told me (when I blew the head gasket on my 2.6L TS) 'There is no problem that a combination of my expertise and your money cannot fix' :P

Hey guys,

just thought id update everyone. thanks for all the help too!

so i took it to a mechanic and he said a few things needed fixing....

the spark plug were absolutely stuffed and a few cables or soemthing were lose... and the radiator had a leak...so he fixed all that and did a general service... cost me $200..

anyway drove out and the car was running fine for the rest of the week....until today.

was driving around and then out of no where i started the car and it started making the same sound and stuttering / jolting like it was about to stall... and i could hear this ticking sound from the engine that was there before...

anyway it pretty much died on me so i had a look to try and find what the ticking noise was and narrowed it down to this thing (see pictures)

The ticking was sparks coming out from underneath the start of the red cable / plug thing... so i think that needs to be replaced..

can anyone shed some light on what this is and how much it will cost to fix / replace AND... will i do any damage driving with it like it is...?

Cheers

Photos:

http://imageshack.us/g/692/magna2y.jpg/

thats the ciol pack . you can try pulling the lead out and cleaning the end make its pushed in far anough. a new coil lead or just tape the end

ah ok. what are they worth? and would i need to go to a magna parts store / mechanic or would anywhere else sell it?
it actually looked pretty clean and silver ie not dirty or worn... maybe the mechanic did replace it with a faulty one or something.... or could it be the actual box thing that the cable plugs into as thats where the sparks are actually coming from??

the coil packs arn,t cheap you can buy them any car store

So I need to replace the coil pack. I've taken it off so going to try and replace it myself.

does anyone know where in Adelaide I can find one and how much they cost?? I went to auto barn but they didn't have one. Going to spend all day tomorrow fixing it.

Might try Eddy Wreckers on south road I remember them having magna parts.

Cheers

Picked up a used coil pack for $20 from eddy wreckers. Installed it fine. Cars working good (for now). Will see how I go....