I have a 98 Avenger that I swear gives me more problems....a few years back y'all might remember (or maybe not) me telling y'all how it kept dying at stops and after a few shop visits, countless suggestions and blown cash in various un-needed parts the problem was a bad EGR. Still every now and then it would kill and take several minutes before it would start again. Then one day it just refused to start at all. Would turn over but zilch. Took it to the shop for scanning. CkPS? No. Well maybe. Distributor? Maybe. No. PCM? Definitely. Picked up a used one, had it flashed, replaced faulty CkPS and the car starts. There seems to be a problem though. It would fall on it's face on accelerations and die at times most inconvenient. The mechanic suggested a tune up due to possible fouled plugs. That seemed to help but while changing the plugs I noticed that the "tubes" the plugs are recessed in are full of oil. (Covering the plugs) The seals at the top of the tube are new, but seem to be leaking because with the engine running oil is bubbling out and pouring down the valve cover. Only cylinders 2, 4, & 6 seem to be effected. Ever see that?

One other thing, the car "bucks" at 60 mph and kills frequently at stops. And I just changed plugs, wires and EGR.

 

If you replaced the tube seals and the valve cover gasket did you torque it down properly ??? I did a set and had leaking issues and the o rings were not seated properly and pinched at install ... After that I clean the valve cover with brake cleaner and use high temp RTV to "glue" the seals in place and let that set up several hours before inverting it and installing, also a light coat on the opposite side before installing will help seal them up as well ...
Only other thought are the plugs tight ??? I;ve seen loose plugs have the same effect

 

That is exactly what I did...a little brake clean and high temp RTV. And everything is tightened properly. Let it dry, took it for a test drive, ended up walking home. Just as it reached 60 mph it started the bucking thing and died. And wouldn't start. On a good note, the tube didn't fill with oil.

 

I had the same issue with my car "bucking"...I replaced the coil pack, crank sensor, cam sensor, wires, plugs, and after all that it was still doing it. (Luckily I work at a shop at it didn't cost me my life savings.) But after all was said and done today the car started "bucking" again...after fiddling around with all the wires I could think to check, there was a loose screw on the batt terminal causing my headaches! Make sure all your connections are tight and well secured, I was about to buy a computer thinking that might be it...hope this helps...

 

well it just won't start. going to the dealer June 8th. good thing I can rely on the old (85) Dodge Ram.

 

Well I finally got my car back. It sat in the dealers service parking lot for two weeks before anyone looked at it then they said it needed a distributor because there was no fire. Thank God for the internet where I found a brand new one a hell of a lot cheaper than they wanted. That solved the non-fire situation but it still wouldn't start. The first thing they suggested was fouled plugs. I argued that because I had just changed them and the wires. After a compression check it was determined that the back cam was out of time. Somehow it jumped a couple of teeth. Fortunately, the timing belt wasn't damaged and no valves were bent and the car seems to be running well. Unless you include the fact that it smokes now. A blue colored smoke from the tailpipe. I had to replace the battery and starter as they were wore out at the shop from all that trying to start. Just glad to have it back running, it was in the shop for two months.

 

Your burning oil. If it doesn't go away after a while (i assume you got some in the cylinders from any that was in the plug wells when plugs were pulled for a compression check) then you probably have header issues where oil is getting by somewhere. Simple check is gaskets, worse case is warping or bad parts.

 

Yeppers it was oil burning off because it went away. Must have been oil in the cylinders. But check this out...while driving down the road the car will just shut off and then right back on. Kinda like flipping a light switch off and on. Happens so fast you'd almost not notice it if it wasn't for the radio going off then on. Doesn't happen all the time just once in a while, mostly when hitting a bumpy road. I checked the cables and they seem tight. It's like the car blinks, everything shuts down then right back on. I'm thinking ground wire?

 

check that the battery is not arcing to the hood several autoparts stores sell too high a battery and it arcs to the hood wearing a hole in the insulator pad under the hood