Hi everyone! I am a new here and I want to give everyone a big hello! I hope to gain a lot of knowledge here. I have recently been looking at purchasing a 1991 Dodge Stealth RT/TT all wheel drive. The stealth has 92000 miles the seller said the car was burning "a little oil" when he last drove it in late December. The car has a dent on the front drivers quarter panel and rear quarter panel. Paint is in decent shape for it's age but does need body work. My question to everyone here is this a good deal for this car and is there any common problems that make a twin turbo car burn oil, could it be the turbos? It seems like a great deal for the age of the vehicle and the low miles but i was just wanting some opinions.
Thanks
Mendoza

 

Burning oil could be any number of problems. It could be (just as a small example) piston rings, valve seals, turbos, worn cylinders, a hole in a piston, oil pump, valve guides, clogged oil return hole, or any of a bunch of other problems. Also remember that there is a big difference between burning oil, leaking oil, and using oil. All three will cause the oil to need replenishing, but are entirely different and need to be dealth with in different ways. Does the car run? If so, have you driven it? Does it smoke? IF so, what color is the smoke? What does the smoke smell like?

 

My cousin had a stealth that burned up oil, his turned out to be the valve guides, (like fuktifino said).. When he was driving it, it was fine, let it idle in the drive way for a while and then give it a good amount of gas, his car smoked blue-ish smoke.... i hope the problem is nothing major, they are fun cars to have!!

 

I have yet to drive the car it is located in PA and i am in Toledo OH. I am going down to test drive it next weekend and possibly buy it. He said he did regular maintenance on the car and it had it's 60k tune up. He noticed it was burning oil in mid December and stop driving it a couple days after. He said there is white smoking coming out of the exhaust so that has me thinking it's the head gasket but i won't be able to tell until i take a look at the car in person. Ether way i think it's still a good deal for a TT with 92000 miles. Hopefully it's nothing major.

 

Dude if it is white smoke then he is burning radiator fluid, which = cracked engine block or blown head gasket. Neither are good deals and both will mean your car will break down before you can drive it back to ohio.

 

^^
Ya i realize what it means. I am going to bring a flat bed and bring the car back that way. I don't plan on driving the car with a blown head gasket 244 miles. My question is wouldn't this car be worth the money if it is a blown head gasket? What are the chances of it being a cracked block? He has never overheated the car so i am hoping that it is just a blown head gasket. How would i look for a cracked block pressuer test?
Thanks agian for the help

 

I doubt the block is cracked...unless it didn't have a good mix of antifreeze and froze over the winter. The one thing on these cars that is quite stout is the block. Head gasket....maybe.

One surefire way to check for a bad headgasket is to check the oil. If it is "frothy" looking, there is water/coolant getting into the crankcase. Also, if it is burning coolant, you will be able to smell the coolant in the exhaust smoke...antifreeze has a sickly sweet smell too it. If it is not using any coolant, it is probably and burning oil one way or another like fuktifino said. Many times people mistake the color of the smoke. My green RT is leaking a little at the valve stem seals, after sitting at a stoplight for awhile it will smoke a little when I take off, the smoke is very light colored.