I am not an experienced mechanic so far as engine troubleshooting goes...so here is my two-part question. The recently installed replacement motor (used approx 50k miles) in my '92 wagon is going through roughly 1 quart of oil every 500 miles. I returned to the supplier in Hayward,CA where I purchased it and they pulled the plugs and discovered that they were not fouled with burned oil, he did say that looking at the plugs it appears that the engine might be running rich. I do see some bluish smoke come out of the exhaust pipe when I first start it, occassionaly. Compression is good on all four cylinders (about 180 psi each). Any idea what might be causing this? A friend of mine seems to think that it may be going out the exhaust valves, I don't know.

Another problem I'm having is the lack of power coming off the line. Unless I really wind up or start off painfully slow, the motor accellerates roughly and wants to stall out. It's not dirty injectors, I've cleaned them out using different fuel additives several times. I'm confused and both the engine warehouse and the mechanic that installed the motor are being less than forthcoming, I feel. Anyone have any ideas, suggestions or advice?

sounds like it might need a ring job. do they offer a warranty on their engine installations? i'd investigate the option of either getting another replacement or having them rebuild this one.

They offered to replace the motor. However, I'm stuck with the cost of installation as the installer is a separate entity. I'm kinda stuck in a bit of a hard place. I'm taking it to the shop next week, a separate shop that I've dealt with before, to get a third party opinion. It's going to cost me just under $100 for the hour of labor to diagnose. I hope it's not a ring job. That might be cost prohibitive. Right now the tally is $2300. Really, I don't wanna go over $3k. More to come....

Sounds like leaky valves. Oil leaks down around the guides while the car is parked and pools in the cylinders. That is why you see blue smoke at start-up. You would NOT have decent compression though. Do you trust your mechanic? If not, do your own compression check. Most parts places like autozone will rent you a compression gauge. Factory manual says normal cylinder compression is 191psi, lower limit is 142. There should not be a difference between cylinder compression of more than 14psi. Did your "new" motor came with a written warranty? If so, don't let them weasle out of it. Good Luck!

Yeah it sounds to me like they (the shop and motor supplier) are keeping as quiet as possible because they are scared you're going to bring up the term 'warranty' or 'replacement', especially the mechanic.

On the mechanical side, I've got no advice, I take mine in when theres a vacuum tube loose sometimes because I'm not great at diagnostics, just replacing parts if I know what to do, but I have a mechanic I've used for years and I trust, and who doesn't charge me for silly little things like vacuum tubes (LUCKILY).

I agree with hatchy -- DO NOT LET THEM RIP YOU OFF! Go AllTrac on their a**!

Yeah, it's a bit of a conundrum. My homey is going to pop the valve covers off this weekend and take a look. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll be able to figure out the problem. If not, I'll take it to shop on Tuesday. Thanks for the input. I'm really hoping this turns out not too bad...I've become somewhat attached to this little wagon. I'm rarin' ta buffout the paint job, put the yakima racks on the roof, and pull out those god awful paper speakers it came with. But first things first...

haha yeah I hear ya man, I've dropped a bunch into this thing, and I'm at the tearing paper speakers point. I think its worth it, its an interesting car. but yeah, everyone has their line. =\ hopefully its something easy like a torn vacuum line or something!

Just got her back. She's driving like a completely different vehicle with the motor swapped. I passed someone up on the freeway, on an uphill. The first motor was just plain bad. I'll elaborate this weekend when I have time to gather my thoughts. For now I'm gonna' start thinking about car audio and roof racks...get her ready for some summer road trips. Btw, can anyone share their experience with removing the old speakers. Is it as cut and dry as it appears?

I don't know what you have for rear speakers in your wagon, but for mine it was very very easy to swap the rears. I have the storage compartment mounted to the roof and the 2 rear speakers were as easy as prying off a panel with my fingers and you have access to the mounting screws from there!

The front was a bit more of a headache, you have to take apart a bunch of interior front panels etc...Other than that, yes, it is as easy as it appears. Once you have access to the speakers, mine were mounted with 2 phillips screws per speaker, and they came with spade connectors for the speakers already on the lines. I cut mine off and soldered the ones Alpine gave me onto the lines, but depending on the size of your speaker connections it might not be necessary for you to do this.

Quoted from rickyzee

I am not an experienced mechanic so far as engine troubleshooting goes...so here is my two-part question. The recently installed replacement motor (used approx 50k miles) in my '92 wagon is going through roughly 1 quart of oil every 500 miles. I returned to the supplier in Hayward,CA where I purchased it and they pulled the plugs and discovered that they were not fouled with burned oil, he did say that looking at the plugs it appears that the engine might be running rich. I do see some bluish smoke come out of the exhaust pipe when I first start it, occassionaly. Compression is good on all four cylinders (about 180 psi each). Any idea what might be causing this? A friend of mine seems to think that it may be going out the exhaust valves, I don't know.

Another problem I'm having is the lack of power coming off the line. Unless I really wind up or start off painfully slow, the motor accellerates roughly and wants to stall out. It's not dirty injectors, I've cleaned them out using different fuel additives several times. I'm confused and both the engine warehouse and the mechanic that installed the motor are being less than forthcoming, I feel. Anyone have any ideas, suggestions or advice?

i have this problem too smells like oil. if i let it sit for a day or over a week it comes out really bad. how hard is it to fix the valve seals?

Check out this thread from Corolland: http://www.corolland.com/forums/index.php?/topic/24320-wonders-of-valve-stem-oil-seal-replacement/.  It attributes some high oil consumption to valve stem leakage.  Bad piston rings, leaky front cam seals,  leaky oil pan gasket, and leaky distributor are other common avenues for oil leakage.