I have a camaro 1991 RS + , v6, 3.1L...

It has around 170k,000 miles on it i purchased it from some guy on craigslist for about 1,000usd.

Only 3 problems,


I. whenever you drive along time, let's say 20minutes, you can see a little bit of burnt oil smoke coming from underneath the hood. and it smells like burnt oil and crap.

II. Second problem is it just started today, Whenever i drive i hear a clicking sound from the engine, and when i press pedal down more, the clicking increases.

III. I floored the car, got up to around 50 and it shifted into 60mph and was kinda of a loud shift.. didn't sound to goood... normal for these?


What you should know about me:

My second car, I know minimal about cars, the only thing I have done was change a crankshaft positioning sensor and a fuel pump.. I have not done anyything else extreme..

So please try to help me, Thanks!!!!!


I appreciate every comment, if you just read this and about to click the back button,please just comment your thoughts/ideas i need to know! Thanks..

I also live in Washington.. (around Tacoma/Puyallup ) Hoping maybe somone around here would come down over and take a look of the car for me.

Also, MY INFL Code stays on, I think I need to reset it, also does that mean that the call got in a wreck before?

 

You need to rebuild that engine bro, thats a lot of miles for an engine that has probably never been rebuilt before, its burning oil because of bad head gaskets and or bad piston rings, the ticking is probably the lifters, if you haven't already, do a tuneup, oil/filter change, new fuel filter, new spark plugs, new air filter, if you change the oil it might help the lifters some, before you do, put a little bit of transmission fluid in the oil, if they're ticking becase of bad/dirty oil or lifter valley this might help, but with that many miles its just as likely the lifters are bad.

 

And is your transmission slipping at all, or showing other issues?

 

i agree that it's alot of miles for an engine without a rebuild but i have and have had many cars see well over 200k without major problems.

the oil could be a number of things and since it's coming from under the hood the first thing i would look at is the valve covers...bad gaskets cause it to drop on the manifolds and head and burn...


Clicking....you gotta ask yourself if it's clicking or knocking....use a piece of hose or a stethoscope to listen to the valce covers and see if that's where your "clicking" is...if it is you can usually pin point it down to a certain cylinder...if not listen lower on the block and see if it's maybe a rod knocking...i could tell a difference but you may not be able to without experience

Hard shifting can be a sign of dirty fluid and filter. but i was wondering if it was a shudder or just a neck breaking shift? one says fluid other tells me that under strain it's slipping....


For everyon else i have a thought that i know nothing about but i know it can be a problem....He says he floored it usually you would get a transmission kickdown. what about the transmission kickdown/TV cable? anyone think this could be it or have any input.

 

Well, either way he should at very least put fresh gaskets on the top end, probably put new valve stem seals in too, but if the oil isn't leaking from a gasket...then its the piston rings, or worse a damaged block or manifold, thats the only other things it could be if its burning it, oil pan it wouldn't burn it off, would just leak constantly.
I think the clicking is lifters...if its the rotating assembly, there would be other noticeably issues, such as abnormal engine vibration, knocking, shuddering and such.
Trans pretty much I agree...but it is hard to say based on that alone, thats why I asked if its doing other things, will make it easier to guess what it is. TV detent cable issues would make it shift at the wrong RPMs, not likely it would be the cause of what happened.

 

I don't think I need a rebuild man I cant afford that. I couldn't afford maintaining a bmw, all I could buy was some fuel filters for it and a fuse relay which was 40$ all together, I definitely got no money for this car.

I will be taking a video of the leak if I find it and post it here, and the shifting only happended once and it was when I floored the car, it was like a loud thump... i never experience any bad shifting ever sense..

But yea, I can't afford to rebuild engine mate, I am sorry I know I probably need to but just can't do it right now as in other issues in my life, I just want to tackle this oil leak so I can have my t-top's off and not smell burning oil in my car...


EDIT: I will be looking at the manual and looking on how to get to the head gaskets, also how can If there leaking? I Will see oil around the gasket? and look for 6? because if it's a 6cyclinder then there should be 6 gaskets or am i just retarded? hehe, but yea thanks for everyone replying, hope to get more replies soon! thanks!


EDIT: The ticking only started when I went up a big big hill..

 

burning oil smell could simply be a valve cover gasket, leaking onto the headers. Perhaps pop the hood when its smoking and see what its coming from?

noisy shift, is the car auto or stick? wither way, noise is not good. Auto could be slipping, or if manual, the syncros could be bad, or the clutch is on the way out.

loud thump from the tunnel area when you floor it is a broken/torn trans mount. Simple enough fix, unless you have one of the crazy cross member setups.

check the oil level, when was the oil last changed?

 

I'm kind of thinking his trans jolted too, probably is a mount if it only happened once and when he floored it, and dude, at least rebuild the top end, its not THAT expensive, $100 worth of gaskets is all you need, but imo you should do a tuneup as well....not saying this just because it should be done, but if you're that broke, then when that thing goes you're probably screwed, gasket wise, you need 2 head gaskets, and an intake manifold set, I just hope it is leaking at the VCs or HGs, because if not its the piston rings in which case there is nothing you can do to solve it that will be cheap or easy. Also, good way to start learning about engines...when someone names a part that you don't know wtf it is, does, or looks like, look it up on summitracing.com, one of the ways I taught myself everything I know, its a good spot to start.
Edit: And I hate to say it, but if you're burning oil, you DO need a rebuild, its just a question of how big of one...top end stuff is easy enough to do, bottom end, you have to pull the engine.
Just out of curiosity, what state are you in?

 

You guys are forgetting that it could also be leaking from the oil filter adaptor or the oil pressure sender, not just the valve covers. It can't be rings or valves if the oil smoke is under the hood (generally comes out the tail pipe in those cases).

Replace the PCV valve in the driver's side valve cover, the valve cover gaskets, and make sure the oil filter, oil pressure sender, and the oil filter adaptor are tight.

 

Washington, not d.c

but yea man, the oil was last changed last month, the previos owner said he usally just changed it every 2months and he put around 20,000 miles onto the car then sold to me... but i hate burning oil smell so i do want to sell this car or fix it up don't know..