300 miles away from my mechanic.....
 

AND I NEED EMERGENCY HELP!!


My car started smoking a few days ago. I was pushing her really hard last weekend. Hard acceleration and what not. I recently made a round trip on Friday from Carbondale Illinois to Champaign IL. It was about 400 or so mile trip. When I filled up my tank, the smoke seemed like it was coming from the front of the ingine and smelled like I was burning oil, and there is a loud ticking sound coming from the engine block. The tick got louder as I reved the engine up.

Now I was going at a decently good clip, 115-130, never slower than 80 or so. It was smoking before the trip, but no ticking. Did I just hurt my car really bad? should I let her rest for a while? Dealership or a local shop to get work done? I am thinking dealer b/c I do not know any mechanics down here.

Any and all help would be AMAZING. Very concerned about my baby, thank you all in advance!

check the oil level.
top it off and start it up.
if it is still ticking after idling for a few minutes let us know.

also - duck - because you are going to get hollered at for those speeds.

Oil did look low I did put a quart of it in when I filled up on gas. Not sure what brand was used. Does it matter if I mix brands??:confused:

at this point any oil is better than no oil. just change asap. did the ticking go away?

Did put in 2 quarts or oil, ticking did stop, but I still smell a little burning. Should I just wait to go back to Chicago, which will be the first weekend of October, or find a local mechanic? I saw another teal SVX down here. I was thinking of tracking him down and finding out where he gets his work done.

drive it easy and check the oil when you stop for gas, you should be fine. The oil burning smell is probably seals or valve cover leaks.

In the meantime you could clean the engine compartment and then drive it around town a little and then check underneath for the source of the oil leak.

Let's see, we have here:

1) Reckless high speed (or total BS bragging, and guess what? Nobody's impressed).
2) Hard driving in spite of an obvious problem with the car.
3) Utter cluelessness.

I sincerely hope your license gets pulled before you kill someone.

dcb

1) High speed was for a 300 mile drive. OPEN ROADS and the speed was not constant.
2) Problem started AFTER hard driving
3) I am not clueless. I knew it was burning oil, I did not know what was causing the ticking.

I have the CLEANEST record not even a parking ticket. I am not trying to brag. I was just making sure that it was known that the car was under some strain, thats all. Please don't just jump in and comment. You don't know me, I don't know you.

Not looking to start a pissing match here, but please show some repsect

You're the one who needs to show respect.

1. I don't care if the speed was constant. It's still recklessly fast.
2. Of course it did, dummy. ;)

You're still in Champaign, or you went home?

In carbondale now and will be for some time. I replaced the oil, and had them power flush the system.

I like to go fast, im sorry, but I am not reckless about it.

I couldn't help but to respond since I too am addicted to high speed cruising. Not that I care what speed you go but as a truck driver who's been up and down I-57 hundreds of times, let me just say that you are taking a big chance with getting caught or hurting someone else. I-57 is flat and has good visibility but, all it takes is someone to accidently pull out in front of you and someone could get hurt, then you'll be facing some serious fines and probably a couple years in jail especially if a fatality is involved. Besides I-57 between Champaign and Carbondale is way to busy to travel those speeds safely in a car. If your gonna travel those speeds get a sportbike, or move out west. Sportbikes are much more nimble and don't eat up an entire lane so you have better escape choices if something goes wrong. Plus they are not affected by bumps, dips, and waves in the road in the same manner that a four wheel chassis does. Like I said I'm not trying to give you a hard time about your speed because I do that crap all the time it's just that there is a time and place for everything and I hate to see ruin your life and license when there are too many good roads out there that would love a guy like you.
Back on your car, I don't what the ticking sound is but your useing up 80% or more of your engines power just to cruise at those speeds. Then you are using up 100% of your engines capacity to get back up to speed everytime you slow up 10-20mph. I think the motor is spinning about 4000 rpms at 125 mph, those pistons are flying plus this is a hell of load being put on them in order to fight the head winds. The tranny's working hard, the diff's, and wheel bearings. The whole thing is being pushed pretty hard. I hate to sound harsh but I think your asking to much of this cars engine. You need to either find a motor with a shorter stroke at those rpms, or a motor with alot more torque and higher gears to keep the rpms down. Good luck and keep me posted what the problem is becuase I've got lower engine noises too.

Ahh, the good ol' VR4 loved some open road and high speed... 6 speed is definitely easier on the motor...

Yes the Mitsubishi VR-4 is a heck of a car. :)

Not to worry, 'cos I've got better things to do than get into a pissing match.

That said (not to speak for others here), if you want some respect, earn it. Show TIME SLIPS instead of flyin' this crap about how fast you run on public roads. Your original post is an insult to everyone who drives his or her SVX safely and responsibly.

Look, nobody buys an SVX to hang out in the left lane with the criuse control set on 54, but I'd wager that, based on experience, only a handful of members here have any business running 130, even on a track. I'm not one of 'em. And judging by the character of your post, you're not, either.

dcb

I like to go fast, too - but there's a time and place. Going that fast on public roads is reckless, whether you admit it or not.

Other drivers are not prepared for you going by them at double the speed limit, and they shouldn't have to be. Go to a track or an autocross, it's that simple.

And stop telling us about it here. We don't want to hear it and we're not impressed.

Getting back to your unfortunate car, the oil could be coming from any number of places. You need to have somebody look at it, and before you drive it any more. You're going to have to fix the problem either way, but if you're topping off with multiple quarts of oil then you could be in for some serious damage if you continue to let it go.