I "inherited" a 1999 Daewoo Lanos from a relative but it's been having some engine issues that are quite frustrating.
The symptoms:
When the engine is cold-started, it has very little power when I engage the gears and often feels like it will stall out. As a result, I cannot go over moderate sized inclines since the power is so low.
Also when the engine is cold, I will test it by pressing on the gas while in neutral and sometimes it almost dies as the engine has difficulty keeping up with it.
When driving it cold, the fuel consumption is very poor. When struggling to balance the gas with the clutch, I find myself having to add a lot of gas until the engine "catches up" and can provide the necessary power
After leaving the car overnight and starting it in the morning, there is a puff of light-blue-ish smoke and then it turns white and is visible when I drive.
Recently when cold starting the car once, it died twice while idling in neutral.
What I've done so far:
I had a compression test done on the engine and the mechanic told me that one of the cylinders only had about 55% compression
I've unplugged the spark plugs one by one to try and identify the cylinder but each cylinder sounded the same
The mechanic that performed the compression test told me that the valve guide on the faulty cylinder needed to be remade and would require essentially rebuilding the head.
What should I do at this point? There's only one Daewoo dealer in the country that has parts and they actually broke the steering on the car before and have charged my relatives for work on the car that they never performed. Parts are also quite difficult to come by here. Cars here are also taxed around 150% or more of their value so getting another car would be quite expensive.
-Check color of electrode's spark plugs. (btw removing one plug lead from a spark plug will kill the spark on it's sister as it's a jumostatic ignition 1-4 & 2-3)
-Try some carbon deposit cleaner and "italian tuning" (IMHO will not work in your case)
-Buy a complete remanufactured head on ebay.
BTW
Blue smoke is oil burning.
White smoke after engine heating up is coolant leak.
Black smoke is too rich mixture.
Where are you from?
How many km/miles?
Engine maintained as per manual?
Oil grade? 5W30?
-Check color of electrode's spark plugs. (btw removing one plug lead from a spark plug will kill the spark on it's sister as it's a jumostatic ignition 1-4 & 2-3)
-Try some carbon deposit cleaner and "italian tuning" (IMHO will not work in your case)
-Buy a complete remanufactured head on ebay.
BTW
Blue smoke is oil burning.
White smoke after engine heating up is coolant leak.
Black smoke is too rich mixture.
Where are you from?
How many km/miles?
Engine maintained as per manual?
Oil grade? 5W30?
Great, so oil and coolant may be leaking...
The car has about 156,000 km on it. I'm currently living in Ethiopia and I don't know about how the engine has been maintained as I just inherited it and the only history I know is related to the steering (the mechanic broke the steering and improperly installed a replacement so I have a replacement sitting in customs as we speak) I don't know the oil grade as I've only taken it to one mechanic since I got it who did an injector cleaning.
I'm not that well versed in auto repair and the tools to perform a compression check are out of my reach here. I probably will take it to another mechanic soon however but I have yet to find a mechanic I trust and the dealership (the only place to get the parts) was the one that broke the steering and refused to pay for a proper replacement.
Does engine runs normally once warmed up?
If yes you may have sticky valve(s) / lifter(s). Try a carbon residue cleaner (redex??) , then perform basic maintenance (oil/filters) and watch your fluid levels. That's all I can suggest you for DIY.
Yes, the engine does run normally once it's warmed up. I'll see if I can find some carbon residue cleaner but given the puff of blue smoke after the car sits overnight, I'm thinking that the valve seals are worn also. Would replacing the valve seals also help stop any coolant leakage or does the coolant leak in from somewhere else?
Also, I'll be going to Poland in a month (Daewoo had a manufacturing plant in Poland) so if you have any suggestions on what else could or should be replaced, I should be able to get them there.
IMHO valve seal has no relation with a coolant leak.
Coolant leak can be internal (worn head gasket, slit in cylinder head,...) or external (surge cap, hoses, rad, pump, t-stat,...)
If, when warmed up, the hoses to and from radiator become very hard due to overpressure, then expect a blown head gasket.
Check also if you have "mayonaise (mix of water/oil)" in oil and coolant tank.
If your intention is to remove the cylinder head to look at or change valve seals, buy all parts to do a complete distribution change: full kit + water pump + t-stat.
Prices in Poland are low! Hope quality will follow.
Just checked the coolant and it is clear so it doesn't look like its being contaminated. I'll check the oil later today but the filter was just cleaned.
One thing to note however is that it appears to have received a new fuel pump in the last two months. Could that be a contributing factor?
Another interesting thing happened today: after getting the car to stop dying on me when idling, I decided to check the oil level by removing the dipstick.
The moment I removed the dipstick, oil started spurting out of the engine (like a light spray)