97 Lantra.. oil usage, and question about remaining life

Hi Hyundai experts,

I'm hoping for some solid advice here on where to proceed with my 97
Lantra.

In short at the moment its going through a fair bit of oil. I can tell
because it develops a light ticking sound. I check the oil, and its
very low. Fill her up, and sound is gone. I don't mind refilling the
oil every couple of months (its cheap compared to petrol) - but I want
to know if its normal or not. The car doesn't leak any oil, and doesn't
appear to visibly burn any, so should I be concerned?

The other question is what sort of effective life could be expected for
a car of this 'vintage' ? Its currently got about 150,000 on the clock,
and aside from the oil problem above, and a slightly funny oxygen
sensor, it runs just fine. Great fuel economy, has a few shakes and
rattles in it (as does just about any car from 1997 these days) and the
little thingers that stop the doors over-opening / hold them open have
rusted out on the driver side. I'm in no hurry to get rid of it, unless
its very soon going to die a horrid death. If anyone has some advice on
how long I might get out of her, it'd be good to hear.

I'm going to line up a fairly major service shortly, with the mandate
to make it good as new, and hopefully this will add a couple of years
to the useful life of this otherwise fine performer!

Hope to hear from some soon.

Chris

 

Since you're calling it a Lantra, I'm going to presume you're not in the
U.S. and 150,000 represents km.

Presuming you drive about 5000 km a month, two quarts of oil in that time
period is considered normal by the manufacturer. I think it's a little
much.

How do you know it's not leaking oil? Not seeing anything under the car
is not sufficient. I'd expect to see some oil leakage from the valve
cover gasket and cam and crank seals on this car.

If it's indeed not leaking oil, then you need to be very concerned about
where the oil is going and why. If it's blowing by the piston rings, you
could be looking at a major repair in the very near future.

You have a 1997 vehicle with 150,000km. Consider the value of the vehicle
before spending too much money on it, especially to "like new" condition.
This vehicle would be worth very little money in the U.S., even in perfect
condition.

 

Thanks HyundaTech- you're right, its an Australian vehicle.

I'd just as happily trade it in and get rid of it- the problem being,
its under finance, and the amount I'd get on a trade won't come near
paying it off.

I've got it booked in for a service on Monday, and I'm going to get
them to have a good look through the engine and see if there's anything
to be concerned about. Its been running fine for a long time, with no
indication that anything is severely wrong with it. Hopefully it'll
last another couple of years so I can pay it off, and start again.

Such is life in buying motor vehicles. You drive it off the lot, and it
loses a few grand... give it twelve months and you almost have to pay
someone to take it away from you.