A car I'm looking at (94 850t) has been in the shop. In addition to a bad O2 sensor, the mechanic wrote:

"Smoke is coming out of the tail pipe which indicates that the oil is being burned off either in the cylinders or in the converter itself. These engines are known to have cylinder wall issues and it is not recommended to rebuild just the top half of the engine to fix the leaks. Engine replacement is recommended to resolve issue."

Sounds like a load of crap to me, or have I missed the memo about cylinder wall issues?

 

lol wut? What does the bottom end have anything to do with oil in the cylinders. And I've never heard of these cars having "cylinder wall problems". lol. If you have high mileage, then some of the times it's valve seals which cause smoke. What color is the smoke? Do you notice the smoke? I would get a new mechanic, he's trying to rip you off tough.

 

More likely the turbo is leaking the oil not the 'cylinder wall issue'.

 

sounds like a load of crap to me, maybe a PCV system issue is there oil under the spark plug cover?

 

This isn't the one with low compression from your other post is it?

Assuming not, then agree w/Boxpin; need to eliminate turbo as source of oil first.

 

No, different car. I found it for sale, and the lady said in her craigslist post that "the mechanic says it needs a new engine". I asked her why it needs an engine, and she sent me everything the mechanic wrote in the workorder. That was part of it.

Thanks for the input.

 

Here's what I would do. The lady selling the car thinks it needs a new engine, which it might. I would offer her no more than $500 for it and then find out what is wrong. Worse comes to worse you can part it out and double your money. I would not give more than $500 for it though. Four years ago I sold 94 850 Turbo with a blown engine, rest of the car in excellent condition for $800.

 

1+ with JimKW. If the car has been sitting, it is possible that it just needs driven for a day or two to get things seated right. Heck, if you paid $500 for it and it only lasted 3 months you win.