|
Blowby refers to a pressure leak past piston rings. Could be one cylinder, could be all. The way to determine which would be a leakdown test which your mechanic might be able to do. General causes are infrequent oil changes and high load/cold engine like if you lead foot it down the road as soon as you jump in and start it.
You could live with it if it isn't too severe but it will only get worse. Possible (and likely) senarios will be rear oil seal leaks and if the crankcase pressure is high enough, the rear seal could be blown out altogether.
At any rate, the combustion gasses can badly score the cylinder walls as they make their way past the rings and pistons and this only increase the problem.
Get a leakdown test done before anything else and forget the BMW. You think Volvo is expensive to maintain? As already said here, I'd seriously recommend used Japanese until you can comfortably get into something else. Our '91 Nissan Sentra ran 186,000 with nothing more than oil changes, filters, two sets of Michelins and one set of brakes. 32mpg too. We only sold it because it because it was too small for a family. At $1700, the buyer (a student) got a great car.
--
Erwin in Memphis, '88 745t 190,000 miles, '95 855t 92,000 miles
|
