What are the complications of piston ring wear and a car that burns oil?

I have a 1983 Fiat 127 and it has a problem that it consumes too much oil. If the oil dipstick shows a maximum level now, in 3 to 4 weeks it drops to near minimum. Sometimes, there is white smoke from the exhaust pipe. Once, I had a problem where every time I would take my foot off the gas, the car would die. After changing 2 spark plugs that had oil on them, the problem disappeared. Then, I had a problem where there was a weird ';shaking'; of the car, but when I replaced a third spark plug that also seemed to be oily, the problem disappears.


My mechanic tells me there is a problem in my engine, possibly piston ring wear. He also says the problem may have progressed to cause some deformity to the pistons.


Now, he's telling me to fix all this a lot of work has to be done on the engine and consequently a lot of money. If I neglect this and keep the car as it is, will the engine deteriorate, like damage to the crankshaft or any other components for example?


I don't really know anything about mechanics so I apologize if I got some of the details wrong.


Thanks!What are the complications of piston ring wear and a car that burns oil?
It seems you already know the ';complications'; of piston ring wear.





Your engine is consuming oil and fowling the plugs. This can lead to your other concerns - poor performance, intermittent stalling and ';weird'; shaking of the car (caused by a cylinder misfire).





As long as you keep the oil level in the safe range, there will not be any further damage to the engine - it will, however, only get worse as far as your driveability and oil consumption concerns.


There's no simple fix - you might try switching to the next higher weight oil to try and minimize the symptoms, but ultimately you're going to have to replace or rebuild the engine.What are the complications of piston ring wear and a car that burns oil?
rings old wore out used compression lets oil slip by into places it shouldnt be besides losting oil you lose power whats worse is you lose oil and motor give it up either have the motor rebuilt or get another one and yes it cost money easy to call three places ask how mucvh to replace my motor or how much to rebuild my motor
well eventually the problem will get worse, it wont really damage the crank but will probably start leaking worse and possibly break a piston ring but honestly if it was mine being an 83 id run it till it died and put the money that I would have put into that motor into a new car
a Qt of oil evey 2/3 weeks is not the end of the world...oil cost 3 dollars a QT...keep a 6 pack in ur car.....you could run for years like that.... other option...rebuild/replace....and your mechanics advice?? when you go to a surgeon he will recommend surgery..
poor engine performance and oil consumption you need to replace the motor or rebuild the old one.
There is not emergency to get it done this second. Slow down and research this over the next few weeks.





Your engine is getting old. To do the repair you will need to rebuild the engine. Driving it 'as is' will only result in a rebuild down the road.





What I鈥檓 saying is you can drive it till is fails鈥ust watch the oil levels and temp. Or you can repair it now. Either way you will require a rebuild now or later.





An engine can go like this for years before it pops.
It's not worth fixing this car from a financial perspective. If you love it and can't live without it, figure $8000 to $10000 to fix everything. The engine is probably already gone. If it needs rings, it needs bearings, head work, machine shop work, etc. The carb or fuel injection system is probably shot. The trans might need rebuilding. Brakes and suspension should be gone through. You know, it was actually a really good car except for the tendency to rust. Fun to drive and cheap to run when new. I think you might want to consider getting another car though.