Alright, heres the scenario:

My del sol 93 1.5 (D15b7) that I have owned since December (about a month and a half now) has always driven pretty good but I knew the engine would give up on me anytime soon. After a week of having it, I noticed white smoke coming out of my exhaust, so I figured it was a head gasket. I took it to a shop, they opened the bad boy up, and told me it wasn't my head gasket. They said my rings were bad, so oil was leaking through them and that was the reason my exhaust was smoking white. They said to rebuild or replace engine. So I bought a d15b7 so I could swap in if needed, but of course was gonna wait until my old engine died on me. Well, I used a "No smoke" product for oil from autozone, and the smoked actually stopped a bit, and wouldn't be as bad. Now, 1 month later, I noticed my radiator overflow was dry, so I filled it up with 50/50. 3 days later, I noticed it was dry again... Filled it up. 2 days Later I noticed my exhaust started smoking again, but this time I parked and saw some steam coming out of my hood. Opened the bad boy up and noticed the steam was coming somewhere around the radiator (most likely bottom) And also noticed there was some coolant/antifreeze on top of the radiator/fan (like if it splattered) I decided to fill it up again, and then it was dry in a matter of a day or 2. The next thing I tried was changing the radiator cap, and also putting some radiator stop leak thing from autozone to use as a band aid to see if it was a leak. The problem went away for like a day, then came back this morning.... Coolant is low again.

What do you think is going on?

-I checked my oil in my dipstick and it seems regular color black oil (no milky)
-Also my engine isn't overheating, my temp gauge inside always stays at about half.
-Also I noticed the white smoke will be really bad when starting the car and driving at first, then after some miles (10?) It stops being so harsh.

any ideas? Thank you.

 

So your coolant is being pushed out the radiator? Sounds like a headgasket problem to me

 

Weird tho, they said it wasn't the head gasket... hmm. But like I see some coolant (Green) on top of my fan and radiator, like if it leaked or something.

 

How did the open it up to see if the head gasket was good? Was a leakdown test performed. And when rings are bad they cause blue smoke not white. White is a sign of coolant/water burning

 

I didn't ask too many questions due to them wanting to charge me 70$ per hour to get it checked. So I dipped as fast as I could.. haha. Well I left it to them for 45 min and when I got back they said the rings were bad, so they were leaking into the combustion chamber, and thats why there was smoke coming out, and it was caused due to oil. The antifreeze problem BARELY started happening. And will only do it 50% of the time.

They said they opened it up and saw it wasn't the HG

 

They should have changed the headgasket when they removed the head. That is probably why the coolant just started. It could be bad valve seals, or a crack in the head too. This is one of those situations that would take on-site experience to figure out. Got any buddies that can come over and help? That would be my suggestion.

 

Bad valve seals! Thats what they told me was wrong with the engine. (had forgot what it was called) But no buddies with mechanical experience, and here in UT every single mechanic will want to charge you 70+ just to take a look at it...

BTW, I bought another exact engine d15b7 and Its been sitting in my garage for a couple weeks now, The guy said it came out of his wrecked EG. I noticed in the dipstick there was still oil in there... But it was a golden color? Is that fine?

 

Oil is golden color when there aren't many miles since the last oil change...

P.S. My radiator does exactly opposite it spits out coolant into the reservoir...I tried revving the enging and watching the coolant and the more I rev the more coolant gets out of the rad into the reservoir...car doesn't overheat and ther is no white, blue or black smoke(black smoke comes out when I max it out on the road sometimes)...I tried refillingrevving the radiator thinkingdoes there bubbles in there and kept the car running with heat all the way up and the car was running for about an hour and no bubbles came out and I drove it and then the same store more coolant in the reservoir....Please help! I don't know what the deal is with the cooling system and I can't afford to spend money on parts that don't need to be replaced...Thank you in advance.

 

Don't use radiator stop leaks, this screws up the rest of the system, since most radiator stop leaks use pellets or a solid matter.

I am thinking if you saw coolant on the radiator itself , the radiator is bad, esp if saw splashing, it is typical for the radiator to split at the top.

 

Ah, gotcha. I'm hoping this dude didn't sell me a bad engine. Would hate for my first engine swap by myself to go wrong.. haha.

But when I said about my antifreeze/coolant being everywhere, I usually add some, clean up the mess and I'll find antifreeze/coolant after driving & checking on top of my radiator, (along the edges) and some in top of the fan like if it splashed there. And sometimes when it steams A LOT, I see like if it splattered to my engine head or engine (left side).

 

Umm, if the rings were bad, and it was burning oil,the smoke would be BLUE, not white.


Coolant around the edges of the radiator, is a good sign to replace it.
Do it, and flush the system really well.

EDIT- Also, if your oil is black change it!! Oil is not supposed to black.

 

Oil looks like a black/brown on the dipstick/

Almost grayish when i wip it on paper.

O.O.

I've just been adding oil to it since its been burning it quick D:

 

If oil is burning off quick could be the rings then, the smoke might look white, but in reality is probably a light blue/ light black color. If it was white you would know it, and always blow white just when sitting there, if it was the rings chances are when you gas it or when it is running.

As for the coolant, I thinking the radiator is bad like I said before.

 

If it is oil that's burning, id check your valve seals

 

I'd do a compresson check first.

 

Your right that then leakdown test