The car just got old and has reached the end and should be replaced. The cost to fix it is too much at this point.
The car has 89922 miles on it, I had an oil change at 89000 and another one at 89500 miles.
I would drive it to the junkyard now before it has to be towed.
The car has 89922 miles on it, I had an oil change at 89000 and another one at 89500 miles.
Not many miles, although, it might as well be 10 million if it was neglected. Why did you change the oil after only 500 miles? Are you using the proper oil? I still find it unbelievable that you need to add a quart every 10 to 15 miles. That’s Captain Hazelwood territory.
^
Additionally, if the OP is actually adding several quarts per day…Why would it be necessary to do an oil change after only 500 miles?
In any event, I agree with the others that–despite its relatively low odometer mileage–this 18 year old car’s engine has reached the end of the road. Unless the OP can get a junkyard engine in good condition, and could locate a mechanic who would install that engine for an extremely low fee, it is not worth putting any more money into this car.
Going back to the initial post, something caught my eye: “Oil still seems to be coming out of the oil filler cap area even with a small whole in the filler cap to relieve some pressure.” Who made a hole in the oil cap? There shouldn’t be one. Even taking this into account, the whole thing is really starting to sound fishy to me.
Is it even possible to burn a quart of oil per 10 miles? You should not even need any gasoline at that rate. that’s 2.5 miles per gallon.
The oil light coming on while going around a corner can be due to the low oil level.Fill it.
Before worrying about resevoir tanks, speed sensors, crankcase pressure, and hard starts you need to sort out that clanking sound.
A clanking sound usually means a worn rod bearing. If the clanking stops after a few seconds of running the bearings are badly worn. If the clanking continues after running for a while the engine’s days are numbered and everything else is irrelevant.
Odds are the main bearings are equally worn but those are less prone to making noise and when they do it’s more of a deep thump sound rather than a clank.
There’s no hex. It’s an aged car with ? miles and this should not be difficult to sort out and determine whether or not the cost of that new resevoir tank is money wasted.
Is it even possible to burn a quart of oil per 10 miles? You should not even need any gasoline at that rate. that's 2.5 miles per gallon.
Actually, it’s 40 mpg, but the point is still valid.
;-]
Correct, I had a senior moment.
I’ve seen a few engines that burned a quart of oil every 10 miles actually. After I wiped out my old Corvette in a collision I sold the Vette engine that used a quart per 1500-1800 miles to a guy who then installed it in an early 60s Impala SS.
On his shakedown run that engine burned 4 quarts in 20 miles; smoking like a grassfire.
It was determined later that the sheer impact of the collision caused the crank to jolt forward very hard. That in turn broke a couple of pistons.
Ouch!
You aren’t supposed to do that. Naughty, naughty. 
It wasn’t my fault. The engine used little oil before the wreck and I had no way of knowing the collision had damaged it. The engine did not have a single mark on it from the wreck.
I gave him a fair price on it and he wasn’t upset about it at all. He was happy to get a Vette engine and at some point had planned to go through it anyway. It’s just that the process was speeded up a bit… 
No, no, no, I meant that you weren’t supposed to wreck the 'Vette!! :grimace:
If the Neon was truly burning that much oil, the catalytic converter would clog very quickly.
If it was truly burning oil that badly the cat converter would be the least of the worries!
What needs to be determined is whether that clanking noise is a rod bearing. If so, that car doesn’t need to be driven even across town and not one dime spent on it.
Clanking usually precedes throwing a rod; or two.
@thesamemountainbike, as far as wrecking the Vette I had no choice. I was doing 50 MPH (posted) on a busy 4 lane when some lady tried to dart across all lanes in her Chevy pickup.
I had a friend with me and didn’t even have time to get the brake before I broadsided her.
Fiberglass being what it is, there was a loud, smoky explosion and that was that.
The rear bumper, trunk lid, and left rear quarter were the only parts that survived.
OP, are you able to determine how much of the oil loss is due to oil leaks onto the ground, and how much to oil being burned in the engine? Do you a noticeable amount of visible smoke from the tailpipe at all times the engine is running?
Bummer. Sometimes stuff just happens. 
Thank God you’re still with us.
Your post actually interested me. It’s an excellent illustration of the accident damage that can occur simply due to inertia inside the engine. We occasionally get a post asking whether an accident with only outside can cause damage inside the engine. With your permission, I’ll steal your story to illustrate that it most certainly can.
Feel free to repeat that story. Before selling the engine I looked it over with a fine tooth comb to make sure that nothing else on the car involving the suspension and so on made contact with the engine block or the harmonic balancer.
In another case of collision caused damage we had a bank once sent a Subaru to us for a trans replacement. The car was 1 year old and the manual trans was wiped deliberately by the car owner who was about to lose it to repossession. He drained the oil and drove round and round the block until the trans gave up. He even admitted this to the bank.
The bank did not want a new trans so they found one with 15k miles on it out of a salvage in Wichita, KS. It was shipped to us and on arrival it looked brand new. I shifted it manually through the gears a few times and all seemed well so into the car it went.
Backing the car out of the stall led to the trans locking up due to being in 2 gears at once.
Out it came and I discovered upon teardown that several shift rails inside the trans were bent.
What was strange about the Vette crash was that the car only had lap belts and neither one of us were using them. We crawled out of the windows and there wasn’t a scratch or bruise anywhere on us. Why we didn’t go sailing through the windshield I have no idea or get our faces smashed on the steering wheel and metal dash I will never know.