I didnt intend to sound too dire - from reading your posts its a bit
difficult to determine just how bad the situation has become. The high
temperature situation does not sound encouraging. Does your car still
run well? Are you leaking or expelling coolant? LOOKING oily is one
thing, but a greasy froth in your coolant tank is certainly another.
I had brown coolant for a while - it looked oily but wasnt really, it
just needed to be replaced. Now nuclear glowing green, it looks much
better. And if theres a bad head situation, youre probably going to
have whitish, greasy yuck in your crankcase too.

Here's another idea: keep a log to determine exactly how many miles to
a quart you're getting. Keep it consistantly filled, but NOT
overfilled. If youre getting 1000 miles to a quart, that's bearable.
Lots of Saturns burn a quart every thousand miles. 500 miles to a
quart - probably pointing to a ring problem. Less than 200 miles to a
quart - you're really burning oil now - but killing mosquito's might be
a good thing! Time for a ring job.

Take out your spark plugs and see what shape they are in. If you are
burning oil your plugs will foul eventually and at least you'll notice
carbon build up. One plug might look worse than another - typical with
oil ring sticking.

Inconsistant oil consumption is something that has me scratching my
head. Heavier loading like mountain roads would increase oil
consumption, but the "no consumption" periods really have me stumped.
I have to wonder if you might be actually LEAKING somewhere that you
cannot see while the engine is running.

-WaVy

=========== I might be an irate idiot, but I DO have a clue!
==============
wrote:
> Well, one of you tells me something bad and the other tells me
> something good, lol...
> Thanks for the suggestions though!
>
> Anyway, I just wanted to clarify that when I drove for 3 hours, I
> checked the oil when I got gas halfway, and it was completely full.
> Like I said, sometimes its completely random. When Im in Florida, the
> only time Ive ever seen it lose oil is if I drive from Daytona to
> Orlando and back (about 2 hours), and then it only loses less than a
> quart. Now that Im in WV though, and mountains are part of the road,
> perhaps its putting more stress on the engine and losing more at
> certain times. (One time I suspected that it was the air conditioner,
> but I discarded that idea)
>
> Ok, one other thing... what color is the coolant SUPPOSED to look like?
> Right now its a transparent brown color, looks pretty thick from what I
> can tell...I mean if somebody were to tell me "See how the oils gotten
> into there?" Id say "yep". But if some coolants are naturally that
> color, then maybe its not what I think it is.
>
> Now earlier in the year...I think January or February, I did in fact
> buy a new PCV valve from Advance Auto Parts and replace the old one
> that was very dirty. Im not sure which brand it was. Anyway, whenever
> I check my oil, I always pull out the PCV valve and wipe it off,
> because it does seem to accumulate oil on the outside of it. Is this
> the PCV valve causing this? The old one was MUCH dirtier and this one
> still looks very clean when I wipe it off.
>
> Another random point that might help make some connections... sometimes
> when I go to check my oil, I dont get a good reading on the dipstick...
> It seems like Ill get little drips of oil on the edge of the stick, but
> theres no clear line of oil on it at all. I know this isnt when its
> empty because it has happened twice after Ive checked it, seen it a
> little low, and then put in a half a quart. After I put in the half
> quart, the dipstick didnt wanna give me a reading anymore. My dad said
> this and the dirty PCV valve have something to do with "back-pressure"
> in the system, causing oil to splash up the dipstick tube and up the
> system into the PCV valve. Any ideas.
>
> By the way, thanks SO much for what youve said already, its a big help.