Car Burns Oil???

[Eagleview]

Quickest way to tell if it is rings or valvestem oil seals is , if it is rings it will smoke when revved and if it is valvestem oil seals it will blow smoke when first started and will smoke on downhill runs with your foot off the gas . I doubt it would be valve guides as they last well in late model cars . Also as mentioned check the PCV , make sure it rattles when shaken . Putting 20W50 in it will most likely help a little .

 

[DieselPower]

As carpenter383 stated check the PCV. It is a often over looked culprit of high oil consumption. GM had a rash of problems a few years ago with PCV's getting stuck open which caused extremely high oil consumption problems.

Other problems could be piston rings especially the oil ring, valve stem seals and or guides. I'm not familiar with the 1.9L engine, does it have a turbo? If it does it could be a turbo seal between the compressor housing and oil lubricated center section.

Does there appear to be any excessive blow by into the crankcase?

 

[Matt_Jr]

check the pcv valve

I second that. I've seen bad pcv valves cause engines to burn enough oil that the smoke kills masquitos for miles. I would also check to make sure the vacuum hose to the pcv valve isn't clogged. If you disconnect the breather hose at idle and put your finger over it you should feel vacuum start to build up. Don't let it build up too much or you'll be buying gaskets. If it has positive pressure on it either you pcv valve is bad or you have too much blow by. I doubt it's blow by 'cause of the fuel mileage posted. PCV valves are cheap.

 

[Diamondpilot]

check the pcv valve

Did that. Put in a Auto Zone valve then a guy told me the Saturns and 4.3L GM motors will not run right with aftermarket PCV Valves so I got the factory one from GM. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

I've had older cars, one a chevy and one a plymouth that used oil from the time I bought them, both brand new.

I'm just about to change to the high mileage oil but I don't think one of it's features is to stop oil burning, more along the lines of gasket restoring and heavier additives.

A quart every thousand miles isn't to bad, next oil change try a 5-40 and see if that helps.

I think I will try the 5W40. I really think its the rings. I have looked down the spark plug holes, they are centered over the pistons being a Hemi Engine, and do not see any oil. This leads me to believe its not leaking from the valve area but is getting burnt past the rings. Like I said in the first post there is a history of ring problems on these engines.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

As carpenter383 stated check the PCV. It is a often over looked culprit of high oil consumption. GM had a rash of problems a few years ago with PCV's getting stuck open which caused extremely high oil consumption problems.

Other problems could be piston rings especially the oil ring, valve stem seals and or guides. I'm not familiar with the 1.9L engine, does it have a turbo? If it does it could be a turbo seal between the compressor housing and oil lubricated center section.

Does there appear to be any excessive blow by into the crankcase?

No turbo and it does not appear to have excessive blow by. Thanks for the tip on the PCV Valve, but I have changed it twice, once with a Auto Zone unit and the next time with a GM OEM part.

From the looks of what I am hearing here is just drive it. I guess it just worries me. I have owned 1 Honda, 1 Toyota, 2 Saturns, 2 GM Trucks, 1 Chrysler, 1 Dodge, 2 Mercury's, and 8 Fords and never had any use any noticeable oil between changes. I think I will try to find a synthetic or synthetic blend 5W40 and give it a try.

As mentioned earlier Ford makes a good Synthetic Oil and its priced right. I believe its made by Chevron or Exxon. I get all the oil for my 3 Ford Trucks at the dealer down the road and its cheaper than I can get it or other name brands like Pennzoil or Castrol from Auto Zone or Walmart so I may have them get me a case of the oil in 5W40.

Chris

 

[RalphVa]

On some engines, including those made by Mercedes Benz, a quart used every 500 to 1,000 miles is completely normal. My 1983 has used a quart about every 1500-2000 miles since I've had it (25 years; bought when 1 year old). Many other engines probably won't use any until the oil breaks down a bit at around 2,000-3,000 miles. I've had some do this.

I had an old Gravely that used some oil. Switched it to synthetic. After about the 3rd oil change, it just ceased to use much oil.

The lesson is that even if you seem to have an engine that doesn't normally use oil (and many don't), still keep a check on it. Had friends who had a Benz 300D. They figured that it being a Benz that it wouldn't use oil (they obviously never read the owner's manual that probably clearly says a quart every 500 to 1,000 miles is normal). They ended up burning out the engine.

Ralph

 

[Ryan03]

I think I will try to find a synthetic or synthetic blend 5W40 and give it a try.


Chris

I tried synthetic oil a couple of years ago in a high mileage Dodge Caravan with a 3.0 V6. It was burning oil and would not quite pass a tail pipe emissions test. It also smoked noticably out of the exhaust under aceleration. I found there to be no change in oil consumption, tail pipe emissions, or smoke level with the synthetic oil. My advice is skip the synthetic oil and fill it up with "cheap and slippery" and check it often. Then live hapily ever after until it blows up.

 

[Runner]

I drove a Honda Civic for awhile that had been beat to death before I got it, and it burned oil. I tried running 10w-40 in it and that slowed down the consumption quite a bit.

I read on the Ford Truck Enthusiasts web site that some guys were having issues with new Ford trucks burning oil and were told by Ford that 1 qt in 800 miles was considered "within tolerance" (not for me, it wouldn't be...).

My wife's 97 Civic with 94,000 miles does not use any oil between changes (5,000 miles).

I've always heard that 1 qt/ 1,000 miles usage on an older car was considered to be acceptable.

 

[Egon]

Remember the days of STP?