tallguy

Most Honda's burn a little oil so nothing out of the norm. The big question is did the low oil level hurt the engine before you lost power. Try and keep track on how much oil the car is burning.

ShinsenTuner

iTrader: (1)

How much oil did you lose inbetween changes?

AYB18c

I'd say it's probably a quart every 1000-1500 miles. Sounds like a lot to me, but I'm not really sure how much is normal for an engine with 153k on the clock

tallguy

Thats a lot, I have 188k on my 94 rs and it maybe burns 1/2 to 2/3 quart between oil changes.

B20VtecVillain

As was said already; most older Honda's burn some oil. This typically doesn't limit overall engine life for a daily driver/commuter car even if some spirited driving is on the menu. Power won't be what it could be with an engine using excessive oil but as long as you keep the proper level in the system and pressure remains at a safe, serviceable level then you can drive the car indefinitely at this point. I'm speaking from experience too, my daily driver Integra has a 200K+ mile B18C in it that has been beat on track and street it's whole life and uses 1-1.5 quarts of oil every 2500-3000 miles. The engine is all stock internals with basic Bolt ons and all I did in the way of "repairs" is tune the AFRs with a wideband. I still do 8500 RPM VTEC pulls on the highway at times and have some fun on windy back roads on my way to work and such on a weekly basis and aside from some smoke and smells/fumes it hasn't ever given me a single problem. I change my plugs about once a year with NGK BKR7E cheap coppers, oil every 2500-3k miles with Mobil high mileage 10/30 or 5/30 depending if its summer/winter season. Tranny fluid gets dropped once a year and is AC Delco Synchromesh. I also only run 93 pump gas and that's what I tuned on as well. The engine has been in this same condition for a good 3+ years now and prior to that I used it in a Time Attack/AutoX toy for a few years and oil consumption was about half what it currently uses. That part of the engine's life was essentially non stop 7-8K jaunts for 10-30 minutes at a time and never gave me a problem then either. Setup is a 94 built JDM B18C, stock internals except 96 DC2R cams/springs, OEM head gasket, ARP studs and gates timing belt @ 140k, Skunk2 intake manifold, Type R TB, AEM intake, PLM header, catless 2.25" exhaust, AC delete, Half rad conversion, S80 4.4 tranny, Competition Clutch/OEM flywheel. Tuned on Crome myself just using a chipped P72 and AEM UEGO. I run 14.7-14.9 @ idle and low RPM/low load, 13.5-14.0 mid RPM/low load and 13-12.8 @ WOT/high load in VTEC. Fuel mileage is 26-28 mpg depending how I'm driving and where, which is only a few MPg worse then when it was tip top back in the day. Aside from this I've also had a B16 with bad valve seals that used oil and smoked a bit that never gave me problems over the 2-3 years I had it and then sold it to a friend who still daily drives an Eg with that engine and a D16z6 that was "rebuilt" by a shadetree mechanic with Vitaras and within 10k miles the thing smoked like a refinery stack and the plugs would get sooty and oil fouled within 100 miles but other then an oocasional misfire from fouled plugs that engine never have problems or left anyone stranded either. Honda's are made very well overall and the older ones especially (B/D/H) are very simple designs with limited computer input so as long as there is fuel/air/spark,compression, and oil pressure they will pretty much run forever. These few engines are just my personal experience with beat Honda engines over my 16 years of Honda enthusiast career, and I've seen countless others in similar or worse shape being driven everywhere. Bottom line, check the oil often and keep the level good and you shouldn't have any problems for a long time.

AYB18c

This is what i needed to hear. I know the engine won't be perfect, especially with that amount of oil consumption, however I just don't want to be left stranded. Up until this point I've had zero problems and I know I didn't just start burning oil yesterday, so I know that with diligence I should be fine. I'm just kicking myself for getting lazy about checking it, but now that i know the problem it definitely won't happen again. Just hoping it'll last for a couple more years, which I'm starting to believe it will. I know the long term risk is uncombusted oil in my chambers and into my exhaust causing cat/02 sensor problems, but I'll deal with that if it raises it's head down the road.

Thanks for the reassurance B20V. Needed that this morning.

B20VtecVillain

Didn't think about the cat honestly because I'm not running one, but that becoming clogged COULD become a problem and further hurt performance but I only see that happening if your really spitting a ton of oil out the exhaust. As far as O2 sensors, i run a wideband currently (Bosch 4.9) and it's going on 36k miles of use and no issues. They're only rated for like 40k I think anyway, so doesn't seem to be shortening the life of my O2 at all. Bottom line as long as you check the level often, not daily but maybe once/twice a week and don't let it get that low again I think you will be fine for a while. Honda's get a really good workout from some of their owners, I've seen cars used for years with bad head gaskets, no oil changes, etc and they are hurting but never left their owners on the side of the road. (Even when they probably should have lol)

ShinsenTuner

iTrader: (1)

Your non-VTEC motor will not burn oil like his GSR engine does.

1 to 1.5 quarts per thousand mile is a bit much but nothing to freak out about. My S2000 (granted FRM liners...), H22 swap, and Integra GSR all burnt oil around this rate and I just kept an eye on it. Driving habits do also play a role in it.

What kind of oil are you using? Some of the cars I mentioned above liked conventional oil over synthetic. Mobil1 in the S2000 seemed to burn the fastest...

B20VtecVillain

Driving habits and type/weight of oil used will definitely play a roll in how much oil is burned, however running in VTEC and using Dino vs Syn oils won't cause the engine harm per se while the engine is using oil. The MOST important thing is to check the level and make sure it's always ok. Choosing not to run the car hard and staying out of VTEC will help the consumption be less, as the engine will always use more oil on the high cam lobe but as far as wear on the engine internals it's pretty much a wash no matter how you drive it. For oil choice, I run Mobil High Mileage in my B18C that uses oil and have used only this for ~70k miles or so now with no complaints. This is not the Mobil 1 high mile, just regular Mobil Super. (A blend not full Syn) I choose to use this because a 5qt jug is $18 @ Walmart so along with a Bosch Filter (Filtech media-like Wix/NAPA) my oil changes cost only ~$24 which is a good price and I don't see the point in running a full synthetic in my daily driver that consumes oil. My fuel mileage and overall power doesn't suffer vs when I used to use straight Mobil 1 in this engine so there's no reason for me to spend another $15-20 each oil change. I never go longer then 3k miles on my intervals so any fancy oil would be a waste in this application. (It gets 29-31 MPG driving back and fourth to work and made 174whp & 126wtq just a few weeks ago. IMO not bad at all for a basic Intake/header/exhaust/tune GSR with 200k+ miles of abuse. Compression is 235/240/270/235. Can you guess which cylinder is getting oiled down? Lol)
As far as "normal" engines, I do run Mobil 1 synthetic in them, however I go 5k on my change intervals in that instance. The only exception to this is my track cars which get Amsoil synthetic and get changed about every 500 miles/20-25 hard passes.

tallguy

My GSR never burned that much oil it was the same as the non vtec, Having to add three to four quarts of oil is a lot to add between oil changes. The only Honda I ever had that burned that much oil was my old b16, that thing drank oil. After I tore it down i found the rings were shot. Im not saying he needs to freak out over the oil consumption but defiantly needs to keep an eye on it.

AYB18c

Right now I'm just using Castrol GTX high mileage, semi synthetic 5w-30. It's good enough, & I'm changing oil/filter every 3k. On my other cars it's mobil 1 and i usually wait 5kish, but they've got much younger, healthier engines than my gsr.

I agree tallguy that it's a lot of oil, no one's debating that. Whether a completely healthy engine burns oil or not everyone will always have their own story, but in this scenario I'm for sure burning an unhealthy amount.

That being said, the impression that I'm getting from most of H-T is that as long as I stay diligent about checking it & adding when necessary I should be fine, and I don't have to change my driving habits much (even though driving like grandma will probably reduce the amount of oil consumption...but also reduce the amount of smiles per mile).

Like you said, the piston rings are probably shot, +/- the valve seals, which entails a full rebuild. I sat around looking at k swaps & doing math all day yesterday, and for what I'm doing with the car and how much I'm driving it it's just not worth the $$.

My plan is to eventually tear it apart and do a n/a high compression rebuild, goal for at or just over 200hp at the wheels with a nice flat powerband. Seems like a mild goal compared to some of the builds in the all motor forum, but still would give me a lot of fun around town and keep the gsr period-correct with the b18.

Thanks for all your advice gentlemen, I appreciate. If anyone wants to chime in on build specs I'm all ears.....an no i don't want to go FI ;-)

tallguy

If you need any help just let me know, Dont know what part of Atl your in but im not to far away in Loganville.

AYB18c

Thanks man I'll get up with you, I'm not far at all, up in Buford/suwanee area but I work down in Lawrenceville

tallguy

Cool, I work in the Buford area, my STI is at Zen in Suwanee.

AYB18c

Zen man, I called 2x and sent 'em an email, they never got back to me. Guess they don't have any interest in working on a low-rent honda while they're busy tuning GTRs and such....

AYB18c

Finally took care of that antenna delete i've been dragging my feet on...

Hatchbacks you gotta take out the whole backseat so you can remove the whole driver's side rear interior panel to get to the antenna motor. Today was one of the few times I've ever wished I had a sedan...

Anyways, cleaning up. This will do for now until I get the hole filled/sanded/painted.

89brokendownEF

.
you do not have to remove back seat, you do not even have to remove that whole plastic panel. you just need to pull the panel back far enough in the trunk to access antenna. i have done it on both of my integras

AYB18c

Well technically you're right, but I didn't want to bend the fool out of the panel. The way you mention definitely would have been quicker though!

Cheers!

AYB18c

Xmas came early. Now just gotta install all of it.





More to come soon...

tallguy

Very nice Ive always wanted to try AMR. You get them installed yet?

AYB18c

Not yet, have big plans for the car so planning on doing it all at once.

CandyRedRC46

****, that is one lucky teg. LIFETIME WARRANTY coilovers

sjg88

hate to dig up a sort of old thread but i just bought an integra (from georgia) that is in similar shape to this one except with higher miles. It really is a "cherry" other than the fact the suspension is worn out and some other misc things need to be replaced/fixed but there is i no rust and its impossible to find these things here in the northeast that are clean unless you want to pay top dollar

my question to you is..in your opinion..what fixed the sloppy steering feeling? was it thee rebuilt rack or the bushings? my integra has very, very sloppy steering and i plan on buying a bushing kit and re-doing everything but I would like to know what exactly causes this.

AYB18c

I think it was a mixture of 2 things: I had the steering rack rebuilt and i had new inner and outer tie rods put in because mine were shot. something between the 2 of those things fixed the sloppy wagon wheel steering.

Since then I've added coilovers and a bigger rear sway, so the car definitely handles differently, but i hope that answers your question.

sjg88

thanks!
i am hoping doing this will make the steering nice and precise/sharp, sort of similar to my ep3