Typeron

iTrader: (1)

A couple weeks back I noticed that my engine was low on engine oil, so I put some in, and took it to my mechanic and he told me that he did a leak test and found no leaks, and changed my oil.

I proceeded to search and look up information on this site as well as others to find symptoms for what could be causing it. I had white smoke come from the tail pipe in the morning after letting it run for a few minutes, but it didn't look like it had blue in it. My coolant from the radiator looked fine, but the coolant in the reservoir looked dirty.

I read that I should do a compression test, and a leak down test to further make a diagnosis of the problem. Since I don’t own a compression tester I asked my mechanic about it, and he said that I don’t need to do a compression test, and that would only help me if my car was misfiring. He told me that in order to check the problem that he would need to open my valve cover to check. He said 90% of the time it will most likely be my head gasket and that I would need a “valve job” done and it would run me about $750.

Does this seem correct? I was confused at the thought of him not wanting to do a compression test and thought I should just buy a tester myself to check. Or does he know what he’s talking about and let him do the work on my car? $750 seemed a little steep for that, and I’m pretty sure the “valve job” doesn’t include anything other than checking the valves and replacing the head gasket with parts.

Thanks in advance

KooK

I don't believe in doing a compression check for alot of things (Not saying it isn't useful), but a leakdown test is a very good thing to have done because it throws compressed air into the cylinders and lets you know what % of that air is actually leaking from the chambers, also you can tell from where it's leaking (Valves, rings, headgasket, so on).

As far as him wanting to pull the head to reseat the valves, I don't quite understand why he would want to do this. Valve seats and the valve heads themselves have NOTHING to do with missing oil.

How much oil was Missing and after how long? Also, how hard were you on the car between that period. I doubt it's anything serious. I wouldn't go back to a mechanic that happy to pull a head, also a valve job would not be required, just recommended if the valves arn't seating correctly.

Typeron

iTrader: (1)

Forgot to mention that I drive a 99 GSR

It was missing a little above 3 quarts, and was just a little over my due mark for an oil change (3000miles and some change). In that time span I think I drove it hard once or twice, it's my daily driven and drive it to work and such at a normal pace.

Is there anything I can do myself in order to do a leakdown test, or would have to take it to a shop to do that ?

Groove_D

Hondas burn oil. Your piston rings could be worn out a bit so you will be burning a little bit of oil that is not noticeable through the exhaust.

Typeron

iTrader: (1)

I talked to a guy from work and he suggested that I use straight 40 oil and that type of oil helps slow down or stop the leak. Never heard of that and was wondering if that was safe to do or even worth it to try ?

full Circling

using a different oil will just ghetto band aid fix your problem. keep using 5w-30, and actually fix the problem.