Nitemare

I have a 94 Honda accord LX (non Vetec) 229,000 miles and it just started burning oil. It burns about 1 1/2 quarts of oil every 3000 miles. I change the oil every 3000 miles on the dime. I usually use castro GTX high mileage (non synthetic) oil. The car doesnt really smoke from the tail pipe, but you can smell the oil when the car is running. Some say it may be the valve seals. Any ideas? I want to do an engine swap with a prelude h22 vtec motor, but that swap is kind of complicated for me to do. I live in New York. Any Ideas how much it is to do that Swap? Or who does it? Or is my burning oil problem a relatively easy fix? Please help.

TooFstCb7

rings.

Warrior 1

How expensive is it to change out the rings. Or is it better just to change out the motor? I was thinking of F22b or H22a. The car is a 94 honda accord LX (auto) non vetec

TooFstCb7

well... to change the piston rings.. its considered an engine rebuild.. autotragic isnt worth the money your going to have to dump to fix this... just get a new car.. or you could just keep giving the bitch what she needs..


i had a 93 mazda mx6 that had bad piston rings and valve cover gaskets.. added a quart of oil a week. she changed her own oil.. but if you do this you will eventually have to change out gaskets.. uneven pressure in the motor= no bueno.

TooFstCb7

oh and i suggest using some lucas treatment with your next oil change..

MAD_MIKE

Nitemare you have to locate where the oil loss is from. If the burning you are smelling is coming from combustion or oil leaking onto the exhaust.

A leaking oil sensor, oil filter, cam cover gasket, spark plug tube gaskets, oil pan gasket, or any of the distributor/camshaft/crankshaft/balance shaft seals may be the cause of the leak.
Burning oil may be from faulty valve guides, umbrella seals, leaking spark plug tubes, faulty rings, or even an incorrectly operation PCV system.

Visually inspect the engine, look for wet spots, look for any build up of burnt oil on the exhaust. Place either a drip pan or cardboard under the vehicle and look for wet spots. If none, start the car and let it idle for a few minutes, check for wet spots.

Internally the easiest way to check would be to pull the plugs. If one plug is oil fouled that would indicate which cylinder may have an issue. Do a compression check, if one cylinder is abnormally higher or lower than the rest, this may indicate the trouble cylinder. If compression is fine the rings are more than likely fine. Usually a bad ring presents itself with constant smoking from the exhaust. Puffs of smoke on startup and acceleration are more likely issues with the need for vale seals.

If the previous owner used Penzoil the engine could be suffering from sludge buildup. A simple engine flush can usually rectify most of these issues, from plugged oil returns, sludge in the pan, to sticking piston rings.

I don't believe in most additives, with that said using ATF or SeaFoam to remove carbon/sludge buildup internally are time proven agents.

Warrior 1

I normally use a can of engine restore every time I change my oil. I recently changed my entire distributor and I realized I was leaking oil from the seal on he distributor. I fixed the leak, and Im still loosing oil. I have no oil leaking from the bottom of the car.

Is it normal to pull the spark plugs and have oil at the bottom by the threads?

Warrior 1

Im planning on compression checking the engine. I was hoping it would be the valve seals.

MAD MIKE, thank you for all the info. Well put together. I appreciate it

El Diablo

Mine burns about close to 5 quarts every 3000. I overfill 1 quart so I don't have to constantly check it, it makes life easier. If you can smell it burning then you need to track down the hopefully external leak.

nus_dogg

^ Damn, thats unheard of; especially, on the F22Bx. They burn but not that much.

MAD_MIKE

Bottom of the threads as in towards the electrode end or near the the hex flats? If near the electrode there is oil seeping through the valve guides or piston rings. If oil is near the hex flats then most likely there is oil leaking past the spark plug tubes gaskets and they are in need of replacement.

bobabooey

My 97 accord 2.7 has 284,000, has had no engine or trans work, and runs great. Recently noticed increasingly loud valve tap and gray exhaust smoke. Hope I didn't do too much damage because I drove a couple long trips even like that, concerned it would likely need major work, until I popped the PCV valve and inadvertently broke the dry rotted tube. After a very cheap easy replacement of PCV & tube, no more smoke, tapping back to minimal as its been for the last 100,000+ miles. Halejuia, another cheap easy fix.

bobabooey

My 97 accord 2.7 has 284,000, has had no engine or trans work, and runs great. Recently noticed increasingly loud valve tap and gray exhaust smoke. Hope I didn't do too much damage because I drove a couple long trips even like that, concerned it would likely need major work, until I popped the PCV valve and inadvertently broke the dry rotted tube. After a very cheap easy replacement of PCV & tube, no more smoke, tapping back to minimal as its been for the last 100,000+ miles. Halejuia, another cheap easy fix.