ohdannyboy73

Well last 9/11 I purchased a new Si and found out after the first oil change the car had been burning oil. Has anyone else ran into to this situation? Also after I went to the dealership where they performed an oil test, they stated my car was in tollerence for the amount of oil it was using. Basically they contacted Tech Line in Cali and was told that the Si could be expected to burn up to a quart of oil every 1k miles. However if exceeded this millage limit than their must be something wrong. Any insight into this might be very helpful.

will_rex

A quart every 1k miles seems to be a bit excessive for a new car. I've got about 3k on my most recent oil change (Royal Purple 5w 30) and it's gone down maybe half a quart. Maybe try doing a compression check? I'm in Chesapeake if you need any help. LMK.
Will

I:_Drive

yea that seems like alot. how did you break it in? factory recommended or the hard break in?

ohdannyboy73

Factory break in. However my Si is burning about 1/3 a quart every 1k if I take it easy and 1/2 to 3/4 if I take my shifts at around 4500.

I:_Drive

is your car stock?

will_rex

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ohdannyboy73 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Factory break in. However my Si is burning about 1/3 a quart every 1k if I take it easy and 1/2 to 3/4 if I take my shifts at around 4500. </TD></TR></TABLE>
What brand/type of oil are you using? Do you do you're own oil changes? Are you checking the oil level and after it has sat for at least 5-10min after running?

hondamanforlife

I have burned 1 1/2 quarts in between oil changes with mobil 1 syn.

pampass_pmw

If my SI was doing that I would wig out. I have never had a honda burn that much oil. I think that you should press the issue more at the stealership.

ohdannyboy73

My Si is completely stock and I have performed all the oil changes but two. i haven't been using synthetic oil and all my measurements have been correct. However the last one was performed by Honda and their oil actually seems to have helped the problem slightly. Also one other observation I made was all the carbon build up I had on my exhaust tip and rear bumper. One last thing Honda refused to do anything about it unless I was burning more than a quart every 1K miles. The remark my service rep gave was, " Well we tried". Not the best customer service I have ever received. As far as I am concerned a new vehicle should not be burning any oil unless the rings are not seeded correctly, incorrect size or their is a valve problem.

Bulli Kid

my lx doesnt burn nothing. also my bros 95 dx does not burn anything. i dont understand why you will be burning a quart? thats a ton of oil? if my car burns anything its very minimall.

0LSD Motorsports

You really do have to keep in mind several things that could account for what seems to be an excessive amount of "burnt oil".
- How long you operate the car when its driven
- How much of that time is spent in the 5 - 8K rpms range.
- How much oil was actually there initially.
- Temperature where you live.

All of these things can effect how much and how fast an engine will consume oil.

N4me (06civicsi)

i was using royal purple 5w30 and i did notice my oil going very quickly and it also gets very very dark...i was thinking maybe its becouse its so light i`m thinking of trying 10w30...i switched to mobil 1 full synthetic am gonna see how it works out hopefuly it wont burn as quickly as the RP...also what are everyones opinion on getting the engine flushed, i`v heard its not good for the engine at all. but after seeing the color of that oil i`m concidering it just 2 get all that gunk and black oil out

Mechanic

Let's go through this by the numbers. In your first post you stated you "learned after the first oil change [that your] car had been burning oil." You didn't say how much oil was consumed, nor did you indicate how many miles you'd traveled before you learned it was low. How low? Was this oil change your first oil change?

You then stated your dealership had contacted Tech Line and been advised that an Si can be expected to consume up to a quart of oil every 1k miles. From there, subsequent posters assumed you'd been using a quart of oil every thousand miles. You didn't say that, and I'd be damn surprised if that were the case. (In fact, it's almost impossible: If you initial oil change occurred early (i.e, at the "severe service" interval -- 5k miles), and your engine had been consuming a quart every thousand miles, <U>the sump would have been empty</U>. So, right out of the box, we know your new engine isn't consuming a quart per thousand miles.)

<U>All internal combustion engines consume motor oil between oil changes</U>. Typically, that fact is masked by condensation accumulating in the sump between oil changes. And, as LSD Motorsports indicated, a host of factors bear on oil consumption, including how you drive the car, oil weight and brand, etc.

I don't doubt that your new engine is burning <U>some</U> oil. Typically that tapers off until, around 10k miles or so, it's no longer noticeable. However, the more time you spend at high engine speeds (which I'm going to define as 4k or more), or under load (three-quarter throttle or more), the more oil you'll consume. While your engine is relatively new (5k-10k), 200-300cc per 1k miles is not only normal, it's expected.

Finally, look at it this way: Let's assume for the sake of discussion that you are buying Mobil 1 at $5 a quart. In a thousand miles, you're going to spend approximately $100 on gasoline. Even if you are burning a quart of oil per thousand miles (doubtful), what's another $5 for a quart of the stuff?

Bottomline: I don't think there's a thing wrong with your car. Enjoy it.

07whiteFG

im not sure what honda's oil consumption rule is, but i can tell you for a fact that GM's is 1 quart per 2000 miles... thats less than you stated hondas.... somehow i doubt that

ohdannyboy73

Ok my Si is not consuming a qrt every 1k mls. Its about a qurt to a third and yes this delta occurs depending on the driving coniton. I.E. I take my shifts higher than 4 Grand. Also listed below is from page 3-10 of the HONDA SOM is an SOP for oil Consumption and this is directly from a FAX recieved from TECH LINE.

3.14 Oil Consumption Test and Warranty Repair Procedures
If the owner complains of high oil consumption, first advise the owner that Honda considers 1.000 or more miles per quart of oil to be an acceptable consumption figure within the New Car Warranty and that oil consumption may increase with age and mileage due to normal engine wear. Also, if driving the vehicle to verify the oil consumption will result in further engine damage or will greatly inconvenience the customer, contact your DPSM for instructions.


Now with that said, this car currently has 23k on it and it is still consuming oil. Also my original post was intended to get some insight into other peoples experiences with Honda's dohc motor. If anyone has an explanation of why these motors consume oil I would greatly appreciate it. Also I have had other GM products and didn't consume any oil until the motor had a lot of miles on it. I.E. I had a 3.1 Berretta which I got rid at 268 K and it used about a 1/4 of a quart every 3k.

Mechanic

OK, I have a partial answer. Permit me to quote you again: "I.E. I take my shifts higher than 4 Grand."

I have no idea how you drove yr Beretta, but I doubt you spent a lot of time above 4k RPM. You're comparing apples with oranges. Your 2-liter Honda motor produces a 10th the torque of yr Beretta below 4k. Motor oil is your engine's life's blood, and it's a combustible, consumable lubricant at the RPM the engine was designed to perform. It's no more complex than that.

ohdannyboy73

Ok but no matter how I drive the car its still consistently still consuming oil. Case in point , for almost the last 1700 miles I have been keeping all my shifts below 4 Grand and still consuming a 1/4 quart per 1000 miles. Maybe its my ignorance to Honda's use of oil. However to me, when a new vehicle is burning oil the rings aren't seeded properly or they aren't the correct size.

ohdannyboy73

Also Mechanic I do appreciate the input.

jewjew bean

well beat the hell out of it to get it to the 1 qt &gt; 1k mile mark

MessGSR

Why dont u just take it to the dealer.........is has a warrenty, its not a goddanm EG

MonkeyConQueso

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MessGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why dont u just take it to the dealer.........is has a warrenty, its not a goddanm EG</TD></TR></TABLE>

Reading owns you.

I:_Drive

MessGSR

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MonkeyConQueso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Reading owns you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

HAHA yea it does...sry too lazy to read

MonkeyConQueso

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MessGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

HAHA yea it does...sry too lazy to read</TD></TR></TABLE>



And rather than just have a useless post here - I might as well add my 2 cents.

OP, make sure that the dealership is checking leaks from any area. I had to add a quart before my first oil change due to a mis-installed gasket at the vtec switch. It's hard to see up there, but the mechanic at the dealership caught it and got it replaced as soon as they got the part in. However, this may not apply to you, and you just may have an oil hungry engine.

ohdannyboy73

I may have to look around for this because the oil seems to be low no matter what the driving conditions are. Also their seems to be a slight delta when I take the car into higher RPMS but that maybe in addition to what might be leaking. Monkey is your car a 06 or 07?