DC4_MADMAN

I did search and found some helpful info, but still have a few q's.

Last oil change- 237,003 miles

Current mileage- 240,180(yes I am do for another)

3177 miles traveled.

Oil light went off yesterday and I had to add 2 1/2 qts.

I always park in the same place at work and at home and there is no puddling in either place.

Car does not smoke at all.

My daily commute is 90-100 miles a day.

My commute home is 75% uphill in 90+ degree heat. Temp gauge will hit 90-95% hot, most times have to suffer and turn on heater to release some of the heat. I beleive this is due to my fan not working(will test today) or my t-stat needs replacing.

Question is- can the heat being generated from the motor(for whatever reason, fan or t-stat) be the cause of the excessive loss of oil?

I hope I gave enough info to get some insight.

Thanks.

94sohcVTEC

how often do you check your oil level in between changes?
when you're going uphill, look at the cars behind you and see if they're slipping back downhill.

DC4_MADMAN

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94sohcVTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how often do you check your oil level in between changes?
when you're going uphill, look at the cars behind you and see if they're slipping back downhill.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not often enough I guess. When I get my next oil change I will check every 1000 miles.

DJ_SaNdOz

high temps could break teh oil down, but shouldn't cause an extreme loss as that afaik. does the car smoke? I would tend to think valve seals or rings would be the culprit.

DC4_MADMAN

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DJ_SaNdOz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">high temps could break teh oil down, but shouldn't cause an extreme loss as that afaik. does the car smoke? I would tend to think valve seals or rings would be the culprit.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No smoke or puddling.

Nsane1

It could be when the oil gets pressurized that's it's leaking out. But when it's just sitting it doesn't have enough pressure to escape. But, with as much oil as you lost I would figure that you should be seeing something on the engine.

94sohcVTEC

when you're due, who does your oil. Do you do it yourself or no? can't trust the lube shop boys...

DC4_MADMAN

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94sohcVTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">when you're due, who does your oil. Do you do it yourself or no? can't trust the lube shop boys...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Normally myself, but I am garageless at the moment so I have to rely on someone else at the moment. The guy that did it I trust as I used to work with him.

94sohcVTEC

No trace of that much oil loss just seems fishy. Or you're not reading your dipstick markings right. Is that why you USED to work with the guy? jk

DC4_MADMAN

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94sohcVTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No trace of that much oil loss just seems fishy. Or you're not reading your dipstick markings right. Is that why you USED to work with the guy? jk</TD></TR></TABLE>

Haha, that was good. I got tired of working on peoples cars when they would run it into the ground and expect you to get it running again. Their stupidty got to me.

How long have you had the CEL for? "Since sometime last year" ******* idots.


No external sign of oil loss and no smoking has got me stumped as well, thats why I asked the question regarding the heat issue, cause its the only odd thing thats happening.

-[95cxhatch]-

Why are you driving your car with the engine tempature that high? Your lucky you havent blown a headgasket or warped the head. If you have a blown head gasket then that could be a source for your oil leak.

Have you checked your cooling fan yet? if it isnt working I would just run a wire from a 12v source to the fan then to a switch on the dash to manually turn on your cooling fan until you can find the real problem with the fan.

DC4_MADMAN

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by -[95cxhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">-]Why are you driving your car with the engine tempature that high? Your lucky you havent blown a headgasket or warped the head. If you have a blown head gasket then that could be a source for your oil leak.

Have you checked your cooling fan yet? if it isnt working I would just run a wire from a 12v source to the fan then to a switch on the dash to manually turn on your cooling fan until you can find the real problem with the fan.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Warped haed car would not start when cold, I know its happened before.

If the head gasket was blown I would be smoking, coolant would mix with oil and all sorts of ****- not happening.

Like I said I run the heater to keep the temps down when they get up that high, which sucks, but thankfully I have 4 windows to roll down so its not so bad.

I am still at work so no I have not checked the fan yet.

DC4_MADMAN

Fan does not work. Neither wire to the fan is getting a 12v signal. A\C fan DOES work. Thermo switch bad? Fan bad? I hate electrical ****. Lower and upper rad hoses heated up so coolant seems to be flowing properly.

Checked the coolant for signs of oil and vice versa, no signs so blown head gasket ruled out.

So with the fan not working to keep temps down, maybe the weight of the oil is too low- pretty sure 5-20- and the high temps are burning it off quicker than normal? Sound reasonable?

enwycee

i have a similar problem to yours... i had ran the car also with the temp. gauge super high, the fan also wasnt working. I barely made it home with the gauge almost at H. The next day i replaced my t-stat, and then 2 weeks later i had coolant shooting outta my radiator. I bled coolant and realized blown hg, and this is a motor with 98,000. You have 200,000? Just keep a lookout on your coolant level and dont get stuck in traffic. Luckily you didnt blow it, but if u did, dont drive it, even if it runs.

DC4_MADMAN

test results are in-

Fan switch bad- fan works when jumper wire added to plug.

Compression test results-

Cyl 1- 120/110/110

Cyl 2- 120/125/119

Cyl 3- 100/115/115

Cyl 4- 120/130/120


Thoughts?

EDIT: did not do WOT, will redo tomorrow.


Modified by 4door_demon at 9:45 PM 7/1/2005

DC4_MADMAN

Test re-done and the results are in-

Cyl 1- 160/160/170

Cyl 2- 170/165/170

Cyl 3- 140/140/145

Cyl 4- 155/155/155

Looks like HG blew between 3 and 4.

Good call everyone that said head gasket. Guessing the fan switch went out, engine heated up and due to the age of the motor the gasket gave out.

Now to decide, fix or replace.

enwycee

good luck with your decision, I have the same one to make. if you know how to fix it urself, you might as well buy a new motor. jdm d15b vtec motor drops right in, except for wiring vtec, and other wiring issues i cant remember. 233,000 is alot of miles and for the price you would spend on tools, maybe and parts, to fix the hg is not worth it. A little more and you can get a much better used motor.

egtwincam

for that many mileage, its gonna burn a little of oil. your running 5w-20? that viscosity is too low. the oil is pretty thin. you need 10w30 or 10w40. my bro's car has 360k on his 92 civic and runs strong today. the compression is still ok for the mileage. once youve fixed the fan problem, if your motor is overheating then change the headgasket. i believe the 95 and up ciivc gasket is metal and that would be better. your head/ block may be warped so get that checked out ifyour going the fixing route. good luck!

DC4_MADMAN

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by enwycee &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">good luck with your decision, I have the same one to make. if you know how to fix it urself, you might as well buy a new motor. jdm d15b vtec motor drops right in, except for wiring vtec, and other wiring issues i cant remember. 233,000 is alot of miles and for the price you would spend on tools, maybe and parts, to fix the hg is not worth it. A little more and you can get a much better used motor. </TD></TR></TABLE>


I have the tools to do the job, just the D15 isnt worth repairing to me, but I will fix the fan, up the weight of the oil, and drive it till it dies.

A swap is planned for the future so I wont be wasting cash on this slug.