IggDawg

ok guys. this is weird. I'm losing oil at around 1 quart per 2k miles or so. maybe a little faster. and I have no idea where it's going.

- I never smell oil burning. not even a little. not when I'm moving, or when I've been in stop-and-go traffic for an hour.

- I have a garage with a relatively clean concrete floor. no drips. even if it sits for a weekend.

- I never see smoke behind me when I go WOT. even on a 5-3 downshift. to confirm this I had a friend drive behind me. I was on the highway and I downshifted it into 3, went WOT, shifted, and carried it most of the way thorugh 4th*. He said no smoke visible at all.

- no significant coke on exhaust. tailpipes are black but I suspect that's unburned hydros from running rich.


I suspect maybe the oil pan seal? maybe I leak oil when I'm accelerating or turning har, but not when I'm sitting still? but then I figure I'd smell burning oil from it sloshing on the exhaust. maybe the leak is on the opposite side or something? still I'd expect SOME oil drops on teh garage floor.

I feel like I should be burning oil since I only got 155 across the board on my compression test. I haven't done valve lash yet since I got the car, and I don't think the tester is sealing perfectly... but that would only account for 5-10 PSI at the most and that's still low. I haven't done a wet test yet, but I suspect teh rings even though the engien feels tight (then again I have no point of comparison). still, I never smell oil when I'm driving, and I don't seem to be smoking from teh tailpipe. any other suggestions?

<FONT SIZE="1">* professional drivers on closed course. IggDawg does not advocate breaking any traffic laws for any reason</FONT>

4drEF

You could be loosing a little while drivine, but not enough to create a lot of smoke for anyone to see.

I think you could figure where it might be with a leakdown test. I would adjust your lash first and see if that helps any, but it's the guides that leak the oil by.

CimorelliCRX

What kinda oil you use? If its a higher milage motor, and using a synthetic, like Mobil 1, mobil 1 tends to burn internally in higher milage engines. We have had numerous problems with Mobil 1, and since went to Royal Purple 10w-40, and havnt had ANY problems. Its a little more expensive but a lot better imo. If I were you, and the motor does have some miles on it, I would use something like High Mileage and put like Slick 50 in, or something like that, thats if you are using a synthetic now. If you arent using a synthetic, move up a little hticker, 10w-40.

IggDawg

Right now I'm running dino oil, and it's 5W30. I know I should be using at least 10W30 sicne I'm at ~160,000. I've only had to do one oil change since I got the car and didn't know better.

Thanks for hte tips so far, guys.