i changed my oil around 102k miles, and now its been 3k miles.
so i checked the oil and its under the second thought, so i just added some motor oil since i had no time to change it. im wondering why the oil burns so quickly, is it because my car is running rich or wat?? i used to have i/h/e but now its bone stock. and nope im not leaking any oil

 

You could very possibly just be plain out burning oil due to an old motor. Bad piston rings, bad valve seals, etc. Running rich really doesn't have much to do with it.

 

why would you change it every 3k? I change my oil every 1k with mobil one. Spend a little extra on things like that and it does pay off at the end.

 

There are many reasons why you could lose oil quickly, like Gerbilo said it could be worn rings, valve seals, VC gasket leak, cam seal leak, etc. I am assuming you don't have any noticeable leaks though. Did you switch oils recently? conventional or synthetic?

Worst case scenario, you might have about 1/2 quart of consumption every 3000 miles. That's really not that bad, some people have to put a fresh qt in every 1000 miles. You might try switching to a thicker oil if you live in a warm climate, or switching brands - anecdotally, I have heard that Castrol Syntec tends to burn less than Mobil1 for example.

Check out http://www.bobistheoilguy.com, order a Blackstone Labs test kit and check out their forums. You can get a Used Oil Analysis (UOA) for your next change, and they can diagnose quite a few problems and let you know what the best OCI (Oil Change Interval) is for your car. Most people, especially with synthetic can easily run upwards of 7,000 miles without any detrimental effects. I have seen UOAs on Mobil1 with 7,500+ miles that say the viscosity is still good, there is still additive left in the oil, and that the oil could go another 1,000+ miles.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdmhonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why would you change it every 3k? I change my oil every 1k with mobil one. Spend a little extra on things like that and it does pay off at the end.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You really don't need to follow the 3k OCI unless you are using some very cheap dino oil and your car is being abused. Changing M1 at 1k is overkill.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdmhonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why would you change it every 3k? I change my oil every 1k with mobil one. Spend a little extra on things like that and it does pay off at the end.</TD></TR></TABLE>

that is just flat-out rediculous

 

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

that is just flat-out rediculous </TD></TR></TABLE>

yes that is quite stupid. i use wal-mart brand oil in all my cars.

its a fact that oil can last a lot longer than 3k miles, esp in a engine that makes no power... power = heat

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by randomstrike15 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yes that is quite stupid. i use wal-mart brand oil in all my cars.

its a fact that oil can last a lot longer than 3k miles, esp in a engine that makes no power... power = heat </TD></TR></TABLE>

not really. notice how a 1.5L honda with 92hp runs just about as hot as a corvette with 400hp? an "engine" is defined as the joining of a heat reservoir and a cold reservoir, and the passage of energy between creates power. also notice how when you make more power with your car, you don't run any hotter. physics =

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95lstegman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

not really. notice how a 1.5L honda with 92hp runs just about as hot as a corvette with 400hp? an "engine" is defined as the joining of a heat reservoir and a cold reservoir, and the passage of energy between creates power. also notice how when you make more power with your car, you don't run any hotter. physics = </TD></TR></TABLE>

you are wrong x 1000

power creates heat. if you had any experience with engines that make power you would know.

when you cram a lot of air and gas into a small area it creates a lot of heat. compression creates heat, turbines create heat... ext

we arent talking about water tempatures here...


Modified by randomstrike15 at 7:03 PM 2/3/2005

 

well, if you have a turbo that is clogging up your exhaust and keeping heat around, maybe you should think about reverse hood scoop to let air flow or . . . possibly . . . a bigger radiator? so here we have it. turbos make heat. yup. duh. see, combustion makes heat, too, but chances are, w/o a turbo, you're not combusting enough to make a big heat increase. the fuel cools the combustion temp, and no matter what, you're still only having the combustion of a very tiny amount of gasoline. except for big turbos

 

change oil every 1000 miles? that will NOT pay off in the long run.

you're losing oil because of one or more of a few reasons.

1) bad piston rings. you'd need to rebuild the motor, though i kinda doubt the rings have gone bad at 100,000 miles unless it was abused in the past.

2) valve guide seals. just like anything else rubber, it dries, shrinks, and cracks, and allows oil to pass into the combustion chamber through the head, instead of through the bottom end as with bad piston rings. this is more likely than #1.

3) oil leak. check your engine bay, look around the distributor area, and around the timing belt area for signs of oil. also between the valve cover and the head is another typical area. though i doubt any failures in these areas could create a leak large enough to lose any significant amount of oil over a couple thousand miles. also check the oil pan, as the gasket there could be bad (mine was at 107k), i could invision that being a large enough leak to result in significant loss of oil. oil leaks should be easy to find, just look for where ever the big mess of goopy slime is in the engine bay.

don't listen to these other yahoo's arguing about heat and power. i really don't feel like getting into that one.

 

If its a gsr motor then its normal because they burn a lot of oil for some reason.

 

mine doesn't.

 

Most older Japenese engines will burn oil. It's not unusual, not particularly a major problem, keep it changed - not every 1000 though thats just madness - keep it topped up and you'll be fine. Also semi synthetic is generally better for older cars, some f/s oils can flow "too well" for older engines