I recently did a gsr swap into my DA. The engine has eagle rods and arias pistons. The engine pulls real hard and runs great. I havent checked myself, but the person I bought it from said its running 190 psi across the board on a compression test. I just noticed yesterday that on hard acceleration it is leaving a cloud behind it. Not HUGE but very noticeable. So I checked the oil today and it was missing exactly a quart, and I believe this was lost within 60-90 miles, because I had just done an oil change right before. I know its normal for built engines with forged pistons to burn a little, but I know this is too much. My question is, could this be caused from using oil that is too thin (10w30) and/or running a small filter on my valve cover for crankcase venting (Had to use dryer ducting for intake for now because its the 'upside down manifold')??? Im thinking maybe (and hoping) the oil or the filter or a combination of the two could be my problem. All help is very appreciated. TIA

 

bump for answers

 

bump for poor guy

 

do a leakdown first. if that checks out, then look into venting the crankcase better from the bottom (delete PCV, braze fitting on stock sep tank and run big line to a breather tank) and run a heavier oil (50)

 

Thanks guys. Well, I did a compression test today, it was pretty damn close to 175 in each cylinder. All plugs had evidence of burning oil and the cylinders looked very wet. The plugs for 1 and 2 were pretty bad, and 3 and 4 not very bad at all but still not very clean. With that compression, is it possible its burning oil because the rings havent seated completely yet? Could it be valve seals? The breather on my valve cover? The engine has approximately 500 miles on it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xxxmikenicexxx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks guys. Well, I did a compression test today, it was pretty damn close to 175 in each cylinder. All plugs had evidence of burning oil and the cylinders looked very wet. The plugs for 1 and 2 were pretty bad, and 3 and 4 not very bad at all but still not very clean. With that compression, is it possible its burning oil because the rings havent seated completely yet? Could it be valve seals? The breather on my valve cover? The engine has approximately 500 miles on it.</TD></TR></TABLE>do a leakdown and see what you come up with...

 

Alright, yeah Im definitely going to, I dont have the kit so I have to ask some friends...just wanted some ideas first but like youre implying, I guess it would be much better to get the leakdown done and go from there.

 

sounds like the engine is beat.......either it was never tuned properly from the get-go or they guy you bought it from lied to you and it has way more than 500 miles on it....

 

do a comp test

 

If you read the post, I did a comp test, but I also forgot to do it WOT, but all numbers were even regardless, so rings are good (most likely). I guess next step like I said is a leakdown test.

 

Ok, heres an update guys, I didnt get the leakdown yet (have to order tester) but I took the plugs out today (didnt bother to check them when I did compression, was in a rush) and I noticed 2 are fine and 2 are coated in black. The coated ones are cyl. 1+2, good ones are 3+4. I used a flashlight and peeked into the cylinders, and 1 and 2 were really wet with oil, while 3 and 4 were dry. This may point to a problem in the head correct? Because with how wet it was looking, wouldnt that mean dripping in from above, because if it were rings wouldnt it be dry but just extra sooty because the oil would burn right off? Ive included pictures of plugs. Sorry they suck. Please let me know what you guys think and hopefully it may make me feel better (or maybe worse )

 

In case you cant tell in the pictures either, the plugs arent wet, just covered in black 'soot'...i dont know if that makes a difference or not.

 

Also noticed its doing it a bit at any acceleration, worst after being stopped at all.

 

What compression is the engine, do you have a wideband, and has the motor been tuned? If your running lean at all, those forged pistons are going to expand and scuff your cyl walls leaving you with high oil consumption and the clouds of smoke you described.

 

9:1 compression ratio, never seen boost so its never had to be tuned.

 

do the compression test with all the plugs out. it takes the WOT thing out of the question, and leaves somewhere for the fuel to go in the cylinders you're not testing.

my engine burns too..about a qt every 1000-1400 miles, i hate it so much that it really burns me up inside, just because I'm stickler for things like that. I check my oil all the time, but one thing i've really noticed that makes my readings different is where i check the dipstick. some places may look like level, but depending on the incline, be it side to side (parking structures/lots, streets), or front to back (hills, driveways) changes the reading a lot. also, after shutting of the car, letting it sit for 2 minutes, versus 1 hour, versus overnight, also makes the measured amount change. It really bugs me. just go over those things and see whats up.

let us know when u get that leakdown going, because compression only tells a small part of the picture. do a search on the topics i've made on my engine burning oil. a lot of info there.

 

Thanks so much for the insight

Ill try and do that asap and see what happens. Until then, anyone have any ideas what it could be also?

 

up

 

Ordering leakdown tester today

Until then, anyone have any ideas why to adjacent cylinders are burning oil, is it possibly in the head? Its a lot of oil also, 60 miles of hard (lots of vtec) driving was nearly 1/8-1/4 quart

 

hey how does a leak down test work? do you have to take apart your block or does it work through thr spark plug hole?

 

Through the spark plug hole. You have a kit thats usually two gauges, one reads pressure into cylinder and one reads pressure in cylinder. You hook it up to a compressor, pressurize the cylinder, and with the second gauge record what the loss is, and from there calculate the % leakage. HTH

 

Remember that cylinders wear the most near TopDeadCenter...this is one of the reasons why compression tests and leakdown tests can reveal totally different things (good compression, yet poor leakdown).

Make sure when u do the leakdown, or have it done, that they test near bdc and somewhere in between bdc and tdc in at least one of the cylinders or all of them, if u see big variances.

 

Well thanks for the info...would you mind posting up complete directions to help me out? The ones I found online for the kit were very vague...and they talked about loosening the valves which i dont think should need to be done at all...

 

its kind of hard to expain it online....where are u from?

 

Rhode Island...