I just bought a 99 Prelude SH with 70k miles on it. Idles fine, and runs great at all RPMs. I have driven it about 2k miles in the last month and decided to check the oil level the other day. It was low, really low, below the lower hole on the dip stick. I added a quart and that brought it up to the lower mark. The problem is, that it is not smoking, not leaking and I can't smell any oil burning. I have not done a compression check, but, suspect all is fine. From reading on here, I know that these can comsume some oil, but is a couple of quarts in 2 - 3k miles normal?

Has anyone else had the same problem?

Thanks,

Brendenhaus

 

It depends on how much VTEC you hit daily while driving. H22's love to burn oil.

IMO, it seems normal. Get a comp/leak test to be sure though.

 

did you check the oil when you bought the car to make sure it was at the right level or did you just assume that it was and come to find out now that it's low?

 

Thanks for the reply. I know I pulled off the oil filler cap to look and see what kind of condition the bottom of the oil cap was in and what the top of the head looked like, crawled under the car to make sure that it wasn't leaking anything, but now that you mention it, I can not remember if I actually pulled the dipstick. At anyrate, it has lost a significant amount of oil since the last time it was changed. But I am not sure when that was though. I plan on having the oil changed this week and then keeping a close eye on it. I was just taken back when I checked it and seen that it was really low. I looked for one of these cars for a while and finally found this one with one owner, good miles and descent shape. I guess after bieng so carful and picky, I am just a little parnoid that I ended up buying a car with something major wrong with it.

Thanks again,

Brendenhaus

 

I understand where you are coming from.

What you want to do it's get your oil changed and make sure you use some decent oil if you want your motor to last. I usually recommend Castrol Synthetic blend with the Lucas oil stabilizer, works great and it has saved my engine at least a couple of times.

If you want to spend the extra bucks for it I personally use Castrol Syntec full synthetic with the lucas synthetic oil stabilizer and a decent oil filter like K&N or Mobil 1.

Synthetic last longer you can easilly use it for 7k miles no prob forget what anyone says, regullar you'll have to change at 3k- 3500 because the detergents and crappola that regular oil has just wear out.

Once you change your oil keep an eye on it and see how much you burn from there.

How black is your oil btw?

 

The oil definetly needs to be changed. I may try the synthetic oil, and I have wanted to try the lucas additive for a while in my truck, so I may go ahead and try it this week in the Prelude. What year do you have? Does yours use any oil?

Brendenhaus

 

Thanks for the reply. I have gotten into the vetc a fair amount in the last month. More than I will when the new wears off I am sure. I have never ran any of my vehicles hard, but its hard to resist running it up into the vtec sometimes. So what happens to the oil when you are at higher rpm's? Is it burnt and I am just not noticing it? Now that I think about it, last time I washed the car there were some black particles on part of the back bumper. Could that be it?

Brendenhaus

 

Hahaha yep, the black particles on your rear bumper is the burnt oil. Everytime you hit vtec, it shoots out black smoke.

Just switch to synthetic and keep an eye on the oil level if you love hitting vtec.

My 4th gen eats oil too and I barely drive the thing, the wife does. (She must be vtec addicted! )

BTW, welcome to honda-tech and congrats on the new Prelude.

 

Also keep in mind that a cat will hide alot of the smoke/burnt oil that your engine is spewing. My car never showed smoke till I used a test pipe, now its like a smoke bomb goes off every time I go from a stop. I just burned through a quart of Castrol GTX 10w30 in ~140 miles. Going to GTC 10w40 tomorrow. We'll see if it slows down consumption.

 

I was afraid that is what those black particles were. So that is normal? I am going to have the oil changed today and I'll stay out of the vtec and keep an eye on the oil level.

What causes it to burn oil in the vtec? Is it from the valves bieng opened more and longer? How does synethic oil help?

Later,

Brendenhaus

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by brendenhaus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was afraid that is what those black particles were. So that is normal? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, it's normal, especially on H22's.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What causes it to burn oil in the vtec? Is it from the valves bieng opened more and longer? How does synethic oil help?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't know the exact answer but I do know when you're in VTEC the engine works harder and burns oil/fuel like crazy. I guess it's designed that way.

IIRC, synthetic is tougher and last longer than conventional oil.

The thicker the oil, the slower it burns, but that also means, the thicker the oil, the longer it takes your engine to warm up.

So if you're using 5w-30, it's time to switch to 10w-30/40.

 

Hey,
I was wondering if you ever figured out what was causing your prelude to burn oil. I had the oil in mine changed and have driven it over 2 thousand miles now and it seems to have lost about a quart, but I have stayed out of the vtec, so I am sure that helps. Still getting the black soot on my bumper. I am going to do a leakdown and compression test soon, but figure that everything will be fine there. I am beginning to suspect possible valve guide seals. Anyway, just wondering if you had any luck in figuring out what was causing yours to lose oil.

Thanks,

Brendenhaus

 

OK so... sorry to jump on the thread here, but I've also been noticing a lot of motor oil consumption in my 2001 type SH. Got the car a couple months ago, and just did my second oil change using Pennzoil syn 10w30. After a little over 1000 miles, I checked the oil, and its already at the minimum dipstick level.

Haven't noticed the black soot at all (pretty difficult since its a black car), and I occassionally hit vtec, although not so much that I would think this much oil consumption is normal. I haven't noticed any leaks either. I've always read that this engine burns oil like crazy, but how much exactly is 'expected'? and how much can i expect to pay for a leak and compression test on the engine if i finally chose to get that done? would going to dealer be suggested for this, or just the local honda mechanic?

thanks for any help.