Thursday my friend noticed that my car was smoking. I came home and immediately started diagnosing. I thought it may be the head gasket but I do not see any oil in the water or water in the oil. I pulled the spark plugs and #3 is coated in oil very bad, with the other 3 having light traces of oil. It is using 1/2 a quart every 40 miles driving like a grandpa, never seeing over 4K. I then thought it may be the rings, so I bought a compression tester.

I just did a compression test today and it read 230,230,240,and 230. From the factory they have 242 p.s.i.#3 thats giving me the trouble has the higest comp, but excessive oil buildup makes for a higher reading, and #3 def. has extra buildup right now. So lets say 230 across the board, thats damn good for 114K.

So I think my oil usage problem is somewhere in my head, like a stuck valve or the valve seals. I pulled the valve cover today and nothing appears out of the ordinary, so I am stumped. Any ideas?

 

Oh forgot to mention, Car is a 2000 Civic SI. I run 10w-30 Mobil 1 and the motor has 114K.

It has a CTR intake cam and I/H/E.

 

Maybe a bad seal, like the cam seal. dont know if it would leak that much but its worth a look.

 

most likely valve seals. That is what happened to my single cam and that thing DRANK oil.

Check for external leaks first though.

 

1/2 qt. every 40 miles....

Oil control rings must be non existent.

Leakdown?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by forcefedferio &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">most likely valve seals. That is what happened to my single cam and that thing DRANK oil.

Check for external leaks first though.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No external leaks whatsoever...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93EGB18C1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">1/2 qt. every 40 miles....

Oil control rings must be non existent.

Leakdown?</TD></TR></TABLE>

No kidding man, its insane and it happened instantly. I haven't done a leak down test, I guess I need to do that next.

 

defiantly sounds like the rings are worn.

 

I def would throw out rings because comp would be very low.. What kind of gas milage are you getting?? It sounds like its running very rich might be getting too much fuel which if your getting bad gas milage would determine that.. What color is smoke? White would indicate Headgasket. Another way to tell if its exhaust or intake valve on head would be what part does it smoke worst hard excel or after decel?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SEATownboi08 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I def would throw out rings because comp would be very low.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Oh really? You can still have perfect compression when your oil control rings are worn. FYI.

 

yeah i had a toyota pickup with bad rings it burn tons of oil like a quart a day drive 80 miles a day and my comp was really good!tahats why i love them toyota pickups LOL! it had bad rings and still blew my friends toy out of the mud!that truck also made lots of strange noises too!but it flew like a bat out of hell and smoked everyone elses toy

 

***UPDATE***

Monday I took my car to honda and left it for them to do a leak down. I don't have a leak down tester, so I decided just to take it there. The test went perfect and showed no bad signs. It was 5%,3%,3%,and 4%. I decided just to go get it as they were stumped too. I bought a quart of oil b/c I knew it had burned some on the drive over. I paid for the test and then popped the hood to add oil. When I pulled the dip stick, it was full. I went back and asked if the mechanic had added oil, and he said no. It didn't burn a drop on the 40 mile trip home and didn't smoke either... So wild and confusing, my honda fixes itself.

 

Wangan Midnight, only instead of a devil Z its a devil EM1.

 

^LOL.

 

If all else is good then check your PCV valve. I took it off and cleaned it and stuffed it back in. Drove home and back to class which is 50 miles and I had lost a 1/2 a quart. Replaced it and no problems now. Could also explain the here now, gone later.

 

^ I just ordered a new PCV, so hopefully that will do the trick. It started burning a little more, but just a little. So thats gotta be it. Will update once its replaced!

 

PCV valve was the trick car doesn't burn oil and has lost all the little annoying hesitation issues it used to have. Old valve was stopped up pretty bad. Its soo smooth now!

Thanks for all the help!