well i Built a LS vtec about 2 months ago. I was using some oil but not alot at 1st but it has been getting worst and worst. I am using a B16 head with full ferrea valve tran. and buddy club Spec 3s. When i got the car tuned by J-K tuning John told me the the motor would use some oil because of the cams i am using. That was okay because i the oil usage was normal for new motor. But about 600 to 700 miles i took it the track and ran like 8 times and I used a quart in like 150 miles but at the daily driving i got like 300 miles to a quart and i was using 10W-30 oil. Then around 1200 miles i am smoking as soon as I turn the motor on. But it use to not do that. Also it smokes if I step on the gas...then when the vtec hits it smokes even more. Now the motor has 1,500 miles on it and I was told to try a heavier weight oil so i am running 15W-40 and i took it to the track and ran 8 times and with in 200 miles i used 2 quarts of oil. The reason I used 15W-40 was to see if would not use the oil as fast but it is no better.

I used Honda rings
1st compression ring 0.009
2nd compression ring 0.015
both oil rings 0.009
I honed each cylinder and it has nice cross hatches and i did a compression test and they were all 4 at 250

I am getting no blow by because i open up the PVC valve and no smoke and I open up the oil filler cap and no smoke.

I did 2 valve adjustments intake 0.008 and exhaust 0.009

i took the header off and the exhaust ports were very black and I could not really see the valve seals.

a buddy thought the a retainer may of boken the valve seal but the retainers are still holding strong

The guy that did the valve seals for my head used a fel-pro seal and i have had nothing but bad luck with fel pro seals on honda's

And went back to the guy about my problem and he trying to say it might be something else but i don't what?

what do you guys think? please i am open to anything

 

What grit (number) Sunnen stone did you use for the final hone?

 

Sorry i don't know it was honer that my dad had and i used it before on a motor and the hatchs were good not too sharp like the angles but not too low with the angles

 

i just put it in my cordless drill and honed it

 

You have answered your own question. Was it less than .0005 "out-of-round" top to bottom, side to side?

 

well i did not check what the cylinders for out of roundness but when i got the block where was some ridge on it but i took it a machine shop to get it tanked and he checked the bores and he looked them over and said they were good

 

well would that make the oil usage worst as time goes on because but the 1st 300 mile were good on the oil usage but now it is worst and it has 1500 miles

 

If you are in fact out of round, you cylinders may never seal properly.. The fact that you don't know deson't help your case.

Did you use a non detergent break in oil to seat your rings?

Trying to break a new motor in with synthetic oil is just a waste of time

 

no i used 10W-30 wal mart brand...but i hand gapped each ring to each cylinder

 

also not all bores are round after like 100,000 miles the piston and rings and wear on the bore it makes the bottom of the cylinder is wider then the top because the rings to not reach all the way to the bottom of the cylinder correct?

 

When you say not all bores are round.......they should be since thats what makes ring seal and power.

Oil could be affecting your compression test.
Its happened to me with "straight across #'s" before.
Get some leakdown #s and see how that goes.

Sounds like you did this on a budget given the drill hone and all.
The best thing you could have done when you took it to the shop would have been
to have them at least measure the bores while it was there so you knew where you stood.
And yeah, the money to bore and hone was probably not in the budget, but it makes the difference in assuring a trouble free and strong motor.


Leak test it and see whats up.

 

Ouch! Sorry to hear that. I'd tell ya to take it apart and maybe get it honed professionally or perhaps overbored if the bore is at its service limit currently, but this of course means more time and money which you already know.

 

sounds like a piston ring sealing problem and/or cylinder hone problem.

in my experience when you go thru that much oil in such short periods of time its always a oil control ring problem. the fact that you ran a manual cylinder hone thru the cylinders also is a problem.

no matter what your eyes may "think" is a proper hone it will always be wrong. only a experienced machinist will be able to know when the hone is correct since they do it all the time with proper equipment.

time to pull the engine out and do a proper rebuild......or just keep driving it and keep adding oil.

good luck.

 

okay thanks for the great ideas i guess you live and learn see i enlisted into the navy and i am leaving in 2 weeks so i am just going to add oil and keep in working order so if my dad has to move it he just has to turn the key...but after i am done basic and back i will take it apart and make it right

 

it was not a budget my dad helped me on advice and he told me that we could hone it so i was okay i mean if i knew if it lead to this i would spend the extra money to do it

 

Don't get down on your self. You live and learn.

Sh*t... the reason I'm using a B18A1 and not a B1 block which came out of my car is because while assembling the first block I managed to have an oilring flipup against the bore as I was inserting the piston and I tapped the piston down into the cylinder causing a large and damaging gouge in the cylinder wall after spending $100 on an overbore, so I had to stow that block and find another one or buy another set of pistons which were a size larger.

I went with the cheaper option.

 

OH MY GOD! i did that very thing i mean it did make a mark when i pulled the ring out of the bore because i pushed the piston down in the bore....i am happy i know what it is but not happy i did it....

 

it did not look that bad but it left a mark but it was top compression ring

 

Well lets just say that since this was my first real engine assembly outside a lawnmower engine I was alittle unsure of how much pressure was needed to push the piston down bore while assembling and I guess I didnt have the ring compressor on the piston tight enough.

I wasnt forceful, but very repetitious with tapping the piston downbore before I realized that something wasnt right and that I just bought my self more time until the project would be fininshed, lol....

My machinist who did alot of work for my current block & rods told me to run my finger nail across the scratch/gouge. If your nail catches then your in trouble, and mine did so I didnt chance it. I just ended up buying a used block from Jordan of Consumate Tuning in Minnasota.

 

yeah well that is very good point my dad rebuilt alot of VW motors back in the day so he helped me on things i needed and things like that...But i pushed the piston ring down into the bore with the piston and it was so far down i flipped the ring up and i did make a mark but i did not run my nail on the mark and went on building the motor

 

Well that might very well be your culprit to your oil loss too, aside from the hone as much as I hate to say it.

When you get back from basic, I'd pull the head and have the bores measured to see if there near or at there service limit, if theres room I'd see about getting it machine honed.

Otherwise the next step is an overbore+ new pistons or get another block unless you can deal with burning oil.

 

yeah i just drove to ocean City, Maryland and back and it is around 300 miles and used a quart of oil but i will get to the bottom of this one day....lol