I have a 2000 Prelude that is completely stock (H22 5 speed non-SH) with 135,000 miles on it. Since I bought the car a little over two years ago, it has burned oil through the exhaust at a rate of approximately 6 quarts every oil change. Last week I had the valve seals replaced by a reputable tuning shop in hopes to stop the oil consumption. It appeared to work, there was no more smoking, even when the VTECH engaged. Only problem is now the oil is being consumed at a rate of four quarts EVERY TANK OF GAS!!!! There are no evident leaks, no smells of burning oil, and no smoke. I took the car back and the mechanics are as baffled as I am. The spark plugs are a little dirty but not as dirty as one would expect with such a major burn (assuming there is a burn). Currently, the oil is topped off and the dipstick is zip tied to ensure it does not come off etc. to eliminate variables and I am going to drive around on it for 50 or so miles to verify the rate of consumption.

Anybody have any ideas???

 

go out and look at your valve cover then come back and reread your post

vtech wtf noobs

 

Wow! Your right, vtech instead of VTECH makes a huge difference. Thanks, my car is running much better now. Who knew capitalization could cause such a problem!

 

Check to see the condition of the coolant. You are sure there are no leaks on the motor? or the cam seals that leak when the car is being run? Im thinking either HG, or cam seals are bad, based on the fact that you say no oil is on the plugs. And btw its vtec, your both noobs vtech is a phone that I have in my room

 

gave me a good laugh! lmao

 

What would I be looking for with the condition of the coolant and what would it indicate?

The vtec thing also made me laugh. Thanks for the help.

 

the only thing that i can think of is blow by thru the rings, do a compression test and leak down test

 

The rings are what I am afraid of; I do not have that kind of dough. I will be stopping by the mechanic again and will mention the tests to him. I just cannot figure out how it became that bad literally overnight.

 

i didn't read the whole thread cause I don't care about vtec spelling flaming, but I can tell you that you need to do a compression test cause all that oil is going somewhere. and if it's not in a huge pool on the ground, then its getting through the piston rings.

if you're at all mechanically inclined, you can replace the pistons yourself for about $500 (find used OEMs) including gaskets. if this is not something that you can do yourself, expect to pay around $1000 (depending upon where you live and your relationship with the shop).

 

hey dumb *** i posted the word "vtech" in bold so he would know which word he misspelled

 

Quick question. When you drive do you smell oil burning? Do you hit vtec often? See if there are puddles of oil in your intake manifold. In the coolant you would be looking for I think droplets of oil, since they shouldnt mix. I kno that if the cam seals go out, you would be losing alot of oil that way, especially if your in the higher rpm band a lot.

 

Wish I could take you seriously. If your not gonna help just leave, no one is stopping you. Otherwise post something that could help this guy out.

 

I do not smell oil when I am driving and I do not hit vtec very often. During my first tank of gas, after the valve seals were done, I was within the vtec power range through all gears (I hate stop signs when trying to merge with highway traffic) and there was increased consumption, but it is still bad without hitting vtec. I will have to get back to you about the intake manifold and I did not see any contamination in the coolant either although I will take a better look as soon as I can.

Currently, the shop is accepting that they may have caused the increased consumption so they are checking things out without charging me, but I think they are checking me out more than the car. We are doing a "controlled oil consumption test" meaning they zip tied the dipstick, clamped down the oil cap and painted a line on the drain plug. It seems to me that they just want to verify that I am not manipulating the oil levels manually which is understandable.

 

What's the distance on an oil change for you? ie, 6 quarts in ???

 

3,000 miles. Probably not necessary to do every 3,000 miles since there's a steady flow of clean oil, but I wanted to keep the filter clean and I like to error on the side of caution.

 

So I drove about 90 miles on it and checked the oil with no loss. The mechanic attributed the previous oil loss to the seals needing to be conditioned. Does this sound reasonable to anybody?

 

my prelude 2000 got the same problem too and it burned oil mostly every 1500 miles. I guess it's time for me to have a major tune up. Thanks all this was very helpful.