2000 Honda Civic EX ~ 184,xxx miles.

When I bought the car, the person told me head gasket was changed. There was oil all over the engine, and where it's stamped (D16y8) and I cleaned all that up and has been pretty clean ever since.

Had some sort of oil leak, turned out to be oil pan gasket and replaced that and all was good.

Recently, I was checking the oil level and nothing came up on the dipstick. I changed oil about a month ago and filled it up about 4 qt.'s and the dipstick read oil was full. (Near top dot)

Now when I check, dipstick is completely dry. There IS oil because when I check it right after I run the car, the oil is all over the dipstick, but when I let it be for a couple hours to check again, it's completely dry.

It is the correct dipstick, I'm parked on a leveled surface when checking also.

Since I didn't want to drive with assumably an oil-less engine, I put in two quarts today and the dipstick read it to the first dot.

So, what's the issue here? Am I burning oil, leaking oil, or dipstick being a dip$hit?

FYI, I'm not too mechanically inclined. I can do the basics myself like oil changes, but much beyond that I'm still learning.

And if this matters, I have a CEL, P0420 but that's cat converter efficiency below threshold.

ALSO....compression tested engine and #'s were 160-170's.

 

Sounds like burning oil.
That could also be why your CEL is on from oil clogging up your cat. Any noticeable smoke?

 

Not very noticeable. Sometimes at night I get white smoke, and water from the exhaust. The white smoke doesn't happen all the time but on occasion. If I rev it high, say vtec, I sometimes get white smoke. But mostly on cold starts (mornings/nights). I should have someone drive the car and be behind it to see.

 

Burning, still leaking or if you checked it JUST after it's ran it still may be in the rest of the engine(head/upper area) I made the mistake once of thinking I had no oil put in 1qt check 5 mins later was above the top dot had to drain some out. just keep an eye on it could just be a fluke this time

 

I'll update this tomorrow. Letting it sit overnight and going to check in the nice cool morning. Will post what happens and we'll go from there. Thanks so far guys.

 

Alright so I checked the levels this morning and the dipstick read up to the second dot. So I'm assuming now it's full. But yesterday, however, I put in two quarts (after dipstick was dry), let it sink in and dipstick read only up to the first dot. As of now, I'm good on oil, but I don't know how long it will last. I didn't spot any visible leaks, but it still could be a possibility. I'm leaning towards it burning over leaking, thoughts?

 

So there's no oil on the bottom of your engine/tranny? No puddle on ground from sitting overnight? If not, ur probably burning it.

So u lost 2 quarts in a month, and approx. how many miles was that? I would try a high mileage oil that can help with oil consumption.

 

Make sure the dipstick holder tube is not loose and sliding up and down giving a false reading on the dipstick. This has happened with CRV's with B20 motors.

 

My fleet 2000 Civic Ex had almost the same oil disappearing act. Turns out the piston rings were toast, and it was a D16y5 block with a D16y8 head. My guess it came from a chop shop or something and they just slapped in a high mileage block from an HX or something. But yea, it could burn more than a quart per week. Compression dry was like 75, 102, 80, 76... wet compression was like 205, 204, 204, 206.

Do a dry compression test and a wet compression test WOT and write down all numbers for us. That is how we will know what's up.

 

When you pull out the dipstick, wipe it off then insert and pull it out again. That's your level. Don't assume whatever was on it on the 1st pull out was correct.

 

No leaks so you must be burning it.

Try this stuff, it really works and may slow down your loss.



Lucas Oil Stabilizer <-- LINKAGE

 

Nope, this isn't the case. The stick sits pretty solid in there.

Stock motor (D16Y8). Bought it from a lady, one owner and clean title. She didn't seem like the person to mess with the car at all. Gave me carfax on the spot, etc. Seemed like a good buy.

I'll give this a go soon. I've done a dry compression test before, not a wet. I've read that you just add a bit of oil to the cylinders for this? And WOT.. wide open throttle? Just floor it?

Of course. I never take the first reading.

None of these symptoms. I would say around 1-1.5k miles or so. Had to ballpark a figure, don't remember exact numbers.

Alright, I'll use this bandaid for the time being.

 

Sound like you are burning alot of oil (2qts per 1-1.5k mi)

I've heard good things about the Lucas, never had a need for it myself tho.

Have someone floor it while cranking it, you read the guage.

 

Wet compression test = add some oil into cylinder.

WOT = Wide Open Throttle.

I would avoid that Lucas stuff unless it is the synthetic version. Besides, it makes a real mess of the engine and if you have any leaks, they get a nasty buildup. Really, you cannot bandaid piston rings. Once the Lucas reaches operating temp, it flows like oil. When it cools off, it becomes thick and almost adhesive again. It will not fix the rings.

 

Done a wet compression test yet? Curious on the results

 

since no one has said it...un plug the distributer unless you want to fry your coil ! and never hurts to unclip the injectors so fuel isn't being put into the cylinders contributing to "WASH" of the walls.

 

Will do... gotta get a day off where I can find some help.

Ahh, thanks for that! I'll stay away.

Not yet, as I've stated above, I need a day off and a buddy to help out.

Yup, knew about unclipping injectors. Didn't think about the distributor, thanks.

Once I get around to doing the test, I'll post up the results here.

 

A leakdown test will tell you, for sure, if your rings are toasted... and if so, just how toasted they are. I did this earlier this summer and found that I have one ring that's okay, two that are iffy, and one that's on it's last legs.

Alternately, if you don't have the leakdown gauges, you can just pump ~35psi of air into each cylinder while it's at TDC and put your hand over the dipstick tube. If you feel air puffing out... it's the rings.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have the gauges. I'm gonna rent a compression tester today so I can check it both wet and dry.

Any idea as to how much oil I should add for per cylinder for the wet test?

 

Teaspoon

 

You can still get the spark plug fitting for an air hose and pump 35 psi into each cylinder. If you feel/hear air coming out of the dipstick hole... you need new rings.

And yea a teaspoon. Sometimes I just use the cap from a standard quart of oil. You basically want to make sure you're adding the same amount of oil to each cylinder, so you're getting accurate readings.

 

Thanks.

I gotta give this a go when I get another chance. Thank you!


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Alright, did the compression test minutes ago. Both dry and wet.

DRY:
1: 170
2: 170
3: 180
4: 180

WET:
1: 190
2: 200
3: 200
4: 210

 

You better make sure your dipstick is the right length. When I bought this bucket the guy had the wrong one in and I would up overfilling.

 

I think those numbers look pretty good, its not that big of a difference.

Who else can chime in about these numbers?

 

Honda specifications are at least 135 psi of compression in each cylinder, and no more than a 28 psi difference between cylinders. The universal specs suggest something is wrong if adjacent cylinders have more than 15% difference in pressure.