This Sunday, I drove 1 hour to the track, did 4x 20 minute sessions, and drove 1 hour back. I checked my oil before and after and throughout the day. Over the course of that 4 hours of driving, I was missing 2 quarts of oil. Is this normal usage for an ITR with 110k?

Some more details. I had this checked at the dealership before and they found no leaks and said everything looked fine. I replaced all of my valve cover gaskets the day before to rule that out. After 2 laps I was mechanical black flagged because they said I was smoking and the gate worker said there was a small drop of oil on the ground. I jacked the car up and valve cover area was clean, there were some oil stains around the oil filter area, but the filter itself was tight. I wiped everything down I could find and duct taped the oil filter. I didn't get flagged again, but I thought I saw some blue smoke behind me when exiting corners, but I'm not sure. I refilled a quart at the track and a quart when I got home.

So if we can't find any leaks, is this kind of usage normal? I've only owned the car for 1.5 years but I didn't notice anything like this the first year.

 

When you saw the smoke behind you when exiting a corner, was it only after left hand, right hand, or both left and right hand corners?

The thread https://honda-tech.com/road-racing-a...issue-3221638/ has some info on B18C smoke issue on track with a picture from me included in reply #2. - Jim

 

How much oil were you burning between every 20min session? Did you burn oil on the highway to/from the track?

 

The one I can remember noticing, and that got me flagged was coming out of turn 6, accelerating out of 2nd gear. It would have been a left hand turn. I don't remember other turns specifically. Is that thread you linked relevant if the engine bay is completely stock aside from header?

http://www.jimhayes.com/Tracks/CASPDWY/CA-lines.jpg

I burned about a quart for sessions 2 and 3 combined. I burned another quart for session 4 and the drive home. Normal driving I don't seem to lose significant oil that I notice, I do a check before I go to the track every month or 2 and oil will be full or slightly below.

 

I believe that the link is still relevant, but I'm not sure what mods you should do with a stock engine PCV setup - but you might have to do a temporary mod when you are at the track, and revert back to the stock setup afterwards for the street. I did a quick search for threads with 'smoke' in the Road Racing / Autocross & Time Attack forum, and the following threads might be of interest. The first thread mentions checking the 'black breather box' on the back of the engine, and maybe installing a new O-ring on it. I did that on my car (Civic hatch with B18C type R race car), and I still had smoking issues on long left hand turns, and the fix was to route the vent line on the right rear of the valve cover to a catch can instead of to the intake system. During track days, I still check my oil every session or two, and often have to add say a 1/2 qt of oil. On track, I'm typically revving to 8200 rpm with rev limiter set to 8500 rpm. I also have an accusump and a baffled oil pan, so the accusump provides some extra protection. Anyway, I suggest taking a look at the threads below, and possibly consider cross posting your question in the Road Racing / Autocross & Time Attack forum since it sounds like your issue is really only during track sessions. - Jim

https://honda-tech.com/road-racing-a...-help-2769965/

https://honda-tech.com/road-racing-a...k-car-2580570/

https://honda-tech.com/road-racing-a...y-oil-2305901/

 

One other thing that I wanted to mention, was that the race shop that I go to said that the oil consumption with the oil right at the full mark on the dipstick is quite a bit higher than with the oil level a 1/2 qt low, but I haven't really experimented with that. I still usually try to keep my oil level between 1/2 qt low and the full mark though. Also, I'm running an accusump (2 qt, I believe), so that leaves somewhat of a safety cushion for running the oil level slightly low. - Jim

 

Just a quick update, dealership checked everything and said there are no leaks, but the fact that it is an older engine just means it is burning some oil when driven hard. Guess I'll just keep oil handy at the track then.

 

Its not "normal" but common especially on higher mileage R's. My old R used to consume oil like crazy. Easily a quart every 750-1000 miles of normal use. On the track it was awful and I'd check it after every session. I never had any significant leaks but my rear bumper would always get filthy black and it smoked pretty good at WOT especially in VTEC. If no real leaks found, no oil in coolant, and compression is even across the board, chalk it up to oil rings on their way out. Good time to start thinking about a rebuild with CTR pistons, and/or using cheaper oil lol. Keep tracking that thing!

 

what kind of oil intervals did you do under normal use with the consumption being at 1qt at 750-1k miles? I've heard the same thing from others about just using cheaper oil just keeping driving too.

Did you ever get an oil analysis?

 

Nope never did the analysis. I actually did switch to a cheap non synthetic oil at one point since I burned thru so much oil. Under normal driving I'd still go 3k miles or so before changes under normal driving but always watched the level. But it a track day or something I'd always change before and after.

One thing I always wondered was with less oil typically in the pan, if that meant the contaminants and particulates we more prevalent, potentially leading to more wear on bearings and walls and such. I have no evidence to back that up though.

 

i definitely note less oil disappearing when i keep the level on the lower hole of the dipstick.
(disclaimer: gs-r engine with 330k miles).

 

My 240psi across-the-board ITR burned over a quart per day at the track. I added oil as needed. Then I shrugged it all off in utter contempt of any caution or worry.

You should try that.

Also...do a compression test.

 

i'm going through a quart every month/1k miles.
that's like 3 oil changes per year w/o getting under the car right? 8)
i have the dreaded head gasket serial number area oil leak too.
gotta try to hondabond that b*tch.

 

Check your PCV system for leaks or blockages