Yesterday at the auto-x I dual drove my ITR w/ a friend. On the entry to a slalom there was hard braking. Then through the slalom, blue smoke would come out the back until the end of the slalom. I suspected that the PCV valve was clogged which would cause positive pressure in the crankcase and push the oil into the combustion chamber of the cylinders that were currently in the intake stroke. So yesterday I inspected the PCV system and found that the hose that went from the valve cover to the intake pipe had a hole in it. I checked and cleaned the PCV which was ok. I repaired the hose that was damaged. So that ruled out the fact that the PCV valve was causing a positive pressure condition since: A: the PCV worked and B: there was a hole in the PCV hose.

I also noticed that when I had the car idling, it would spit out some black soot/water mixture that reminded me a of a rich mixture. I checked the plugs and they seemed fine (See pics below). They had some deposits but they weren't wet. If you look at the outer electrode there is some sort of deposit. I was wondering if that is some sort of double platinum or something. I don't want to try scratching it off if it belongs there.

The car burns about 0.5-1 qt per 3k miles which I consider normal but not good. It never blows smoke on hard acceleration. I took it lapping a couple of weeks ago and it ran like a champ and didn't get any remarks of smokescreen on hard decceleration.

Anyone know what is going on?







Modified by markpaco at 8:47 PM 5/20/2003

 

Mileage?

I have a similar condition. I suspect that I have a ring issue or possible a leaky valve (seal or cracked guide). I replaced the headgasket which did not seem to help. I have noticed a nice plug color with no wet deposits, but there is oil on the plug threads. I suggest having a compression test and leakdown test performed. That will tell you if you have a serious problem.

I assume you are using sythetic oil?

 

Similar issue here, I have yet to do a leak down test, but it's my opinion that I'm getting high crank case pressure and the oil is going through the PCV system, I'm hoping that a simple catch can will remove the oil from the air and stop the burning of oil, but I have yet to try my theory out.

Austin

 

50k miles. I will do a comp test later today. I honestly think it is the valve guide/seals. Kinda BS though cause I don't beat (as much) on this car like I did my Civic hybrid and it ran great. It must of been the years of abuse from previous owners. Oh well.