Perhaps you've seen my other posts and I apologize for repeating but I'm in a bad way here.
Here's the deal-<U></U>
I purchased a 90 Integra (B18A1) with 143k - had a dead cylinder and was one qt + low on oil when purchased - I knew about the dead cylinder - previous owner said that it didn't use oil
dead cylinder was due to a burnt exhaust valve - I assumed that the low oil level was due to the burnt valve - that cylinder's plug was wet with oil
Valve was replaced and head freshened by reputable shop - valve grind, check guides, etc - all checked OK
Since putting it back together, it has consumed oil at the rate of 1+ qt. per 100 miles - yes that's right - 1 quart to 100 miles
Here's what I know:<U></U>
Compression - #1 - 185, #2 - 182, #3- 185, #4 - 185
Leak down cold - #1 - 0%, #2 - 5%, #3 - 5%, #4 - 0%
Leak down at op temp - #1 - 5%, #2 - 2%, #3 - 0%, #4- 0%
There is little to no ridge at the top of the cylinders
There is positive pressure in the valve cover
There is no pressure in the block side of the pcv valve hose when the pcv valve is removed - pcv valve is new - pcv hoses are new - pcv system including oil separator tank not plugged/blocked
Valve stem to guide clearance is OK
Valve seals are new - I suspected that the Fel-pro seals that were installed by the machine shop were wrong. I replaced them with OE - this had no effect
Valve train - cams, etc are in good condition - they show little wear - especially for 143k
I originally suspected that the re-used o-ring on the oil restrictor was leaking. I replaced the o-ring and another new head gasket - this had no effect
Fuel mixture is rich - particularly at low rpms and noticable under light throttle
ECU code 43 and flat low speed throttle response - this goes away when the check engine light comes on - light will go out after shutting off - comes back on after running for 20 minutes
Oxygen sensor tests OK
Fuel Pressure / Fuel Pressure Regulator test OK

Oil is obviously burning - can see it, can smell it, and the bumper and hatch are covered with black soot

I think that's it

The only thing left is the Oil Rings, I guess. I find it hard to believe when everything else is OK. But compression,etc are no indication of the oil ring condition.
Are these things prone to oil ring problems?

Am I missing something?

PLEASE, I'm in big trouble here!
Thanks in advance for your help!

 

That wasn't it-
One more thing- the oil has 200 miles on it and it looks like it has 20,000 miles on it - it's black and thin looking - it looks this way soon after changing it
Can't smell fuel in oil.

 

HELP

 

To be honest, I can help you with all that, but 1 qt per 100 miles is crazy.......My 99 gsr eats oil like crazy, but no where near that

there are some good guys/girls around here I am sure they can figure out your prob...good luck

 

i burned a quart of oil every 100 miles or so in my gsr, so i just did a rebuild I believe the cause was the piston rings not sealing in the higher rev range. My compression test was somewhat consistant across the board. I didn't do a leakdown test. Hopefully somebody can give you some good info Good luck

 

Thanks guys
I'm thinking it's time for rings - or a used motor.
But I got like $500 tied-up in the top end now so............
Had I known then what I know now, I would have done the used motor to start.

 

Since you just paid to have the head rebuilt. Spec out the bottom end and if everything checks out, hone it and throw new rings and bearings in it.

 

There is no pressure in the block side of the pcv valve hose when the pcv valve is removed - pcv valve is new - pcv hoses are new - pcv system including oil separator tank not plugged/blocked

first its supossed to have pressure...the old finger check to see if pcv is opening. but that would not cause u to have burnt oil. only that flat speed u have. also check wat code 43 is. that would help

second if its buring oil like made then ur piston rings are shot. probally? did u check it? meaning did u take off the head n look down in the pistons? or u can take out one spark plug n look down to see if it is saturated. maybe u have a blown head gasket? how long has this been going on?? since wen did it get fixed?? maybe ur shop never re-torqued to specs n in order n caused a warp head/block, causing leaking oil (doubt it) lol, but yah my o2...peace n good luck

 

first off, your engine code means the engine isn't running optimally, it's in safe mode i guess you couldf say. That might explain why your oil is getting dirty so quickly, even though you don't smell gas in the oil i bet its there. And your other problem, it sounds like your oil ring's gone in that cylinder. Not much you can do on that other than replace the rings. If the block's got low mileage (which i noticed yours does not) you can get away with just changing the rings and leaving the rod and main bearings alone, but i'd do a rebuild in your case

 

Thanks for your comments.

It's still hard for me to believe that this is happening.
Engine runs strong - has good compression and leak down - for the test anyway.
You'd think that there would be other symptoms or bad compression/leak down if it was the rings. I'm guessing that it's the oil rings only that are bad. My machinist/engine guy says he's seen this before. Oil rings stuck - good compression, etc

Head was torqued right - I did it - I have the Helms manual and a good Snap-on Torque Wrench

Rings would be bad in more than 1 cylinder. Should it be the rings, I'm guessing that this code 43 / rich problem is the culprit. Even though the previous didn't admit it, it's probably been around for a long time.

I really didn't notice anything unusual when I had the head off - no unusual deposits on the pistons - cylinder walls looked good - no ridges

Maybe I'm too old - code 43, safe mode (I agree), whatever, It's running rich but not that rich - old carbed motors ran much richer than this one is and lived a long life.

But..... time to pull the motor.

It might not have anything to do with it, but I'm still puzzled as to why the there is no ventilation going on in the PCV system. If this thing had bad compression/bad leak down, then I wouldn't be puzzled. A search on this forum returned a result that this is "normal".

As to the code 43 - I've tested everything that I can (no test harness) and everything passes - fuel pressure and regulator, oxygen sensor (hard to believe -it's gotta have a lot of oil on it). One other symptom it has is the fuel cut-off does always happen - when you left off the gas sometimes the revs stay up briefly or its slow to return to the idle speed - not always, but occasionally.
Time for a computer?