Ok here I go.

-Car
I start with some info about the car.
Honda Del Sol B16A2 160HP
I am 3rd owner.
NO HISTORY
It has run 147000km so about 100/110k miles?
It uses 0.8 litre per 1000km. So thats a lot.
Daily used for to go to work. 300km a day.

Mods
Short-ram intake
Apexi V-AFC
No Cat
Invidia Full Cat-Back system

The AFC have not been tuned for maximum HP but for best fuel setting.
Not to lean, not to rich.


Some info about my drivestyle.
90% of the time I am driving I am on the highway driving 70/80 mph @ 4500 rpm.
I always warm my car up before getting above 4000rpm.
I never take it to the track.
I realy care for my car and washes it almost every day.


It has had a compression test.[see above]
And a leakdown test.

Both test were good. No oil usage there.

So what the heck could it be? The guy of the dealership says: it might be because the car has been running on non synthetic oil for 40k miles and then there was switched to synthetic oil. So the old oil starts piling up and could cause it.
I have no idea if that happened, I own the car since 135 000km. And I poor in there Castrol GTX 10W30 semi-synthetic.

The guy also notices that my oil pan has been removed before. So it could be that the previous owner had the same problem, and tried to fix it. Unsuccesfully...

Last valvetiming was done 10k before. Oil is being changed regularly.

I waited with this question until after the compression test. I know, because I have read it here thats the nr1 thing to do.


Ok, hope someone has a idea.

PS: What oil would you use for the same kind of car?

**EDIT** The compression test results are in BAR not PSI
So 1st cyl: 10.5 bar
2nd: 10,4 bar
3rd: 11,2 bar
4th: 11,5 bar

 

Possible valve seals? Compression/Leak down tests don't detect bad valve seals.

 

i second that. sounds like something in the valve train. could be seals or guides.

 

Is there any way to test that? Or does the head has to be opened.
And when we are talking about to repair something like this, how much will it cost me? I can't do this myself (I think, don't want to take the risk), so I have to let some repair shop(expensive?) do it.

Thanks for the replies!

 

Sounds like valve seals to me. You can have the head tested but thats a pain in the butt. You will have to remove the head to have it checked. Call around some shops or even honda and see how mush they charge for testing and valve seal replacement.

 

Ok, I've been looking into those seals. They are not very expensive ($32).
How do you replace these, do you need to remove the entire head to replace these, or can I just access them by removing the valvecover? If not maybe it's best to just don't do that seal test and let someone replace those seals.

Sorry don't know much about internals, but I am learning!


**Edit** Flame myself for not searching , Ok as I found in the search, it is advised to remove the head. Shops pricing for doing this is about $300.

Only thats in the US, I live in the Netherlands. I know the Honda dealer asks more then twice that amount. So as you advised I will call around for the info.

Thanks for your advise


Modified by Froggin at 8:56 AM 4/29/2004

 

go to a machine shop and have them do the work. have them grind your seats and valves to make sure they are seating properly, check the cam journals your self to see if they need to be align-honed, and have the head tanked. but to save yourself some money, tear down the vtec assemblies yourself, ie:lost motion assembly, rocker arms, camshafts, vtec solenoid, temperature gauges, etc...just leave the valves and springs. i live in vegas and when i had my head r&r'd, align-honed and milled with all new ferrea valve train put in with tungsten valve seats, i payed $380. i would expect what you want wont run over $200, so long as you dont need it to be align honed.

go to a machine shop website for pricing so you wont be taken advantage of if you go to an oppurtunist machinist.

 

try this oil additive(restoreusa.com)

 

just a stupid question that no one asked- is there any oil on your driveway or wherever you park it? i knew someon who paid lots of money for someone to check thinking they were burning oil only to find out that it was just leaking from somewhere, i think around the filter. it was just a slow leak so he thought he was burning it, just never paid attention to the stains cuz it was blacktop driveway.

 

No no, I am not leaking Oil. Believe me, if that was the case, I would have noticed first thing. Also, there is lots of blue-purple smoke comming out of my exhaust. So that would be a indication of burning oil.

To RABHonda: Thank you for your info. Only one thing, I live in the Netherlands... Not many machine shops here . I know about this one place, who has tuned a friends car. But they are specialized in revision on exotics, so I am affraid that their price will be exotic too..

Errr, what the hell am I talking, I don't know about the price until I ask.
I'll make some calls, and let you guys know what happend.

Thanks!

**Edit**
To Spaceman:
Does that stuff works, or only makes it worse? I hear a lot of bad things about stuff like that.

 

did you check the pcv system.. if the valve goes bad it will suck oil out of the crank case and into the intake mainafold (just a thought). but good luck

 

Um buddy... Your 10.5 bar 154psi that is low.

 

Maybe I am reading the compression card wrong.
It realy says: "Compression in bar".

It has been done at a HONDA DEALER. So I think they know what they are talking about.... Weird, maybe I am reading the card wrong. I will try to get a higher resolution pic of the card.

Anyways acording to the Honda Dealer my compression is fine.

 

Made in paint!


The maximum of the card is 12 bar = 174.0456 PSI. Is still low, maybe our (dutch)compression tests are different.

If anyone replies and expects an anwer from me, please wait untill tomorrow. I am out of posts. I posted my max of 5 a day.

 

Get a leak down on the car and see if it is sealing correctly. I still hold to the compression test is low.

 

he got a leakdown test performed, and he said it was good. if he was burning oil, when he pulled the spark plugs he would/could have noticed right there.

 

yes that stuff i told you to check out earlier works,i have used it before...

 

Leakdown test has been done, that was normal too.

About that additive. Sorry I don't trust you, but I am not gonna poor something in my engine that I don't trust.
Maybe someone else thinks I should use it to, let them speak and I might reconsider.

**Edit** Typo


Modified by Froggin at 3:22 PM 4/30/2004

 

thrust?

 

oil additives are bad news all around. think about it. if the oil/engine really needed it, dont you think they would have added it to the oil youre supposed to put into your car? yeah, they would have, but if they didnt, its not needed. besides, some oil additives include ingredients that will destroy an o2 sensor.

 

Keep in mind, I am from the Netherlands. So there might be some typo's... You know what I mean by thrust...
Anyways, the I edited the post.

To RABHonda
Thanx for the info RABHonda!




Modified by Froggin at 3:47 PM 4/30/2004

 

its cool dood..i was just tryin to help you out and that stuff would be a temporary fix...good luck with your car

 

okay what is okay with a dealer is not necessarily okay. Like your results for the compression test is okay, but I would say it is low. A leakdown can have 25% leak down and they say it is okay, but once again i wouldn't like to see anything above 10. It is all different when dealing with a shop and seeing it for yourself.

 

how much are you burning??? like a quart between changes or more?

 

I poured some engine restore in my 66 mustang and blew up my engine LOL. It might be becuase it's a ford. Or maybe it's just bunk. I don't trust it. Sorry buddy.