Hello!
I've been noticing my civic... errr b18c itr is really going through the oil.
Scenario:
96' civic hatch
I believe 40L tank
I get in town km's 325 average. 425km on all highway.
I usually add half a litre(quart) of 5w30 conventional Pennzoil, per fill up.
now when vtec is kicking in, quite a bit of smoke (looks black, not really blue) from my rear end.
My cold idle is about 1500 rpm's and once really heated up, idle is 1000 rpm's.
I use ultra ( high octane) and have never used any different.

This has slowly been progressing... And I'm finding I don't have the same power I use to... and vtec use to kick in at 60km/h for 2nd gear ( sorry I didn't have a tac then) and now kicks in at 65km/h

I ordered some new spark plugs, since Canadian tire doesn't understand a ITR is not a GSR.

any thoughts? Piston Rings? Valve seals?

-Brian


EDIT:
Just changed my spark plugs to NGK BKR7E-11. here's the picture of the old ones (not even one year old):




Modified by echoaudio at 1:45 PM 6/15/2008

 

If you're burning that much oil, I'd do compression and leakdown tests and start from there.

 

I think the compression test would be very beneficial lol. There's no 'leaks' on the ground or anything. However, there is 'sweating' near the camshafts. Thanks for the tip.
-Brian

 

btw not to be a dick but your also running shitty plugs

 

drift93: The ones in it now, NGK NKR7E-11, or the champion lookis like 3318?.

Since I changed to NGK my idle is lower by .5 rmp's.
and it's quite a bit sluggish compared to how it was...

-Brian

 

You may want to run a hotter plug until you get the problem fixed. In NGK that would a lower number in that plug series.

 

What plug would be a good recommendation?
Too hot could be bad right?

This is from NGKsparkplugs.ca :

G-Power Platinum
Part No. Stock No. Plug Gap
BKR6EGP 7092 0.044
Iridium IX
Part No. Stock No. Plug Gap
BKR6EIX-11 3764 0.044
Laser Platinum/Iridium
Part No. Stock No. Plug Gap
PFR6G-11 5555 0.044

I was reading in another forum, to just stick with Power Platinum. The iridium don't make much of a difference. That a true statement or no?

-Brian

 

I personally prefer to run copper plugs and check them more often. Yes, too hot or cold of a heat range is bad. If your engine is relatively stock, I would stick the the stock heat range. Your stock heat range is 6, so BKR6E or BKR6E-11 would be my recommendation if you want to run a copper plug. Copper is a better conductor than platinum, but doesn't last as long. The plugs themselves, however, are substantially cheaper than comparable platinum plugs, so you can afford to buy several sets to keep extras on hand and check them every other oil change or so.

 

Yes it is stock B18C, so I think the copper plugs are a better idea. Now that, that is solved...

I'll try and get out for a compression test. If I have low, or lower compression, is that a good indication of rings on the way out? Can it show anything about the head gasket ( rad. fluid is good, not discoloured, or low. So I doubt head gasket.) ?
If my compression comes out normal (I doubt) What are some areas I should look at next?

-Brian

 

You usually want to see no more than a 20psi difference in compression between all 4 cylinders. If any one cylinder is substantially lower than the rest, there's obviously a problem in that cylinder. If you add a small amount of oil(maybe a capfull) to the low-testing cylinder and retest it, and compression goes up, that points to a problem with the piston/rings. If compression goes down or stays the same on the retest with oil added, that points to a problem with valves/valve seals. If you get 2 adjacent cylinders with low compression, that could potentially be a head gasket problem, although this is unlikely if you're not experiencing coolant loss or oil/coolant mixing.

 

Wow Great help, thanks!

The smoke is only noticeable when VTEC kicks in. And noticeable it is indeed. I watched it closely yesterday, definitely blue...
Why is there noticeable smoke when VTEC is running, and hardly noticeable without it?

-Brian


Modified by echoaudio at 4:50 PM 6/16/2008

 

As a side note, or anyone following our post, you can find a great definition of a leak down test at: http://autos.yahoo.com/maintai....html . I had to Google this myself to understand it fully.
And a compression test at: http://autos.yahoo.com/maintai....html

hope this is useful for anyone searching the forums or following this post.

-Brian


NEWS:
I just did my compression test using the:
http://www.c-speedracing.com/h...t.php
directions.. awesome write up!

Dry test:
1. 239 (ish)
2. 225
3. 230 (ish)
4. 225

Cap of 5w30 in each cylinder:
1. 265
2. 265
3. 270
4. 255

I did forget to hold my throttle down for each test...

Do you think a leak down test is neccessary or does this tell me it's me rings?


Modified by echoaudio at 8:42 PM 7/10/2008