I also posted this in the integra forum, but am seeking a more specific response.

My situation in a nutshell: (B18B1 OBD2b LS - AEM CaI, DC 4-1, Apex Exhaust)
a. - Burns about 1qt (Valvoline maxlife 10w30) every 1000 miles
b. - Engine has 116xxx miles but burns roughly the same amount since i started looking around 50xxx miles.
c. - I change oil and filter (K&N or Mobil, depends on avail.) every 3000 miles or less
d. - Compression reads nominal 195 psi across the board
e. - Leakdown cyl 1. 7% 2. 19% 3. 7% 4. 8%
f. - Spark plugs are all clean and show ideal mixture characteristics (slight lean though)

Prior posts/threads, professional opinions, literature etc. point to:
1. Valve seals, particularly intake
2. Worn/Defective oil control rings on pistons

I'm going to throw on my gutted cat tomorrow, to improve the visibility and amount of burnt smoke coming out of the exhaust. I'm also borrowing [626]95-GSR's catch can.

Questions about blue smoke: (verify these)
1. Valve seals - smoke when cold start up, high intake vacuum events (downshifts, high rpm shifts, etc)
2. Oil control rings - all the time??? i dont know that one

Thanks guys. Please help.

 

Usually with blue smoke, motor oil is leaking through the piston rings, down into the combustion chamber, and burning along with the gasoline. The mixture of gasoline and oil in the combustion chamber will result in blue smoke exiting the engine through the exhaust.

As the problem gets worse, you'll end up where I am, with overheating problems. It's partially caused by gasoline thinning out the oil in your motor, from the opposite direction the oil is traveling down, past that same piston ring or valve seal.

Only way to remedy the prob is if you change out the seals and do a valve job....or rebuild the whole head and do a little porting and polishing since it'll be off the car anyways.

Wish I had good news, but if you need a hand, LMK bro.

 

update:
I put on the gutted cat, and drove hard up and down a street with [626]95-GSR watching...he says "There was no smoke, except a barely noticable amount when you floored it in first"

So theres no smoke puffs at start-up, at sudden closed throttle events, etc....pretty much no smoke.

 

Restricted air flow???
Too much back pressure???

You sure the smoke was blue to begin with??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EnjoyTheRideDC2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Restricted air flow???
Too much back pressure???

You sure the smoke was blue to begin with??</TD></TR></TABLE>

Restricted air flow...the AEM replacement filter i bought a few months back is still clean.

Backpressure... DC 4-1, Gutted Cat, Apex-i Resonator/B-pipe, Tanabe Hyper Medallion Rear section. I dont think backpressure is an issue....

I've never actually seen the smoke myself.

 

I'm now puzzled....does it run sluggish?

 

No sluggishness at all...it feels pretty healthy despite my strong beliefs that my engine sucks.