i got a 98 gsr motor in my ej1.. it burns/leaks alot of oil. about 3 quarts in 2.5 months (of course it depends on how hard i drive. less vtec = less burn). i never see any blue smoke at any time but i can smell the oil in vtec.
got a compression test and leakdown test done and they came out basicly perfect.
comp test
1. 200
2. 195
3. 195
4. 195
leak down test (of 90 psi)
1. 84
2. 84
3. 84
4. 88
just changed my oil from mobil 1 10w30 to castol syntec 10w40 and also put in alemite cd-2 and changed my pcv valve.
so, basicly. why am i burning oil!? please help

 

worn oil control rings and/or worn valve stem seals. both those will not show up on a compression or leak down test.

rebuild the engine or just live with it.

 

the guy at the shop said he checked somthing like that. he said that the intake side is mostlikely to leak first and that it was dry as a bone. he didnt check the exhaust side for one reson or another.

 

The intake side is more likely to leak because of the vacuum in the intake side sucking the oil in. Since the exhaust pushes outward, it doesn't suck in oil and can only burn oil if gravity lets it drip in. With leaking valve seals, you can usually see/feel/rub off the leaking oil from the top of the intake valves when the IM is off. You can also check the intake runners for oil to see if it's coming from the PCV valve.

 

Yes!

 

lol so if its not the seals, its not the pcv, not the rings or anything that the leakdown/compression test checks. Then what I’m left with is just a little bit of everything? lol not to surprised I need to rebuild. Got the whole swap for 1000 bucks.
thanks for the time and posts. if anyone has somthing they want to add. please do

 

The compression and leakdown test will tell you nothing about your oil control rings. It will tell you how well your compression rings are sealing but they have entirely different jobs. Compression rings don't scrape the oil off the cylinder walls like oil control rings do. You could take the oil control rings off the pistons and you would have better than normal compression but it would smoke like hell.

 

ok that makes sence. so is there anyway besides a rebuild that i can check to see if it is indeed the oil control rings? obviesly i dont wana do a rebuild unless i totally have to lol.

 

If theres not any smoke how could you say it the piston ring? shouldn't there be smoke? have you checked for leaks?

 

i dont see any oil around the engine bay. and i park in the same spot everyday and i dont see any drippage. ya only smoke i get is black puff uppon vtec for just being ritch.

 

You may not see much smoke on a car with a catalytic converter. Generally, if it blows smoke on hard acceleration, it's the rings. If it blows smoke when you are decelerating in gear, then it is excessive valve guide clearance or bad seals. It sounds like you are smoking on hard acceleration at the higher rpm, which would likely be faulty or stuck oil control rings. The only way to confirm this is to pull the pistons and see if the rings are stuck due to carbon/sludge build up or are damaged.

 

thanks for the help everyone. after changing the PCV and going to thicker oil. i have now driven for about 200 miles (only ripped it once) and dont see any sign of oil loss.. yett. i guess well see how it goes and ill keep you posted.

 

+1 try to check the valve seals, valve guide..

 

alright guys, just an update. yup im still burning lol. so i got a deal with a local shop. its gona be 100 bucks plus parts to just do the valve seals, (also upgrading to type r cams n springs for no extra labor). so 140 bucks. not too shabby

 

what about the worn piston rings? are you just hoping that you are really loosing that much oil thru worn valve stem seals?

im pretty sure you will be back in a few weeks still complaining about oil consumption.

good luck.

 

well he wanted 300 for labor for a whole rebuild. he said that with my comp and leak down numbers we should just try seals first. if im still having a problem then he will do the rest for 200 so i wouldnt loose any money ether way. (only time)

 

Thats freaking cheap. Just remember you get what you pay for. Also, valve stem seals won't fix the problem.

 

hey guys, just wana give you an update. rebuilt the head and it all went smooth untll i started it up. had an obvies vacuum leak so took a while to track that down. its running fine now but i got a really bad oil leak. i think maby we got a f'ed up head gasket or somthin so it looks like ima have to tear the head off again. i am driving it but i cant tell if im still burning oil or if im smelling the oil soaked header. we will see though, and wish me luck lol. ill keep u updated

 

What was rebuilt in the head? I thought you were just having the guy do valve seals? From all the problems, it sounds more like a bad mechanic than a bad head gasket. You get what you pay for.

 

i pulled the head and sent it to the mechine shop. so they decked the head and did a 3 angle valve job and put in my new valve seals and new type r valve train. lol turns out it wasnt the head gasket that was leaking, it was the cam seals (thank god)!!! lol so i fixed that and im not leaking any more. ive been driving leak free now for a good while and ive come to the conclution that... i am still burning oil. (i can smell it) but on the possative side, rather than 1.2 quarts a month, its like less than half a quart a month. and ive been beating on it pritty hard lately. So in my eyes, not a success but worth the money i spent. thanks for the help and comments guys. and i hope this thread helps futur readers.

 

Hey, what machine shop around Schaumburg did you use?

 

i used a shop called "opel" they are right behind the seville on barrington rd.

 

I'd say 75% of the engines I've torn apart because of oil control ring problems had rings that were stuck retracted in the ring land due to oil deposits like sludge and varnish. You can try running a quart of marvel mystery oil or regular ATF on your next oil change to see if it frees up the oil control rings. Both of those have high detergent levels which help break up sludge and varnish and wash it away. It may not work but it does not hurt your engine to try it.

 

keep us updated if u fix it

 

my idol is screwing up again and threw a code for idol air control valve, as soon as i get that figured out ill try to use some seafoam or marvel mystery oil and ill let you know how it goes. also, every once in a great while i throw a o2 sensor code. could that be related to my "bouncy" idol? or is that souly cuz my vaccum leak?