03 Honda CR-V loses oil like crazy!

[Carlostrece]

There are no oil stains on ground where it's parked. So it's not leaking. It must be burning oil, but I see no smoke in exhaust. It seems to run fine, but it loses 1 quart in less than 500 miles. I've never seen a car lose oil like crazy with no oil stains on ground and no blue smoke.

The CR-V has 120K miles on it.

At recent oil change, I put in 5w20 Maxlife Blend. Today it was at the Add Mark. So I dumped in 1 quart of 5w30 Maxlife Blend. I'm wondering if I should be dumping in 5w40?

ASAP I'm going to replace PCV. Hopefully that helps some.

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[Sequoiasoon]

When doing the PCV make sure to check the PCV hose. Many discussions and pictures with it collapsed so even a new good PCV won’t work correctly.

Berryman Piston Soak, maybe BG EPR, VRP 5W-30.

 

[97prizm]

There are no oil stains on ground where it's parked. So it's not leaking. It must be burning oil, but I see no smoke in exhaust. It seems to run fine, but it loses 1 quart in less than 500 miles. I've never seen a car lose oil like crazy with no oil stains on ground and no blue smoke.

The CR-V has 120K miles on it.

At recent oil change, I put in 5w20 Maxlife Blend. Today it was at the Add Mark. So I dumped in 1 quart of 5w30 Maxlife Blend. I'm wondering if I should be dumping in 5w40?

ASAP I'm going to replace PCV. Hopefully that helps some.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Replacing the pcv helped my neon to stop using alot of oil. I'd also replace the hoses connected to it as well.

 

[AKhan87]

There are no oil stains on ground where it's parked. So it's not leaking. It must be burning oil, but I see no smoke in exhaust. It seems to run fine, but it loses 1 quart in less than 500 miles. I've never seen a car lose oil like crazy with no oil stains on ground and no blue smoke.

The CR-V has 120K miles on it.

At recent oil change, I put in 5w20 Maxlife Blend. Today it was at the Add Mark. So I dumped in 1 quart of 5w30 Maxlife Blend. I'm wondering if I should be dumping in 5w40?

ASAP I'm going to replace PCV. Hopefully that helps some.

Any ideas or suggestions?

I would fix all leaks, change/clean the PCV Valve & hoses (only if they are brittle which will be most likely) and then run VRP 5w30 (due to the high mileage and it being a 2003 engine) and monitor your oil levels going forward to see how everything is turning out.

 

[berniedd]

It's an old car. Other than the PVC, it could be the valve stem seals. Ask me how I know.

 

[AKhan87]

It's an old car. Other than the PVC, it could be the valve stem seals. Ask me how I know.

I have rebuilt a few older Honda engines, its usually the compression rings being tired, as with the Honda engines, using a thicker oil, always reduced oil burning for me, granted this was a long time ago and the engines were from late 90s to early 2000s.

I don't have any experience with Honda 6 cylinders or Honda 4 cylinders after 2005 though.

but at that age, it could be anything, Valve stem seals...cylinder walls...

 

[t1snwrbrdr12]

If it’s 2003+ and an k24, the engine is known for stuck rings. I had one that no matter what I did, I couldn’t get the oil burning to slow down. I tried multiple piston soaks and BG EPR treatment as well. Keep it topped off with any oil, it’ll burn it all.

 

[D1dad]

Sometimes it just is what it is. I had a car using a qt every 1k and nothing I tried (which was everything) ever helped. I bought a low mileage yard motor and all the issues were fixed. With a 23, almost 24 year old car that’s probably something you wouldn’t wanna do. I even tried 15w40 and a qt of Lucas as a last ditched effort. It did slow the consumption, but also made the car feel like I was pulling a plow.

 

[Glenda W.]

Perfect candidate for Valvoline Restore and Protect. 4 full oci’s (5k each) cured my Subaru oil burner that used 3 quarts in 5k miles.

 

[Nukeman7]

Before doing anything else, I suggest inspecting the engine block area beneath the VTEC solenoid for a large oil leak. Honda K24 engines are notorious for gasket failures at this solenoid gasket as well as clogging of the integrated mesh screen. The VTEC solenoid (AKA: "spool valve") is located in the upper backside corner of the engine on the passenger side and it faces the firewall. On a 2003 CR-V, it is positioned ~6" above the oil filter. If it is leaking, only use the OEM Honda gasket and do not over torque it. Watch the video below for specifics.

 

[supton]

I'd think valve stems would blow blue on start up. Otherwise, I'm leaning towards stuck rings.

Seems like, you have to get down to 100 miles per quart before you can see blue smoke from the tailpipe. Parents had a van burning oil at that rate, and it never trailed; reading a number of other stories on the web, I've heard the same thing. Person thinks it's a shocking amount of oil loss, but never a smoke trail.

I do have a 2003 CRV and just had to have the oil pressure sensor replaced due to oil leak. It was not leaving much oil in the driveway, so probably not your problem.

FWIW, I have an '03 with a failed exhaust camshaft. It's a known failure mode. I'm not saying that going to a thicker oil like xW30 will prevent it... but I do think in my case, switching has slowed down its wear. Again, not saying this will prevent this failure mode. But I'd recommend switching, in high hopes. A great deal of other cars, including later K24's, are fine with xW20, I'm not against this grade--but this vintage K24, it might have value in going up a grade. YMMV.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

@Carlostrece already posted up at CRV owners club also but here is some pics from 6 days ago from another member. How much of the collapsed hose is caused by the crummy PCV, or, how much crummy PCV is caused by a collapsed hose?

I might say that many of us suggest replace PCV to help but how many recommend to check for a hose issue like that with engine off or even more so running? Some say look for brittle or cracked ones with vacuum leak.

 

[Carlostrece]

I have rebuilt a few older Honda engines, its usually the compression rings being tired, as with the Honda engines, using a thicker oil, always reduced oil burning for me, granted this was a long time ago and the engines were from late 90s to early 2000s.

I don't have any experience with Honda 6 cylinders or Honda 4 cylinders after 2005 though.

but at that age, it could be anything, Valve stem seals...cylinder walls...

It's a 2003 2.4L. Is that a 4 or 6 cylinder? I haven't paid much attention to cylinder count.

 

[Carlostrece]

I would fix all leaks, change/clean the PCV Valve & hoses (only if they are brittle which will be most likely) and then run VRP 5w30 (due to the high mileage and it being a 2003 engine) and monitor your oil levels going forward to see how everything is turning out.

There are no leaks that I'm aware of (clean concrete under the car) but the rest of your advice sounds spot on.

 

[Carlostrece]

Before doing anything else, I suggest inspecting the engine block area beneath the VTEC solenoid for a large oil leak. Honda K24 engines are notorious for gasket failures at this solenoid gasket as well as clogging of the integrated mesh screen. The VTEC solenoid (AKA: "spool valve") is located in the upper backside corner of the engine on the passenger side and it faces the firewall. On a 2003 CR-V, it is positioned ~6" above the oil filter. If it is leaking, only use the OEM Honda gasket and do not over torque it. Watch the video below for specifics.

I will ask my cousin to check that. However, there's not one drop of oil on the garage concrete floor where she parks. The concrete is pristinely clean. If there was an oil leak, wouldn't there be oil on the floor under her car?

 

[Carlostrece]

I'd think valve stems would blow blue on start up. Otherwise, I'm leaning towards stuck rings.

Seems like, you have to get down to 100 miles per quart before you can see blue smoke from the tailpipe. Parents had a van burning oil at that rate, and it never trailed; reading a number of other stories on the web, I've heard the same thing. Person thinks it's a shocking amount of oil loss, but never a smoke trail.

I do have a 2003 CRV and just had to have the oil pressure sensor replaced due to oil leak. It was not leaving much oil in the driveway, so probably not your problem.

FWIW, I have an '03 with a failed exhaust camshaft. It's a known failure mode. I'm not saying that going to a thicker oil like xW30 will prevent it... but I do think in my case, switching has slowed down its wear. Again, not saying this will prevent this failure mode. But I'd recommend switching, in high hopes. A great deal of other cars, including later K24's, are fine with xW20, I'm not against this grade--but this vintage K24, it might have value in going up a grade. YMMV.

It's gradually getting switched from 5w20 to 5w30 by adding a quart of 5w30 every 400-500 miles.

 

[GSCJR]

It's a 2003 CR-V 6 cylinder.

I'm not so sure about that. Most likely the rings are stuck which is not unheard of with Hondas. You don't necessarily see blue smoke even when burning copious amounts of oil either; (un)seen it before.

 

[Carlostrece]

I'm not so sure about that. Most likely the rings are stuck which is not unheard of with Hondas. You don't necessarily see blue smoke even when burning copious amounts of oil either; (un)seen it before.

It's a 2.4L. I assumed that's a 6 cyl, but I don't know. It might be a 4 cyl. Either way, it's an oil guzzler.

 

[GSCJR]

Time for some VRP?

 

[brages]

CR-V never had a V6 (according to AI)

2.4 would be the K24 four-cylinder, I believe.