- Joined
- May 17, 2021
- Messages
- 30
First, I'll copy others: Just stop with the additives. They rarely help and they confuse the issue. And run a 20-50 oil or so.
The first question is where's the oil going. It sounds like 'burned in the engine.' Two ways that can happen: 1. Oil splashes or sprays on the cylinder walls from below (that's how they're lubed) but the piston rings are badly enough worn that they don't scrape enough of it off so it stays on the cylinder wall as the piston goes down past it and it is then burned. OR 2. Oil in the valve train on top of the engine gets on to the valve stems (normal -- that's how they're lubed) but the seals -- little rubber or plastic caps on the tops of the valve guides that fit closely around the valve stems -- don't adequately control how much goes down between valve stem and guide.
On the exhaust valves this doesn't cost much oil -- the exhaust manifold area is under pressure. You may foul those valves with chunks of carbon which can cause other troubles but not much oil is burned. The intake valves 'suck' -- that's 'engine vacuum' which can be -10psi or a bit more. That can pull BIG OIL into the cylinder where it will be burned.
On a high miles engine in a hot climate I guarantee you that the seals are fried -- heat is murder on rubber/plastic. The seals can be replaced, that's a standard shop job though no dealer wants it because the parts are $40 and it takes a few hours labor. He'd far rather sell you a new almost anything that can be installed in 15 minutes. Thus you won't get a 'replace valve seals' recommendation from a dealer.
Cars with fried valve seals often smoke visibly when going down hill (vaccum is high, not much air going through engine). Under these conditions oil is thin and high vacuum sucks it in continuously. And/or the car may belch smoke for 30 seconds or so when starting cold and owing to the way it sat (etc.) oil has collected where it gets sucked in on startup.
In total, I'd replace the valve seals -- not a huge or expensive job -- and see where that gets you to. The next question is WHO should replace the seals. Use a search engine for 'replace valve seals (the model/engine of your car).
Replacing the seals is EASY -- no question you can do that. But to get to where you can replace them you must remove the valve keepers and caps which requires removing the valve springs. There are special tools which vary depending on the engine model, the work is 'fussy' and there's also the issue of keeping the valves closed (up).
The steps are: Remove the spark plugs, valve cover(s) and rocker shafts. Hold the valves up on the cylinders with pistons up -- if using air pressure you need like 100PSI -- not just a little tire pump. The 'rope trick' also works. Push down on the valve cap using a 'valve spring compressor' special tool until you can take out the keepers -- little curved wedges that lock in a groove on the valve stem and hold the cap on. Release the pressure and take off the cap and spring. Remove the seal from the top of the valve guide and push on the new one. Put the spring and valve cap back on, compress using the special tool, and put the keepers back. Release the pressure so the cap comes back up and everything locks in place. Repeat for each valve and cylinder.
There's no one-size-fits-all answer to can you do this: The big issue is usually how much space there is around each valve for the tool. Small engines with four (or ick, more) valves/cylinder can be hard, bigger engines with just two can be pretty easy.
The keepers are often tiny, they're fiddly to get into place, and if you drop one through an oil drainback hole into the engine you've got a problem. Good practice is close all those holes up with shop towels (etc.) before you start.
The easy way to do new seals is with the head off. So here's your choices:
1. DIY -- If after reading directions and watching a video you feel you can do it (not a hard engine ...) you could go that way. VERY cheap -- should be under $100.
2. NOT DIY -- If you want someone else to do the work the cheapest job is just replace the seals with head(s) in place. That's gonna be a small shop -- often a one man operation. Maybe four hours work, plus/minus according to total number of valves and how much space there is, whether a standard/generic tool will work or does he have to buy the special tool from the car manufacturer.
OR if you would consider keeping the truck if it were restored to run well and not burn oil (How's the body? any transmission issues? Does it do the job you want?) take it to the same small shop and for modestly more money have the head(s) pulled and the valves reground. Valve seals will be done as part of that but you'll also get 100% compression. Many relatively recent cars that haven't been abused will go 300k miles with just a valve grind. Maybe around $1000 for a shop to do it, depending on number of heads and camshaft/timing belt issues.
Variation: Pull the head(s) yourself and take them to an automotive machine shop for a valve job. On some cars that job can actually be simpler than replacing the seals. It's a bigger job -- prob'ly 10 hours or more plus machine shop time -- but there's less little fussy stuff to do. The big fussy thing is getting the head back on correctly -- torque, gasket not damaged, etc. Again, consult YouTube. AND FOLLOW MFRS SPECS EXACTLY for installing and torquing.
None of these jobs costs more than a couple-three payments on a new truck. Basically (strong opinion waning) it never makes sense to buy a new vehicle.
The first question is where's the oil going. It sounds like 'burned in the engine.' Two ways that can happen: 1. Oil splashes or sprays on the cylinder walls from below (that's how they're lubed) but the piston rings are badly enough worn that they don't scrape enough of it off so it stays on the cylinder wall as the piston goes down past it and it is then burned. OR 2. Oil in the valve train on top of the engine gets on to the valve stems (normal -- that's how they're lubed) but the seals -- little rubber or plastic caps on the tops of the valve guides that fit closely around the valve stems -- don't adequately control how much goes down between valve stem and guide.
On the exhaust valves this doesn't cost much oil -- the exhaust manifold area is under pressure. You may foul those valves with chunks of carbon which can cause other troubles but not much oil is burned. The intake valves 'suck' -- that's 'engine vacuum' which can be -10psi or a bit more. That can pull BIG OIL into the cylinder where it will be burned.
On a high miles engine in a hot climate I guarantee you that the seals are fried -- heat is murder on rubber/plastic. The seals can be replaced, that's a standard shop job though no dealer wants it because the parts are $40 and it takes a few hours labor. He'd far rather sell you a new almost anything that can be installed in 15 minutes. Thus you won't get a 'replace valve seals' recommendation from a dealer.
Cars with fried valve seals often smoke visibly when going down hill (vaccum is high, not much air going through engine). Under these conditions oil is thin and high vacuum sucks it in continuously. And/or the car may belch smoke for 30 seconds or so when starting cold and owing to the way it sat (etc.) oil has collected where it gets sucked in on startup.
In total, I'd replace the valve seals -- not a huge or expensive job -- and see where that gets you to. The next question is WHO should replace the seals. Use a search engine for 'replace valve seals (the model/engine of your car).
Replacing the seals is EASY -- no question you can do that. But to get to where you can replace them you must remove the valve keepers and caps which requires removing the valve springs. There are special tools which vary depending on the engine model, the work is 'fussy' and there's also the issue of keeping the valves closed (up).
The steps are: Remove the spark plugs, valve cover(s) and rocker shafts. Hold the valves up on the cylinders with pistons up -- if using air pressure you need like 100PSI -- not just a little tire pump. The 'rope trick' also works. Push down on the valve cap using a 'valve spring compressor' special tool until you can take out the keepers -- little curved wedges that lock in a groove on the valve stem and hold the cap on. Release the pressure and take off the cap and spring. Remove the seal from the top of the valve guide and push on the new one. Put the spring and valve cap back on, compress using the special tool, and put the keepers back. Release the pressure so the cap comes back up and everything locks in place. Repeat for each valve and cylinder.
There's no one-size-fits-all answer to can you do this: The big issue is usually how much space there is around each valve for the tool. Small engines with four (or ick, more) valves/cylinder can be hard, bigger engines with just two can be pretty easy.
The keepers are often tiny, they're fiddly to get into place, and if you drop one through an oil drainback hole into the engine you've got a problem. Good practice is close all those holes up with shop towels (etc.) before you start.
The easy way to do new seals is with the head off. So here's your choices:
1. DIY -- If after reading directions and watching a video you feel you can do it (not a hard engine ...) you could go that way. VERY cheap -- should be under $100.
2. NOT DIY -- If you want someone else to do the work the cheapest job is just replace the seals with head(s) in place. That's gonna be a small shop -- often a one man operation. Maybe four hours work, plus/minus according to total number of valves and how much space there is, whether a standard/generic tool will work or does he have to buy the special tool from the car manufacturer.
OR if you would consider keeping the truck if it were restored to run well and not burn oil (How's the body? any transmission issues? Does it do the job you want?) take it to the same small shop and for modestly more money have the head(s) pulled and the valves reground. Valve seals will be done as part of that but you'll also get 100% compression. Many relatively recent cars that haven't been abused will go 300k miles with just a valve grind. Maybe around $1000 for a shop to do it, depending on number of heads and camshaft/timing belt issues.
Variation: Pull the head(s) yourself and take them to an automotive machine shop for a valve job. On some cars that job can actually be simpler than replacing the seals. It's a bigger job -- prob'ly 10 hours or more plus machine shop time -- but there's less little fussy stuff to do. The big fussy thing is getting the head back on correctly -- torque, gasket not damaged, etc. Again, consult YouTube. AND FOLLOW MFRS SPECS EXACTLY for installing and torquing.
None of these jobs costs more than a couple-three payments on a new truck. Basically (strong opinion waning) it never makes sense to buy a new vehicle.
