Oil consumption...

[garlicbreadman]

TRY THIS: got off honda-tech.com
1. On a cool engine at 8pm I removed the plugs

2. With funnel, added about 1/2 cup of MMO to each cylinder(remove spark plug)

3. Let sit overnight

4. In the morning, took flashlight to make sure no fluid was remaining in the cyliders. (during the second soak, cylinder 4 had fluid still in it which I sucked out with a small tube attached to the tip of a turkey baster). Unplugged distributor base plug and turned engine over just to be sure nothing remained in the cylinder.

5. Reinstalled plugs (dont forget antiseize) in same places they came from.

6. Fired it up and it lightly smoked for only a few minutes. Took it on the highway.

7. Only after the second soak did I change the oil.

Repeat maybe 2-3 or three times. MMO is like 2-3 bucks!

 

[UNC017]

I say AGAIN- the oil-control rings have had it. No mojo in a bottle is going to fix it. It'll run a long time this way, but will develop a lot of carbon in the combustion chambers and will be prone to pre-ignition/detonation.

 

[Virtuoso]

I had a Saturn that burned a lot of oil. I did an MMO soak. I did a B12 Chemtool (strong!) soak. Neither helped in the least.

Compression checked out. I eventually just drove it until it was *done*.

Since I wasn't going to bother tearing it down, I couldn't tell you if it was valve seals or oil rings, but I'm guessing rings since the head had been replaced prior to me purchasing it. And the ol' Satty 1.9's are known for coking up the oil rings.

So I guess I'd have to agree with 440Magnum - not always a fix in a can. And Mobil 1 does love to burn in a loose engine.

 

[typ901]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
I say AGAIN- the oil-control rings have had it. No mojo in a bottle is going to fix it. It'll run a long time this way, but will develop a lot of carbon in the combustion chambers and will be prone to pre-ignition/detonation.



Had the same problem with my old Land Rover, no smoke, no leaks, but a quart every 500 miles. Nothing slowed it, but some oils sped the consumption to 300 miles a quart!

 

[OneEyeJack]

I think oil ring wear might be it and maybe M1 is not the best choice for a high mileage engine no matter what the viscosity on the bottle sez. Also with the M1 the engine when hot would be very hard to restart. After the conventional oil and a bunch of Pro Guard and MMO in the gas tank it's no longer a problem. It looks like the combustion chambers were carboned a bit.

 

[virginoil]

Just change the oil filter every 5000kms and keep topping up the oil, if consumption is replenishing it. ie the equivalent of an oil filter and sump drain.

In doing this you will always have fresh oil in the sump.
No more draining of the sump.

So long as there is no oil burn smoke or smell evidencing.

 

[OneEyeJack]

I still think an oil change is necessary to get rid of the concentrated gunk in the oil. If that engine is burning oil, it's damaging some of the oil and no matter how much you top off the gunk is still there. Am I wrong?

 

[virginoil]

Maybe drain the sump once a year ?

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Am I wrong?


Probably, but maybe not.

If you had volume loss to to volatilizing lighter components ..leaving all the residuals and accumulations ..then I'd sorta align my thoughts with yours. I'd expect that from some extreme duty.

Otherwise the gunk you refer to went out with the oil that needed replacing ..wherever it went.

 

[Trvlr500]

I'd have to agree with 440. The oil rings are probably shot. If it's passing smog and doesn't put out blue smoke switch to a dino (don't waste your money on synthetic) and just keep topping it off until it dies. Or pull it, take it apart and find out what is really wrong with it.

I've run 70 weight in an engine that was gone before. There was clean oil dripping out of the exhaust! The car? A '68 AMX with a 390. It got rebuilt once I got home from the long trip I was on when it started to really go. The 70 weight got me home. Yes, they DID have 70 weight on the shelves 30+ years ago.

You don't have to worry about changing the oil any more either. Just top off and replace the filter as usual. That Honda could run for a lot longer if you just keep oil in it.

 

[demarpaint]

I'd try a piston soak as mentioned. You've gone up in oil grades have you tried going down? Shell did a study, and found in certain instances if the rings are the problem going to a 'thinner' oil actually helped. It goes against conventional wisdom but they showed improvement according to the study.

Oneye-PM me an email address and I'll email you the study if you like. It might be worth a try. JMO

 

[OneEyeJack]

Anyone know of an oil available in California that would be say a 20w-70? There is a 20w-60 but that's Red Line and it's an expensive synthetic.

 

[Gary Allan]

I would try a monograde 30 or 40 before stepping up to the ultra weights. I'll assume (didn't go over the whole thread) that you've eliminated all the usual suspects (PCV, etc) in attempting to reduce consumption.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Gary, yep. OEM pcv valve, even though the oil one looked okay. I've just no asked my brother to add something like STP.

Next step is going to be Auto-Rx. What do you think?

 

[unDummy]

You're already too thick with oil.

Definitely Autorx, Lubegard, Zmax, Kreen... that engine.

Your oil rings are shot. But, they could also simply be carbonated useless! If you're lucky, cleaning 'em out might just reduce consumption.

Go back to thinner oils for your 'engine cleaning'. Then, stick with GF5/SN oils to keep it clean.

 

[OneEyeJack]

The car has 350 miles with Shell 20w-50 and Auto-Rx for the clean phase. If anyone is interested I'll keep posting on the progress.

 

[UNC004]

I'm watching this topic, so yes please, keep us updated. I too would like to see you go to a more normal oil thickness but use something like Pennzoil Platinum or Pennzoil Conventional (or any Shell stuff) which aids with sealing a little better.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Thinner oils have been tried. The gradual upgrade to thicker oil happened earlier in the life of this car and did well in keeping oil consumption under control. The car ran on 5w30 for about 150k miles and then on to 10w-40 and then 20w-50. It's had the valve seals replaced twice and not it's on to solving this problem without tearing the engine down.

 

[UNC004]

Interesting, i guess it would be starting to get to the point where the oil won't be protecting it as much now then.

 

[virginoil]

"What is the point in asking for a fluid recommendation when you're going to run to the dealer to buy the garbage OE stuff anyway."

So you can benchmark it against the following new forum standard that will be released shortly in new coming year API "Bitog" and "Ballsax" 2011.

PS. Our European cousins are also secretly working away to have ACEA "Bitog" licence approval available at the same time.