Hey,
I just posted this in the additive forum too, but I figured people here might be able to help too:
Hey all. I have a '95 nissan maxima. I drive it fairly hard and it has quite a few performance modifications. I take it to the local drag strip once a month or so in the summer. Also, if it matters, I live in Boulder, CO at over a mile high. I am losing about a quart of oil a month. These are tough driving conditions, where about half my trips are just over a mile long, barely enough time to even get the engine warm. While I dont pound on the engine when it is cold, I do go to WOT quite often. Basically, I am guessing that right now, I drive about 700-900 miles a month. I just put a quart in yesterday and reset my trip meter so i get a better idea. I had been using mobil 1 5w30 over the winter and 10w30 mobil 1 now, both sypersyn. I have been using synthethic for about a year and have about 88,000 miles on the car. I used B&G 3 step engine cleaning at the beginning of this year (throttle body spray, fuel additive and vacuum system intake cleaner). I also used protec oil additive before the oil change. I have not done any blackstone analysis since I dont feel the oil has enough time before adding fresh oil, to give accurate results. I have good, even compression. I passed emissions easily about 2 months ago. I have no dripping of any sort. I have no blue smoke, ever, that I can tell. I do get a slight 'backfireish' pop in the morning when I start the car, but never any other time in the day. I attribute that to my wideopen exhaust that does not baffle those sounds like the stock exhaust did. I am guessing that the problem is with valve stem seals, but am not sure. I can not afford to get those replaced, and am certainly not mechanically inclined enough to do headwork on my own. Do you think auto-rx is worth a shot here? If so, how would I do the application? The engine cleaning way, or the leak way? Or another way? Is there another prognosis than valve stem seals? What about the slight pop at cold start?
Thanks!