What to do with my Honda....

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My Honda is burning oil at a pretty steady rate, about a quart every 1k, the rate of consumption is heavily dependent on how high and often I rev it up, the maintenance is totally up to date no stone left un-turned except taking it apart. I have done Seafoam treatments in the oil, an Amsoil engine flush which seemed to curve the consumption a little, but it is still out of hand.


Here are some shots of what it looks like through the filler hole
http://imageshack.us/g/17/2011072118555989.jpg/


It doesn't look too bad for a 200k Honda, but it was likely neglected for a handful of OCI's

I have a stash of m1/castrol/PU SM synthetic that I got a 4 dollars a quart on clearance, and I feel like I am wasting my money putting it in there, I'm thinking about taking the oil back and just going for the what ever is cheapest route.

A rebuild or swap is not in the cards, I'm a broke college student...

So any thoughts or input on what to do would be great.
 
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Seems like a lost cause of you're not planning to rebuild it or swap in a better block.

Buy cheap dino oil on sale and just keep topping it off. Change the oil filter every so often and that thing will last till 300k without a problem.

I don't see a reason to use expensive synthetic oils.
 
Try Maxlife and see if that helps. Give it two OCI, topping off with it when needed. If it doesn't help, then use the cheapest API oil you can find until you get rid of the vehicle. Change the oil and filter every 8k or so, topping off when needed between oil changes.
 
How about trying a high mileage oil. Also, I looked up your car specs for oil and it says 10w-30 for above 20 degrees and 5w-30 below 20. I would use 10w-30 in the summer and 5w-30 in the cold Minnesota winters. I would not use the M1 0w-30 you have listed in your signature since I think it is thinner for fuel efficiency. You don't need thinner you need thicker. Thicker should at least slow the burning from my experience.
 
"the maintenance is totally up to date no stone left un-turned"

In that case try to re-learn a new driving style. I guess you're burning most when the throttle plate is closed, immediately after racing the engine. Turn off the engine when stopped in a drive-through.

Run the same brand and grade oil every oc.
 
Originally Posted By: 55
Check your PCV valve, someone told me that on small Honda 4's if they plug up the engine can start to burn oil.


I second that; clean your PCV; and, I also suggest you run a grade thicker. 15w40 in the summer and; 5w30 to 5w40 in the winter.

Not sure if this would do any good, but if it were me I'd add a load of MoS2 (like lubromoly) once a year, plus 8 oz of Marvel Mystery oil into your oil change.
 
Originally Posted By: JZiggy
Valve stem seals.


agreed. At a quart every 1K miles, there's no oil that's going to magiclly slow it down significantly. You need to look into a small re-seal or rebuild. Check compression and PCV/ check valves as suggested.
 
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A 1000 per quart isn't bad, most mfgr's don't consider consumption a issue unless it's at least that much... As already mentioned, likely it needs valve stem seals and you can probably buy a 55 gal drum of oil for what the charge would be to replace those... I did a set on a Ford 4.6, for the time and aggravation when the second one I had needed seals, I said screw that and just kept checking the oil every couple weeks...

Everybody is spoiled these days, read some of the test articles from the 50s... I was just looking at the test Science & Mechanics did on a new '56 Olds, in 679 miles it used a quart of oil and averaged 11.7 MPG... They didn't consider that to be abnormal... Other new vehicles tested back then have used closer to two quarts per thousand, nothing was said other than consumption would likely be less after a few thousand miles...
 
Agreed. 1 quart in a thousand isn't bad. I once had a Vega that burnt a quart in a hundred. Dad and I rebuilt it with iron sleeves in the block, then the consumption went to a quart in a thousand. I thought that was good and drove the car for the next 4 years that way. I was but a poor college student then. Just keep topping it up with decent API-certified oil, and change the oil and filter once a year, and it will be fine.
 
I have changed the PCV valve, the old one was jammed shut with a black oil paste, the only thing I can think of is that the breather box is plugged too.

It run's excellent, i still get 35 MPG hwy with it and 25 in town, I can really smell a little oil after I take it to redline.
 
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at 1qt/1000 I wouldnt do anything.

Thats nothing compared to the price of gas.

burning 30gallons of gas = 100$
1qt of oil= 4$
(for 1000 miles)

just make sure you keep up on the top ups.. those dont have the biggest sumps. Maybe every fillup top it up?

you could also purchase some cheaper oil for adding.
pretty easy to find 2.50/qt or less

If it gets worse you might want to see how much a repair costs.. but I doubt it would be cheaper than 200-300$ so thats ALOT of oil...
 
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well-- don't take it to readline.

I'm going to be a "dad" for a minute...

if you're a poor college student, or anybody who wants their equipment to last longer-- to stretch it out-- baby it. yes they need to be rung out every once in a while, but not daily. and rung out does not mean WOT to redline. 75% throttle to 75% redline is fine.

Valve stem seals are rubber. if they are hard and brittle, try the maxlife oils. OR try a rubber seal conditioner additive. I wouldn't do both at once. the seal conditioner will try to soften the seals.

if the pcv was clogged, GOOD JOB to change it. May also mean you have sludge built up under the VC and it could be surrounding the seals, starving them if proper lubrication and cooling. It really wouldn't hurt to the pop the lid and clean out what you find.

You can still get a lot of mileage out of this car. 1 qt per 1000 is still livable.

I enjoyed the comment a few posts back about the older cars. in my '57, you had to manually adjust the brakes IN EACH WHEEL every 1000 miles. ker-click, ker-click, ker-click. times 4. Chassis lube every 2000 IIRC. I don't remember the factory OC.... but it was a SB chevy-- so it got one every 3k.

M
 
I had an Explorer that did this a long time ago and I just kept on the lookout for discounted quarts of any oil brand. Walmart, Kmart, Auto parts stores, gas stations they all have clearances and sales with a random quarts. This was 10 years ago so I could always find something for 99 cents a quart sometimes less. With inflation thats about $1.50-2. In the meantime grab a jug of Supertech or Quaker State Green Bottle for topoff.
 
I am going to see if I have the tools in my Honda to remove the intake manifold and get to the breather box and clean it up today, it may be caked full of the same stuff that plugged my PCV valve.

I may wait until next week when I get home to do a proper tear down and cleaning of the PCV valve hoses and breather box.
 
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Darn edit time...

I am going to use carb cleaner and some seafoam to clean out the channels behind the breather box, the lines, and the box itself. Then do a seafoam treatment in the oil, then change out the 0w30 for the 5w30 Maxlife I have on the shelf.

That will basically rule out any PCV problems causing consumption
 
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Originally Posted By: Rand
at 1qt/1000 I wouldnt do anything.

Thats nothing compared to the price of gas.

burning 30gallons of gas = 100$
1qt of oil= 4$ ... (for 1000 miles)...
you could also purchase some cheaper oil for adding.
pretty easy to find 2.50/qt or less


Good points. She's definitely quite an oil burner but yes it could be worse and it's not financially that detrimental to keep servicing that oil burn. And not even too much of a pain in the butt to every other fuel up top up the oil. Regardless, going a grade thicker should most likely slow that consumption down and would be better for other parts of the car, like the cat and exhaust. And keep cleaning that PVC valve as frequently as possible; I spray all that gunk off with WD-40.

And yes, I'd definitely go for cheap oil for topping up. Supertech 10w40 is my recommendation. Use whatever oil you like for the fill but use supertech for top offs--it's actually pretty decent oil from my experience and other accounts--see that other thread on supertech going on. And under $2.50 a quart is cheap; and it's probably about $2 a quart for a gallon jug.
 
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