Burning oil.. and lots at that!

[SgtSHO]

Like the title says, I am burning copious amounts of oil. I changed my oil about 1,000 miles ago, and I had to put my fourth quart in today!

I have read the other threads about the valve stems, but mine seems to be too much loss to blame on them. Will a compression test show anything? I took out a few sparkplugs to look at and it had a very bad burnt oily kinda smell...

Also, does switching from a synthetic to a normal oil cause any problems? Mobil 1 is just too expensive! I can't afford 15 quarts per oil change!

 

[Rockledge]

That's a lot of oil, even for a SHO. What about leaks? Have you looked over the oil pan, cam seals, valve covers, etc.?

 

[SHOZ123]

Probably a combo of fouled, carbon packed rings and bad valve stem seals. I would try some Auto-RX then go to a high mileage oil. There is no way you are leaking that kind of oil. If you were then the back of the car would be covered in it as well as a large puddle under the car when you parked.

 

[SgtSHO]

Their are no leaks that I know of, looked all around the engine. Nothing on the driveway.. does that Auto-Rx work?

The car is running fine, just using a lot of oil.

 

[shojuan]

That's as much oil as my truck burns. Its problem is badly scored cylinders caused by a vacuum hose dangling down low sucking up dirt over many years of offroad duty. DUSTY off road duty.

 

[betterman]

I would check to be sure that you are burning oil before you go and put that auto-rx in your engine. Just have someone look for blue smoke while you rev the engine. Its most likely the case that you are burning the oil but it is possible to have a leak without seeing a puddle underneath the car. I would make sure that you aren't leaking oil because fixing a oil leak is much easier than fixing the oil burning problem.

 

[xpnsiv93]

IMO.... been through 1SHO engine xprience....my old car did the same thing...burnt ALOT ALOT of oil, but now visible leaks on car/ground/anywhere/ final result was an internal oil leak i believe, and lets say it didn't turn out pretty, but i was young and dumb then...could have prevented it...little did i know, but thats just my $.02.....look for leaks...and go from there?check EVERYTHING!!!!

 

[SgtSHO]

As I was changing out my motor mount, I saw that I did, indeed, have an oil leak! I am not 100% sure where it is coming from yet.. (Front main crankshaft oil seal?) But I will check this weekend. I have read that it generally isn't worth it to tear into the front end for an $8 seal, any suggestions on what I should replace at the same time?

 

[Shoaz]

If it's the front seal, look at changing the water pump at the same time, possibly the CPS, depending upon the condition of things while you're in there.

A compression test would be helpful, since it would tell you whether the problem is isolated to a single cylinder, the general condition of the rings, etc., and all of these are relevant when hunting down an oil consumption problem if it can't be all explained by a leak.

BTW, a leak that bad would show up pretty substantially, I'd think.

 

[djsSHO]

My buddies only leaks from the front mail seal if he really tromps on it, so it's possible to have a leak and not be dripping, cause his doesn't either. But to lose that much there's gotta be a leak somewhere. He only loses like a quart every 1500 or so miles

 

[SHOZ123]

Yes the Auto-RX works. Safely and efficiently. You will find more power once the compression is brought up from cleaning the rings.

 

[shojuan]

As I was changing out my motor mount, I saw that I did, indeed, have an oil leak! I am not 100% sure where it is coming from yet.. (Front main crankshaft oil seal?) But I will check this weekend. I have read that it generally isn't worth it to tear into the front end for an $8 seal, any suggestions on what I should replace at the same time?

Motor mount soaked with oil? Look at the cam seal behind the CID sensor.

BTW I just noticed that Auto-RX is a sponsor of this site. They have a banner ad on the front page. I've used their product and I like it. Get's things clean safely and the oil stays clean much longer. Better ring seal would explain the oil staying clean longer.

 

[SgtSHO]

The motor mount didn't seem to have any oil on it, it seems to be leaking further back than that.. I will get some pictures this weekend, weather permitting....