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Oil is disappearing

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Old 30-Sep-2005, 05:13 AM
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Oil is disappearing

Somebody please help me out...............my engine oil is just disappearing

I drive a 1999 Civic si with 104,000 km

I have had my mechanic at every oil change check for leaks and there are no leaks. Also I've looked for abnormal blue or black smoke in the exhaust and there is none there either.

Where could the oil be going. In between oil changes which is done every 5000 km, I probably refill and go through 2 1/2 litres
I only pull the car to 6500 once in a while, also downshift as required, otherwise I do normal driving

I have small mods done, I dont know if they would cause oil consumption:

1)I have an Aem v2 cold air intake
2)axle back muffler
3) NGK Iridium Spark Plugs
4) Accel performance ignition wires

Other than that, engine wise the car is stock.

Recently had my air filter reoiled, changed fuel filter, distributor cap and rotor, timing belt, crankshaft and camshaft seals

Any insight as to what is going on?????

I would appreciate your help

Thanks
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 06:14 AM
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maybe you mechanic isnt looking very hard.
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 06:29 AM
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No expert, just lending advice. My b16 consumes oil. I think they all do. Don't beat on yer car till its fully warmed up. Yers is a D series right?
One time I let my bro drive my car and I noticed that when he took off (cold) that a little oil was burning off. I have to add about 1 L between changes (5000 km).
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 10:04 AM
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Your engine is burning moderate to excessive oil.

Trust me it's no Leak, imagine, how can you miss 2 1/2 litres of oil on the ground? That's way too much oil to be leaking out.

Is it normal for an honda engine with only 104K to burn oil? Generally NO, but it's possible if the car has been beatin up for most of it's life. Or, someone may have tampered with the odometer and your car actually has more mileage than you think.

It's hard to notice blue smoke while driving unless you have like direct sunllight behind you and you are ripping the car good. You need someone else to see, and either way that's not a good way to assess if your burning or not. Black smoke is when you're running rich, generally some black smoke at high rpm is normal.

Ideally you need to do a leakdown test to figure out how bad it really is.
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 11:38 AM
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slight of hand, your engine is a good magician
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 01:01 PM
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it is burning it.. you wont notice it on idle just while your driving and it wont be alot.... all b16's do burn oil at high rpms no doubt but not alot... i never put any oil in my car between changes and its almost how i left it right after the oil change 4-5000 km later
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 01:46 PM
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Originally posted by czeto
No expert, just lending advice. My b16 consumes oil. I think they all do. Don't beat on yer car till its fully warmed up. Yers is a D series right?
One time I let my bro drive my car and I noticed that when he took off (cold) that a little oil was burning off. I have to add about 1 L between changes (5000 km).

It is a D series.......SOCH VTEC, I dont beat it at all until it warms, I dont take it past 3000 until the car fully warms up.
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 01:49 PM
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Originally posted by Cablerat
Your engine is burning moderate to excessive oil.

Trust me it's no Leak, imagine, how can you miss 2 1/2 litres of oil on the ground? That's way too much oil to be leaking out.

Is it normal for an honda engine with only 104K to burn oil? Generally NO, but it's possible if the car has been beatin up for most of it's life. Or, someone may have tampered with the odometer and your car actually has more mileage than you think.

It's hard to notice blue smoke while driving unless you have like direct sunllight behind you and you are ripping the car good. You need someone else to see, and either way that's not a good way to assess if your burning or not. Black smoke is when you're running rich, generally some black smoke at high rpm is normal.

Ideally you need to do a leakdown test to figure out how bad it really is.
I think it's safe to say that its not tampered with, I bought it with 59,000 km, purhcased from a Honda dealer and have original service records......

In terms of beaten up, I do drive the car hard meaning pulling the gears occasionally and I dont know if thats what you mean by beaten up..........but I do regular oil changes, and follow all Honda service intervals
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 02:00 PM
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Originally posted by whitesi


I think it's safe to say that its not tampered with, I bought it with 59,000 km, purhcased from a Honda dealer and have original service records......

In terms of beaten up, I do drive the car hard meaning pulling the gears occasionally and I dont know if thats what you mean by beaten up..........but I do regular oil changes, and follow all Honda service intervals
Then you just got one of those bad luck engines...

Get a leakdown test done.
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 02:48 PM
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changed the pcv valve?? i heard that causes oil burning but i dunno if to that extent
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 03:06 PM
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Originally posted by kwikb16a2
changed the pcv valve?? i heard that causes oil burning but i dunno if to that extent
I head the same thing that when the pcv is clogged it consumes more oil..............so I changed it at 100k when I did my timing belt, but no difference
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 04:35 PM
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I have the same problem with my '97 hatch, though I don't go through 2 1/2 liters of oil. I do have to put anywhere between 0.5L - 1.0L between oil changes. Just like you I have no leaks and/or blue smoke. I bought the car brand new and never have driven it fast or anything. I guess it's just luck of the draw.
Didin't know about the PCV valve, so I think I'll change it to see if it makes a difference. I have 163K on it.
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 06:02 PM
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this might not cure you 2 1/2 litres of oil loss but have you tried different kinds of oil? my car would burn like 1L of oil when i used 5w30 oil but when i switch to 10W30 i burn no more than 500mL per oil change.
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 07:21 PM
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Originally posted by 97SiR
I have the same problem with my '97 hatch, though I don't go through 2 1/2 liters of oil. I do have to put anywhere between 0.5L - 1.0L between oil changes. Just like you I have no leaks and/or blue smoke. I bought the car brand new and never have driven it fast or anything. I guess it's just luck of the draw.
Didin't know about the PCV valve, so I think I'll change it to see if it makes a difference. I have 163K on it.
Yeah, but 0.5 - 1 litre is norm and is acceptable.......but like I go through 2 946ml bottles for sure and then maybe a little more from a third bottle, so it's closer to 2 litres that I fill
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 07:23 PM
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Originally posted by SaYjAiBaO
this might not cure you 2 1/2 litres of oil loss but have you tried different kinds of oil? my car would burn like 1L of oil when i used 5w30 oil but when i switch to 10W30 i burn no more than 500mL per oil change.

True..........but have you noticed a big drop in your fuel mileage????? Honda spec is 5W 30 for efficiency purposes. They are designed for 5W-30........I guess you can use 10W but from what a friend of mine has told me, his gas mileage dropped a lot after using a different oil
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Old 30-Sep-2005, 07:45 PM
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im getting 450-500km a tank with both types of oil. my car has been getting crappy mileage to start with but i dont think its because of my oil. i haven't changed my spark plugs.
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Old 01-Oct-2005, 11:14 AM
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get a LEAKDOWN TEST DONE!!

It'll tell you how much percentage of leakage you got going into the chambers.
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Old 01-Oct-2005, 07:44 PM
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Originally posted by Cablerat
get a LEAKDOWN TEST DONE!!

It'll tell you how much percentage of leakage you got going into the chambers.

I will get that test done, so after the test is done, is there some kind of solution to recitfy the issue, like a repair, or is this test just for my knowledge?
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Old 01-Oct-2005, 07:46 PM
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Originally posted by SaYjAiBaO
im getting 450-500km a tank with both types of oil. my car has been getting crappy mileage to start with but i dont think its because of my oil. i haven't changed my spark plugs.

changing the plugs should make a difference. but 450 - 500 is that ciry or highway, or mix, what percentage of each?
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Old 01-Oct-2005, 07:57 PM
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Originally posted by whitesi


I think it's safe to say that its not tampered with, I bought it with 59,000 km, purhcased from a Honda dealer and have original service records......

In terms of beaten up, I do drive the car hard meaning pulling the gears occasionally and I dont know if thats what you mean by beaten up..........but I do regular oil changes, and follow all Honda service intervals
actually there is a higher chance of the car having its milage been on the "jenny craig" diet with what you just said now.

if you bought it at 59k that is basically telling me it was on a lease and it just came off it. but that doesnt necessarily mean it only had 59k for all you and I know it could have over 100k at that point but then was rolled back to 59 just so the person who owned it previoulsy didnt have to pay the penalty. Having records wont prove anything as they are records from Honda services only. If I were to get my car driven over the maximum amount of km's allowed before penalty I would have the car serviced locally and then then bring the car in with rolled km's and no one will know. only way to properly check for that would be wear and tear items that have been ordered for that car, condition of the car, and date's for the oil changes etc...


also when I was working at Honda we would get people comming in and complaining about the engine burning oil on manual cars especially and we would tell them that reving over 3500rpm between shifts would start burning a little oil. and after accumulation it would be alot between oil changes.
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