Losing oil....

[Killer]

i'm losing oil...


my car may be burning it, i can't really tell... there is some white smoke sometimes... normally only when i'm really getting on it though. and there's a pretty good bit of oil on the oil pan... and in that area...

u think it's a gasket??? or something to that affect...


there are never any oil spots in the places i park... just some on the underside of my engine bay....


i don't know much about cars, and i'm learning as i go( i've learnt quite a bit taking on quite a few problems and fixing them myself!) but i always want to get some advice or tips...

i normally have to add a quart or two about ever other time i fill up.. ish...

[Halfwit]

1: most hondas (when a lil older) will burn oil at high rpm
2: wipe off the oil on the pan, and chek it often to see if more has developed, track it down, u can find where its from (gasket)



edit " a quart or two? do u get on it alot? track down where its from thats alot.

its like u go to a gas station, fill up with oil, and check the gas...

[Killer]

^^^ i know it's a lot.. that's why i know there's somethin not right...

it's a swapped engine with little over 55000 on the swap... car it'self has like 155000 ish...

living at an apartment complex doesn't give u much flexibility to work on your car.. let alone when it's after dark.

[PIITB]

That's a lot of oil to lose...

[gtikid]

Don't get into VTEC as much...

[Killer]

yep.... i know most honda's burn some.. some even leak a little.. but i'm not finding oil spots on the ground... i need an efin garage.. my car would be in perfect shape if i efin had one!!!! lol... only time i have to work on my car is an ocassional saturday.. and trust me.. i've spent plenty of saturdays workin on it!

[Killer]

Don't get into VTEC as much...


ls.. non vtech

[gtikid]

ls.. non vtech

Your car doesn't have VTECH?! Since when did Honda's come with a built-in phone?

[WHT_EP3]

Your car doesn't have VTECH?! Since when did Honda's come with a built-in phone?
funny :lmfao: :goodjob:

[Vteckidd]

most likely its rings

[loSiRcity]

wheres the oil?

just on oil pan: oil pan gasket

timing belt side (cover): needs front seals

transmission side: needs rear main seal

under part of oil filter: try tightening it

on the water pipe: oil pressure sending unit

above oil pressure sending unit: valve cover gasket

tip: fix highest leak first cuz if u start at the bottom u may not need to replace those things and u could just be looking at where the oil has drooled down from the top leak

[Vteckidd]

if its losing that much oil, and it was a seal leak , oil would be on the ground

[HiPSI]

if its losing that much oil, and it was a seal leak , oil would be on the ground


at the rate he's losing it if it was all burning then it would be billowing smoke IMO. then again if it was just a leak at that rate the whole underside of the car and rear bumper would be soaked in oil.

i'm going to have to go with fairies stealing his oil. it's the most probable cause.

[Killer]

Your car doesn't have VTECH?! Since when did Honda's come with a built-in phone?


lol...

sorry i work tech support... lol.. i type the word tech a lot!!! lol....


the oil is on the oil pan.. and the left side of the engine...

(where b18a1 is stamped) sometimes it looks like it could be the valve cover/gasket... but sometimes it doesn't at all... idk.. it's :gay:

[HiPSI]

here's what I would do...

1. clean the shit out of the motor and entire engine bay using a strong degreaser. pressure wash if you can get your hands on one but if not some elbow grease and a scrubber brush will do it. pay extra attention to anywhere two surfaces mate to each other, valve cover to head, timing cover to engine, pan to block, etc.
2. after it's spotless dry it off with an air hose or sop up as much water as you can with some old towels and leave it to air dry. once dry proceed to step 3. don't forget to try not to spray any water directly into the sparkplug wells or onto the distributor (cover it with a bag if you're pressure washing).
3. start the engine and let the car idle, poke your head around the engine bay and look for the beginnings of a leak. let the car warm to operating temp while still looking around. blip the throttle a few times from under the hood and continue to look around. if nothing is found right away, see step 4.
4. if no leaks are found drive the car a short distance (maybe a mile or less), then stop and give it a look. again look everywhere you can, get a mechanic's inspection mirror beforehand if you want to be able to look down below the intake manifold and such without jacking up the car. after driving a little if you have a leak as serious as it sounds then you will notice oil originating from somewhere. if no leaks/smoke then drive some more until you find something. sometimes it's hard to pinpoint but if you take the time to clean it up and check then you'll find it for sure. if you get back from your testdrive and the thing is covered in oil anywhere go back to step 1 and start the process again, or just replace the car.

[§treet_§peed]

if it's mainly just around the drain plug then you can go to the psrts store and get a new bolt that comes with a new gasket..this usely occurs due to over tightening the bolt

[nofive-0]

what kind of oil do you use?

[ranj]

if you can't tell if its burning oil, try going down a steep hill and just let off on the gas so the engine is creating a vacuum, u should then see blue smoke if its burning it.

[ranj]

oh and i'm guessing (hoping) its a manual so be in the lower gears when you do this.

[nofive-0]

sometimes you can't see synthetic oil. So if you are using sythetic then you may not be able to tell you are burning it.

[ranj]

oh i didn't know that.

[nofive-0]

and fyi blue smoke is coolant.

[ranj]

and fyi blue smoke is coolant.

u sure? blue smoke is most def oil
white is coolant i believe

[Killer]

i'm running mobil 1 synthetic 10w-30...

and yeah, so i filled my car up on like tuesday... and put around two qts oil(prolly a little less) half a gas tank later(saturday morning) the dipstic was barely registering oil...

this is getting ridiculous...

anyone know how much it would cost to just get the car diagnosed?? take it somewhere just have them tell me what it is???

[nofive-0]

You sir need to do rebuild. Burning that much oil there is no question. Do a compression check. You probably have 2 dead cylinders. Does the car seem sluggish. Stop putting synthetic in it for a while and put dino oil, it will probably smoke like a freight train.

And technically its white smoke with a blue tint.

[Killer]

car is not sluggish at all.. and i'm looking into a rebuils now...

i've had regular oil in it... still didn't smoke.. and still used the same amount of oil....

[R3RUN]

Maybe its thirsty?

Sure its not a rotary?


j/k hope you figure it out and get it fixed.



ps: ever thought somebody might be stealing your oil? dunno why they would but its possible, crazier things have happend.

[Vteckidd]

i'm running mobil 1 synthetic 10w-30...

and yeah, so i filled my car up on like tuesday... and put around two qts oil(prolly a little less) half a gas tank later(saturday morning) the dipstic was barely registering oil...

this is getting ridiculous...

anyone know how much it would cost to just get the car diagnosed?? take it somewhere just have them tell me what it is???
WHAT RINGS DID YOU USE?

you need to run OEM HONDA RINGS AN ONLY HONDA RINGS.

other brands have low tension oil control rings, an they are known for consuming oil.

also get off the mobil1 syn tuff, switch to castrol GTX

[Killer]

i'll switch to castrol but is that synthetic or not..... i know u own a shop, and i'm positive u know more than i do about any car, but i've always been told to run synthetic oil in a car such as mine....

but as far as rings go.. i have nothing to do with any rings.. haven't looked at or replaced any... nor do i think i even could... lol

[nofive-0]

Im pretty sure he still has the stock not rebuilt shortblock. The only other thing I could think of is that the car is leakin it. But you say you don't see any left behind. Get under there and check one more time, if nothing start looking at buying an ls or something.

[Killer]

.... like i said.. there is no oil anywhere i park.. it sits in the same spot everyday at work.. no oil what so ever(my boss's driveways is conctrete.. not pavement so i'm sure we'd all see it without lookin for it... but of course i've looked for it..)

and i haven't checked the oil pan since my last oil change, but i'd say it's covered...

i'll get some pics posted tomorrow, and show ya'll where i see oil.. and where i don't...
maybe some of ya'll could let me know some more fixes..

I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE HELP ON THIS ONE BY THE WAY!!!! i'll be repping those with legitimate answers!

[loSiRcity]

if it were the oil pressure sending unit it wouldn't leak unless the car was running. look on the bottom of ur car and see if oil is torwards the rear of the car (or seems to be traveling with the winds direction). that means its leaking while ur driving, and how many times do u stop on 85 to see if ur leaving ne thing on the ground lol. does ur car have an oil cooler because if it does it could also be the oil filter base housing o-ring (the o-ring where the oil cooler meets the engine block) which would leak (alot!) while u were driving.

[Killer]

as i've stated i'm new to all this.... no idea about an oil cooler... when i can get somewhere that i can actually take a look under my car i'll get back to u on that!

[ranj]

did you try the going down a hill in lower gears and letting of the gas like i said, you would most definately see blue smoke if its leaking that much.
try it.

edit. burning not leaking.

[Killer]

i don't really have any hills near my house.. i'll have to wait for the weekend when i can hit blue ridge again.

[Killer]

so i found out yesterday night, that my car is smoking... had a friend that was behind me and he said it was black... but that was at night....

so is that still the rings...

anyone know the best place to find oem honda rings??? and how much does it cost to get the labor done on those???

[Killer]

anyone??

[ranj]

try Mr.KiDD i bet he can do all of it for u, i don't know how much he charges.

[green91]

The rings themselves arent that expensive, but dont order them until the engine is torn apart and measured because if youve got alot of bore taper or out of round it may require being bored over, needing oversize pistons & rings. also plan on new rod, main and thrust bearings along with new seals, head gasket etc.. may as well rebuild the head while its apart. Its basically a complete engine rebuild. Although it is possible to just slap a set of rings in and hone it. But regardless its very labor intensive and thats where a majority of the cost comes from

[Vteckidd]

out of round DOES play a factor, but, honestly, he prob has bad oil control rings. the block is most likely still in service limits.

buy a set of OEM rings for $100 from the DEALER, and put them in. It is best to do bearings, at least rods

[Crazy Asian]

while we are on subject of oil...i though mobil was better for hondas and castrol was crap well not the german one. I was talking so some techs who own preludes and say quaker state penzoil castrol and crap. They did lab test not worth it. Mobil works the best though im not sure.

[Vteckidd]

i prefer the german castrol.

any honda i have ever known with mobil 1 has burned it.

i use non synthetics on my car, i used GTX 10-30

[Killer]

cool, thanks guys...

i'm now debating whether this is gonna be worth the time and money

or just selling it.. i've put so much into it(it's my first project/sport/whatever u wanna call it) i didn't know a dang thing about cars before i got it, but i've learnt so much just getting in there and fixing stuff my self. kinda seems gay to get rid of it.

[HiPSI]

just get a hold of another motor. if you want a stocker i'm sure you can pick it up cheap cheap and just swap it out.

[Killer]

... it's not really any of the parts i'm worried about, i just know labor is gonna be hell.

and i don't want to downgrade to a stock civic engine.. that would cost me more.. i've got a b18 w/gsr tranny...

[Vteckidd]

is this MikaPs old car? the flat green SI with the ls motor?

[Killer]

i bought this car from tattoodlude like last april, he had only had it a week or two before i purchased it...

but he did purchase it from a member on this board if i'm not mistaken.. cause some time after i was looking for a lip and who ever the original owner was his son called me about one...


but it's a 93 dx with an ls in it... not flat green, more of a metalic/charcol/gunmetal green... weird i know... the actual color name is "sebreeze green"

it's a pretty shitty paint job in all actuallity... door jams still red, engine bay is half ass rattle canned(black) the valve cover has an awful paint job as well.

so it's a dx with a b18a1(ls) not an si

[green91]

you should be able to pick up a ls for pretty cheap nowadays. you only need the longblock since youve got everything else already.

[Vteckidd]

for the price of a LS or B20 longblock, you can but Rings, bearings, an a headgasket and fix your problem

[Whitebandit]

Before you take the motor apart pull the spark plugs and look at each cylinder and see if there is any oil on top of the pistons. If your are burning the oil as bad as you said you should see oil build up pretty easy on the pistons. If you dont see this more than likly your not burning oil its leaking out while you drive. I place my b18a1 was leaking and I thought it was a rear seal was the o ring on the pcv canister that goes into the block on the right hand side of the oil filter. There is a 10 or 12mm bolt under the black canister thats bolted to the block. Take this off and on top there is a hose disconnect it from the intake intake then pull stright out. There will be an o ring you need to look for.The smoke if it is the oring is from it leaking on your exhaust and thats why you you dont see oil.

[Killer]

the smoke is coming out of the exhaust, not coming off of it...

[Killer]

for the price of a LS or B20 longblock, you can but Rings, bearings, an a headgasket and fix your problem


do mean they would cost about the same?

if so, is the longblock swap labor cheaper?

[Whitebandit]

the smoke is coming out of the exhaust, not coming off of it...

Well pull your spark plugs and see if there is oil on top of the pistons.

[owweee]

hummm..it might be your piston rings...cause mine is doing the same...=)..might want to check that

[Killer]

i've also noticed a good build up of oil on the left bottom corner of the valve cover...

more like underneath it... there are some bolts and stuff there... anyone know where i'm talking about???

if ur in front of your car the left corner nearest you.

[Whitebandit]

i've also noticed a good build up of oil on the left bottom corner of the valve cover...

more like underneath it... there are some bolts and stuff there... anyone know where i'm talking about???

if ur in front of your car the left corner nearest you.

That sounds like your valve cover gasket. Its either worn out or the cover bolts are lose.
If you look on top of your pistons and there is oil, its your rings letting the oil get by.

[Killer]

cool...

and about the valve cover... i don't think it's the gasket.. there's some other housing there and it looks like it's possibly leaking from there.