bpfire007

I have the same problem. I have a 2001 EX coupe. The past three times I had my oil changed the technician told me it was off the dipstick. I have used amsoil 5-20 full synthetic for the past 110k. I have about 127k on the car now. I have been watching it, and it appears to lose a quart every 2000 miles. I am bringing it next week to have it looked at and have a compression test done. The mechanic I spoke to on the phone said that he thought since it is a relatively small amount of oil burning, that I wouldn't see any smoke coming out of the tailpipe. I just had my catalytic converter replaced, and I am concerned that the burning oil will cause it to fail again. The last thing I want to do is drop another $800 into a new converter. I'll let you know what the mechanic says about the leak.

Bushidokaizen

ok. if the oil is black and looking like tar, change it.

if the viscosity of the oil changes from water to honey, change it.

also check the head and see if its loose or if anything on the block is loose or expose that shouldn't be loose or exposed.

bluestreak14

ive got a 01 civic si and i am loosing about 6L of oil between changes which is a ton!
there is no visible leaks, no blackish blueish smoke and no oil in my coolant...i am completely clueless as to where this oil is going... if any one knows anything besides changing to a thicker oil please help.

hypnotic20

How are your driving habits? Be honest.

If you are always reving high then you might be burning the oil. Did you check for exhaust color? A blue like tint reveals burnt oil, and that is where it could be going.

vitod

UPDATE: I'm still losing oil. I have to add oil every week and it looks like a quart a month. Sheesh. The car now has 136K and she runs very nice. Reliable SOB, but this oil thing has got me pissed.

Any other oil or cheap 'fix' I can try?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

well supposedly 1 qt a month is "normal" for a hi mileage engine. if its just burning the oil and not leaking and runs fine, maybe dont worry too much and remember to add oil every once in a while. unfortunately, there is no simple fix aside from rebuilding the motor with new valve guides and piston rings. you can do a compression check and that will usually tell you the problem. if compression is low, then its prolly the piston rings. if compression is fine, its prolly worn valve guides. the only thing you can really do other than that is use a hi-mileage oil like valvoline maxlife and switch to a higher weight, maybe even 10w30 if you live in a warm climate. but these will only slow down the burning, not eliminate it. you may want to look into the valve guide seals, usually you can replace em without even removing the cylinder head. and that will fix most of the oil burning problem.

vitod

Thanks! I'm a hands on type of guy but I never did something like that before. How would I do it? Any step by step sites, books you suggest?

Would a synthetic be too loose, even a 5W-30?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

stay away from synthetic and go for hi mileage. valve guide seals is a delicate process and you need specific tools. if you drop a valve down in the combustion chamber when changing the guides, you have to take the whole head apart and that just turned it into a disaster of a project. so might be worth having a shop do it.

vitod

Thanks gearbox!

pjb3

You say it's losing a quart a month but you don't say how many miles that is. If it is 1,000 miles I would guess that most mechanics would say that is acceptable.
It may also be a combination of leaking as well as burning oil. Leaks may or may not be obvious. You can add a dye to the oil and see if you can spot a leak. If it is burning oil it is usually either the oil control piston ring or valve stem seals as gearbox mentioned. If it smokes under acceleration it is usually the oil contol piston ring and the replacing the rings is expensive. If it is the valve stem seals you will usually see blue smoke when you take your foot off the gas. What happens is when you close the throttle plate the increase in vacume in the manifold causes oil to be sucked past the valve stem seals.
Valve stem seals can be replaced two ways, remove the head or do it with the head on the engine. I have never done valve stem seals on a Civic but I have done them with the heads on the engine of a '63 Corvette. To hold the valves closed you remove the spark plug and get an adapter that screws into the spark plug hole and attaches to a compressor. I believe we used about 150 psi which causes the cylinder to go to the bottom of it's stroke and with the valves closed will build pressure and hold the valves closed. At this point you compress the valve spring, remove the retainer, replace the valve stem seal and replace the retainer. It's not hard and took about an hour but you have to have the specialized tools.
It may be possible but I think it is unlikely that you could lose the amount of oil that you are past valve stem seals.
I would also agree with gearbox about staying away from synthetic oil and would stay away from any oil additives that clean or remove deposits as well. Sometimes seals and gaskets conform to the deposits and when the deposits are removed oil lose increases.

vitod

pjb3, 136K. Look at post #35.

The engine doesn't show blue smoke. I think it's just plain age of the engine. She runs great though. Love the car! I NEVER had a mechanical or electrical problem in 9 years. Man, that's great.

Honda KNOWS how to build cars right.

pjb3

I don't mean how many miles are on the engine but how many miles it takes to lose a quart of oil. You say you add a quart a month but there is a difference if you drive 500 miles or 2,000 miles in a month. If you lose a quart every 500 miles without seeing any blue smoke it would most likely be a leak. If you lose a quart every 2,000 miles it could be burning it but the smoke is faint enough that you don't notice it.
If you can't find any leaks and believe it may be the piston rings, one possibility would be to try either AutoRX or Lube Control. Both claim to clean the ring packs and if the ring packs are sticking this may improve compression and oil control. I have used both and did not see dramatic improvements in performance, but the engines I used them in were healthy and had no problems so I expected minor changes if any.

Protan988

Hey GearBox just so you know VALMAX 5w30 is a semi-synthetic + High Mileage, not conventional high mileage

vitod

Oh ok, it's around 2k a month and a quart of oil.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i know, but not like most semi-synthetics. the maxlife is around 25% syn, and majority of that is from the hi moly count, which is very good for older motors. i like to think of maxlife as conventional oil with extra additives that just happen to be synthetic. no other hi mileage oil can really compare, and actually almost every other brand is just a scam and has hardly any useful molecules in it.

vitod

I just came from Autozone and they have a special on 5qts of Val Maxlife 5W-30 AND a Fram Tough Guard (silver can) oil filter for $20!

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

try it out, may reduce burning.

vitod

Yep, it's in....now I'll see what happens. I'll keep you updated.

pjb3

At that amount and the mileage on the engine, I think I would live with it. You may have some luck with changing to a heavier weight oil, it really depends on why you are losing oil. At this time what you are already doing makes the most sense. Let us know if you see any changes.

vitod

UPDATE: Maxlife Blend 5w-30 holding out very good! Been a month and NO loss of oil.

Great stuff.

boha

This is so very unfortunate. These cars have excellent reliability until the youngsters start adding modifications to their civics to make them into race cars. The little engines and drive trains are not destined to be raced, and should not be abused. The pleasant cheerful relaxing ride characteristics and great gas millage should satisfy you youngsters enough with the cars. Sure they are not exciting cars by no means, but be happy with the great gas mileage! Do not do the impossible by making thsee cars into race cars. The little engine and drive train parts are not sufficient for anything other than a normal driving conditions. If you must race, there are many other cars more suitable, like a neon or a Toyota camry.

ExistEvolution

oil can handle the 5k to 10k mark but the insides of oil filters can't the element deteriates i replace my filter every 3k, and while i'm already underneith the car i just replace the oil anyway. i use castrol 5-20, and i was a half quart low but i had a lot of high rpm driving from the highways being 60 and everyone doing 70

vitod

Hi boha, maybe you think I race the car, I don't. It's really my wife's car. (I gave it to her) It's a commuter. Like you said, extremely reliable and great mileage. Just has this oil burning thingy and the Maxlife Blend is holding up well.

pjb3

Maybe this is true if you buy the cheapest, brand X filter you can find. Any name brand filter and especially the premium filters should never break down.
I used to cut open the filters after 7500 mile oil changes to check the level of contaminates and I never say any indication of a filter deteriating.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah after 8k my filters are still new inside (K&N, napa gold, mobil). i feel bad changing them cause there is hardly even any junk in there. im sure if you use those cheap fram and powerflo filters, they will start to fall apart very quickly.

2005civiclx

boha your being a downer on a lot of the threads lol even if we dont race our cars. there are parts out there that are way better than stock so we switch them out and it makes our car a little bit faster, handle better, look better or sound better. and most civics are perfect platforms for racing. why do they get amazing gas mileage? cause they weigh so little and you can gut them and make it even lighter and faster.

and a neon is a race car or a camry? since when? i dont get it. maybe a srt4 is a race car but thats not a neon. and a camry is not a race car. sorry who cares if its in nascar lol its not a v6 or four cylinder in nascar. i would pick a civic to race any day over a camry or a neon, if it was a srt4 then bye bye civic im going with the turboed car but thats a different story.

most modifications done to civics are done for race purposes but mainly its for style and and to become an individual out of the million people who drive civics. thats one of the american dreams right, to become an individual. so dont knock people when they want to modify their car.

boha

My apologies. I guess I am just the 'old fashion type of person.

ExistEvolution

i use the honda oil filter, it was also a misleading statement i made, what i was trying to get across was that the element in the filter will give out before the the oil will. So since i am under the car anyway i just replace the oil as well. Now can someone answer my question about the crank shaft holder tool

pjb3

I guess I missed your question, maybe others did too.

vitod

Nah, don't even think about it. If you are 83, enjoy your Civic to your hearts' content. But, if you're someone just to bust chops, I must say, I did get a good laugh based on your posts.