Kolt R.

2005 Honda Civic EX 1.7 (special edition) I think's what it is called.
179K miles on it.

Can't find where the oil is going.

Putting a quart about every 500 miles.
What I've done so far....

1. Changed valve cover gasket. (it was leaking)
Problem continued.
2. Changed Front mail seal. (car was blowing oil underneath)
Thought problem was fixed, nope!
3. Change PVC valve. No difference
Car does not have any smoke at start-up until 15-20 seconds pass and you get the condensation as it was 14 degrees this morning. No odd smells out of exhaust pipe. After the car is warm, there is no smoke whatsoever.
Oil is typical oil color, coolant level is good.
Had someone follow me this morning after the car had warmed up and I took off pretty hard several times and changed from 1st to 2nd quickly, no smoke, in between shifts, then let the rpms' build and let off gas completely, no smoke.
Can't find any oil on the ground.

Had a guy tell me the valve seals needed replaced but when I did that, the oil would push past the piston rings so I may as well overhaul or replace the engine.

If it is using that much oil, would I not see some signs of it out of the exhaust?
Would it not be fouling out my plugs? The car runs great!

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Mikeyyy

Have you pulled a plug to check? also run your finger inside exhaust pipe to see if any oil there

Kolt R.

No on the plug. Was figuring as many weeks it's been losing oil, it would have fouled out a plug by now. I did check the tailpipe but only soon soot, nothing unusual. I'll check the plugs tomorrow to be certain.

ezone

The usual cause is stuck oil rings.

RIPSAW

It's actually hard to see a quart in 500 miles. I had a new Mustang with a V6 in 79 that they failed to put valve guide seals in. I drove it 20K with it doing exactly that. The cat cleans it up.

Kolt R.

Would a stuck ring not foul out a plug? I'm no mechanic so it may not be a legit question.

Would it hurt to try a quart of motor flush?

ezone

Depends on how rapid the consumption is, and how long the plugs have been in.

If it's so rapid there's liquid oil on the pistons, I'd expect the plugs to get wet with oil too.

OTOH if it is a slow burner and the plugs have been in for many thousands of miles, I'd expect a whitish crusty buildup to appear on the plugs.

lowlife9

just because your not blowing visible smoke out of the exhaust does not mean its not being burned off.

ezone

This is true. A hot catalytic converter can hide a LOT of oil smoke.

mac25

Did you change the rear main seal? Is there oil on the bottom of the engine between the block and transmission?

Kolt R.

Agreed. If the cat is cleaning up the oil, wouldn't there be a burning type smell out of the exhaust?

Kolt R.

No. Just the front main was leaking. It's dry underneath now.

Seems like its going through more oil AFTER the front main was fixed. I guess it just found the next weakest point which is the valve seals and/or rings.

Car still runs like a top, so I'll just keep topping it off with oil, use a 5w30 instead of a 5w20 and go with the high mileage oil and filter to buy some time. I think Lucas makes a product to help worn seals.

ezone

No, not unless there's so much it overwhelms the cats ability to burn leftovers.
I'd go the other way, use 0w20 to reduce consumption and hope it can eventually clean out the ring grooves and unstick the rings. Or at least improve the condition, even if it is a slow process.

For a comprehensive explanation why I suggest this, see this thread:
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...ues-94-dx.html

Kolt R.

That was an interesting thread and tbh a bit over my head.
We bought the car with 79K and we, or my son, has put another 100K on it. I've used 5W20 in the summer and 0w20 in the winter since we bought it and used a high quality full synthetic at every oil change. I've used Pennzoil, Valvoline etc and even used Amsoil once just to see if there was any difference. There wasn't.

Thanks for the information!

ezone

180k and consuming oil, and you've been using good oil already...... if the engine ever has to come apart for a head gasket repair that would be the ideal time to give it a ring job.
Carbon buildup in the ring grooves causes them to stick, and not scrape oil film down off the cylinder walls. Gotta get the carbon out, that's the tough part.

Option..... might be to attempt to soak the rings in cleaner by filling the cylinders with (seafoam, top end cleaner, I like Mopar combustion chamber cleaner), but of course there's no way to guarantee anything. Change oil (maybe twice) after soaking because whatever liquid you use will end up in the crankcase.

You can probably find more descriptions on this google 'Northstar stuck rings treatment' or same search with 'Saturn'.

Kolt R.

I've read numerous articles about the Mopar chamber cleaner, so there must be something to it.

Unfortunately, the head gasket was replaced a couple years ago. The car had approximately 140k miles on it but wasn't using a drop of oil. I've just had bad luck I guess although I've owned a Honda Pilot since Dec 03 as an 04 Model. Only has 122k miles on it and has had piston slap since around 70k. Other than that, it's been solid.

I'll definitely search as you suggested above.