thefatalepic

Wow, it's been about 2 years since I've been in here, but I've got a really stupid question hopefully you guys won't beat me up too much over.

I've had my '01 EX for about 2 years now - driven from about 90k to 140k or so. I almost always change the oil right at 3k miles, and put in Quaker 10-30 with WIX filter.

Anyway, I read that anything over 87 is overkill because these motors were built for low octane gasoline. So as a regular 89 user, I decided to make the switch and see how it goes. I didn't notice much difference, and MPG was about the same (31-33 MPG) so I kept at it.

3 weeks later I find out that my car is burning a quart of oil every 350-400 miles. Now, I am still convinced that this was a coincidence, and I just start putting in a quart of oil with every tank of gas.

I work at a tire shop that does some auto repair, and I mention all this to our mechanic. He tells me to start putting in 91 and see if there's a difference. I explain to him what my understanding of different octanes is, and that it shouldn't make a difference. Eh, I start putting in 91 anyway. Now my car is burning a quart only every 800-900 miles or so. Is this all just a huge coincidence?

NOTE: I don't have much funds and am pretty much trying to squeeze as much out of this car as I can, I have nothing saved up and am dreading the day this car dies. I'm going to buy either "Restore" or something similar, to use at my next oil change.. which is going to be today or tomorrow actually. Hopefully this helps extend the life of my motor, but I was mostly just curious what everyone's thoughts were on the octane affecting this.

mikey1

yes it is.....


87 octane is fine, and would not cause your engine to burn oil

your problem is elsewhere

ezone

Don't.

Try using the correct oil first.






Also, any leaks?

thefatalepic

Completely missed this reply, but bumping it in case someone can explain... The correct oil would be? 5-20? Could switching to 5-20 get it to burn less oil? I know very little about cars but this defies nature in my mind.

Almost bought a bottle of Restore until I saw this just now...

ezone

It says so on your oil cap. Not only 5w20, but a high QUALITY 5w20. If the engine has suffered a lifetime of 5w30 or 10w30, the oil rings are probably stuck from carbon buildup. This happens with lesser quality oils, and Xw30's are among the cheapest oils to make because they can start with the lowest quality base oil stocks. Short answer is Yes, but it might take a while--- depending on the reason it's using oil. "Heavier" oil can help or hurt. You can't tell which. Some engines respond as (old school thinking) would expect, some don't. With low tension rings, they might skim over a "thicker" oil and not pull the film off the cylinder walls as efficiently as a "thinner" oil, effectively pumping the oil film upward toward the combustion chamber. The low quality oil leaves carbon deposits on the hot piston surfaces, eventually causing the oil control ring set to stick, so they can't scrape oil down off of the cylinder walls any more. The idea of switching to higher quality oil is to slowly clean that carbon out.....without tearing apart the engine to do it. See the link below, read my oil recommendation there. If you admit you "know very little about cars", then it can't defy nature in your mind, but you can learn. Please take a minute to read my reply about oil use in this thread, I think it explains what I'm thinking: https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...ml#post4627238

ezone

Another thing: If the engine has a zillion miles on it (200k+ or a lifetime of low quality air filtration--K&N, JizzyLube $5 specials), it could just be wearing out. Ring replacement would be the way to go if that were the case.

thefatalepic

Ah, this. The engine currently has ~175k and when I purchased it (2 years ago with ~90k) it didn't even have an air intake. There was a cheap Spectre filter mounted directly onto the engine.

I was back and forth about Engine "Restore" and flipped an imaginary coin and went with it. My last oil change was with Valvoline Max Life Synth. Blend and an 11oz can of "Restore". Oil consumption dropped considerably, at 800 miles I only needed to add less than half a quart (as opposed to 1 quart every 600). The engine seems to run a bit better, though my clutch is slipping now so its hard to tell sometimes.

Now I'm wondering if i should go with 5w20 Valvoline Max Life from now on...

Funny that at the end of your post you mention a Saturn that burns 1 quart every 500. My first car was a Saturn that did exactly this.