Oil Consumption in my 1992 Civic DX

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|Chaz|

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My Civic seems to use quite a large amount of oil. When I get on it there seems to be a grayish/blackish plume of smoke that comes out the back. It's not a huge plume of smoke, but it is more than should be. It burns about 1 quart of oil every 350 miles. I was running Penzzoil 5W-30. My local Honda tuner guy told me to try 10W-40. It doesn't seem to have made much of a difference.

The car is a completely stock D15B7.

I've tried varying my driving styles but it seems to use the same amount of oil no matter how I drive it.

If anyone has any comments/insights/solutions, I would appreciate it very much.
 
ouch

Other than just speculating that its valve guides/seals or piston rings you could try both a leakdown and compression test. Those will narrow down the source of burning oil, I am guessing that you already looked to see if you are leaking oil at all. You are loosing oil pretty fast and it may be too late to save the engine, but you might get lucky and its all in the top end. Either way you should decide if you want to fix your car or dump it, and start saving money.
 
How exactly do you perform a leakdown or compression test?

Obviously it's not leaking oil.

I plan on keeping the car because I cannot afford a different one. If it is necessary I will put a different motor in it, I have been thinking about performing some sort of swap.
 
:\

How exactly do you perform a leakdown or compression test?

Obviously it's not leaking oil.

I plan on keeping the car because I cannot afford a different one. If it is necessary I will put a different motor in it, I have been thinking about performing some sort of swap.

Too bad its not an external leak as that is usually much easier to address. A leak down test or a compression test both require special tools, but not expensive tools. In the compression test you bring the engine to operating temp, remove the spark plugs and thread in the tester to one plug hole. Then you crank the engine 3-4 revolutions and record the result. Repeat on all 4 cyl and compare your readings with the shop manual. If you are within tolerance your rings and valves are sealing correctly. Since it cant pinpoint the source beyond which cylinder is leaking you should follow up with the leakdown test.
Leakdown requires compressed air in addition to the tester. Basically you place each piston at TDC and thread in the tester. You then turn on the air and using a stethoscope (or piece of tubing placed in your earhole) you listen to where the air is going (inside of these: throttle body, exhaust pipe, oil dipstick tube, and valve cover).
Good luck and hope this helps
 
If you're not within tolerance after a compression test then do a wet compression test to determine if it is your valve seats or the rings being worn. After doing the first compression test put a little bit of oil into each spark plug hole and turn the engine over a few times. Then do another compression test and see if your numbers increase. If so, then your piston rings are worn and if not it is likely a valve seating problem. The oil helps worn rings to seal properly and will raise your compression back close to oem tolerances.
 
If you're not within tolerance after a compression test then do a wet compression test to determine if it is your valve seats or the rings being worn. After doing the first compression test put a little bit of oil into each spark plug hole and turn the engine over a few times. Then do another compression test and see if your numbers increase. If so, then your piston rings are worn and if not it is likely a valve seating problem. The oil helps worn rings to seal properly and will raise your compression back close to oem tolerances.

+1
 
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