help with oil consumption

[ryan s]

a compression test *should* tell you all you need. if all of them are low (120 range) then the rings are bad. if youve got low compression in just one cylinder it could mean that piston has bad rings, BUT it could possibly be a hole in the head gasket letting everything into the coolant passages.

get one done, and tell us what numbers you get. good luck

 

[xluben]

i'm having it looked at in a couple weeks. once i know what the problems are i'll make a decision on what to do next.

 

[blacknight]

would a bad head gasket cause me to consume that much oil (under the conditions described)?

and how would i determine whether it is the head gasket or a piston ring?

Yes, it is possible.
When your oil level is low, it's normally on of three things

1) Leak
2)Burning
3) mixed/going someplace else

Under normal circumstances, You should be low no more than about 1 quart of oil. Remember, VTEC consumes some oil also when it's engaged.

 

[xluben]

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but shortly after I posted this I actually did
end up getting a new motor! Just the labor to replace either a head gasket
or a piston ring as well as replace the timing belt, was enough to justify a
new motor. Ended up picking up another F23 with >100k miles less than the
old one for only $300! Mileage on the engine was in the mid 30k's I believe.
Car has been running very well since then.

 

[CRV_33]

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but shortly after I posted this I actually did
end up getting a new motor! Just the labor to replace either a head gasket
or a piston ring as well as replace the timing belt, was enough to justify a
new motor. Ended up picking up another F23 with >100k miles less than the
old one for only $300! Mileage on the engine was in the mid 30k's I believe.
Car has been running very well since then.

It's great to see that you still have your car! Its been awhile since we traded pm's on v6pm's. We've had two local meets in MN in the past 3 months, you should definitly come out!

 

[blacknight]

Good to hear....

 

[fothermucker]

My 2.3L is also consuming oil. I got a CEL the other night and it was code #22 - oil pressure switch for VTEC. Turns out I was about 2.5qts low!! How did that happen? I haven't noticed any smoke or smelled any oil burning. Driving habits? I rarely rev above 4k & I'm not sure at which point VTEC engages.

I'm using Mobil1 5W-20 and haven't changed oil in about 7k miles. I'm thinking I should change every 3k now or at least check my oil level every other week.

Either way, I just topped it off and cleared the code. Everything seems OK for now.

 

[blacknight]

You should ALWAYS change your oil every 3 mnths or every 3K miles

To me changing your oil every 7000 miles is really pushing it

 

[Sketch o5]

7k?! god damn. do it at least every 3k. i hate myself when i go over 3k, haha.

 

[fothermucker]

What other oil is cheaper and comparable to Mobil 1 synth? I'm not doing $7/qt any more.