Firs off this is my first post, on any forum, so hang with me and any advice on forum etiquette would be appreciated. My car is a 1999 Suzuki Esteem with the smaller 1.6l engine (111,000 miles). I purchased the car about 10,000 miles ago. I use either Mobile 1 full synthetic high mileage 5w-30 or Valvoline Max Life (full synthetic type) 5w-30 and a Bosch filter. This car had blow-by when I bought it but it was well priced and runs and drives VERY well for what it is and what I paid (like new for the most part).
The car ocasionally will blow a little blue smoke on a cold morning for 2-3 seconds, not enough to effect oil consumption with 3,000 mile OCI. Even though it burns oil occasionally on a cold morning for only couple seconds it really doesnt burn any oil other than that, but i thought the ocassionaly blue smoke at cold start was worth mentioning (maybe a leaky valve seal?). The PCV valve is new and the only complain I have there is that oil seeps past it quite easily, not a considerable amount though. The blow-by hose that goes to the air intake before the throttle body is clear, not clogged, and like the PCV valve a few drops of oil make it through there (not enough to collect, or even show up in the air intake tube). The plugs look great and do not foul, the first set I changed were very worn out but not fouled in any way.
Basically if you pull the oil fill cap or oil dip stick there is a considerable amount of air blowing out, no smoke at all, just air. From what I understand a engine with a modern PCV system should not act this way and this is a sign of worn rings. Is this a sign of badly worn rings or just minimally worn rings? Other vehicles in the family that are maintained poorly and have twice the milleage have zero blow-by and it is a little frustrating that my engine is showing these signs.
I thought that the details above might help. If there are anymore questions I will gladly answer them.
The questions that I really want to answer are:
1. Is this something that I should worry about if I want to get another 100,000+ miles out of the car.
2. Are there any additive (or oil, types, grades, etc.) that may help reduce the blow-by without causing any other damage.
3. Are there any techniques to help minimize this without a total rebuild or motor swap.
4. Is it better to let the Blow-by blow or if an additive helps reduce it is it better to use that additive.
Restore is a product that I heard may help but I feel it is more of a quick fix that contains some stuff I might not want in my engine (I could be wrong about this). I could use it at every OCI if it works and has minimal side effects if that's what it takes
Rislone Compression repair with Ring seal is another product that claims to help. (link: http://www.barsproducts.com/4444.htm ) is a product that I am thinking about trying as well. If it works I could use it at every oil change as well.
There are others as well but these are the ones that seem to possibly be the most promising.
I will be doing a compression test tomorrow and will post the results tomorrow. I don't have access to a leak down tester at this time so it will be compression test only.
One more thing. I change the oil every 3,000 mile, early with synthetic IMO, because of possible contamination from the blow-by. I also plan to switch to Valvoline Max Life semi-synthetic, or something similar (any recommendations?) because I think it is plenty good enough for this car with 3,000 mile OCI, I really think the full synthetic is overboard for this little car. With that said the car mainly sees short 1-5 mile trips 10+ times a day with 1-2 300mile road trips each month.
Thanks in advance for taking any of your time to reply.
The car ocasionally will blow a little blue smoke on a cold morning for 2-3 seconds, not enough to effect oil consumption with 3,000 mile OCI. Even though it burns oil occasionally on a cold morning for only couple seconds it really doesnt burn any oil other than that, but i thought the ocassionaly blue smoke at cold start was worth mentioning (maybe a leaky valve seal?). The PCV valve is new and the only complain I have there is that oil seeps past it quite easily, not a considerable amount though. The blow-by hose that goes to the air intake before the throttle body is clear, not clogged, and like the PCV valve a few drops of oil make it through there (not enough to collect, or even show up in the air intake tube). The plugs look great and do not foul, the first set I changed were very worn out but not fouled in any way.
Basically if you pull the oil fill cap or oil dip stick there is a considerable amount of air blowing out, no smoke at all, just air. From what I understand a engine with a modern PCV system should not act this way and this is a sign of worn rings. Is this a sign of badly worn rings or just minimally worn rings? Other vehicles in the family that are maintained poorly and have twice the milleage have zero blow-by and it is a little frustrating that my engine is showing these signs.
I thought that the details above might help. If there are anymore questions I will gladly answer them.
The questions that I really want to answer are:
1. Is this something that I should worry about if I want to get another 100,000+ miles out of the car.
2. Are there any additive (or oil, types, grades, etc.) that may help reduce the blow-by without causing any other damage.
3. Are there any techniques to help minimize this without a total rebuild or motor swap.
4. Is it better to let the Blow-by blow or if an additive helps reduce it is it better to use that additive.
Restore is a product that I heard may help but I feel it is more of a quick fix that contains some stuff I might not want in my engine (I could be wrong about this). I could use it at every OCI if it works and has minimal side effects if that's what it takes
Rislone Compression repair with Ring seal is another product that claims to help. (link: http://www.barsproducts.com/4444.htm ) is a product that I am thinking about trying as well. If it works I could use it at every oil change as well.
There are others as well but these are the ones that seem to possibly be the most promising.
I will be doing a compression test tomorrow and will post the results tomorrow. I don't have access to a leak down tester at this time so it will be compression test only.
One more thing. I change the oil every 3,000 mile, early with synthetic IMO, because of possible contamination from the blow-by. I also plan to switch to Valvoline Max Life semi-synthetic, or something similar (any recommendations?) because I think it is plenty good enough for this car with 3,000 mile OCI, I really think the full synthetic is overboard for this little car. With that said the car mainly sees short 1-5 mile trips 10+ times a day with 1-2 300mile road trips each month.
Thanks in advance for taking any of your time to reply.