oil burning ans octane

[Tobygot]

Hi, I have a '99 Saturn that burns 1 quart of oil per 100 miles. I pulled out my 2 week old spark plugs and there was oil on all of them so I figure most of the oil burning is oil slipping past the piston rings.
I read on another site that if your car burns alot of oil that you need to use premium gas because oil will lower your octane.
The car doesn't knock.
Should I be using premium gas? Is it true that the oil slipping past the piston rings will lower my octane enough to make using premium necessary?
Thanks

 

[SLCraig]

It really sounds like if you have actual oil buildup on your plugs that you are burning through the valve guides honestly.

 

[willix]

If you get 100 miles to a Quart you really have no concerns. Stick a fork in it.

I can agree the intake valves may be sucking rite in.

 

[dtt004]

ok give him a good answer honestly.

burning a quart every 100 miles is really bad. however, to lower that oil burning, you can try to use a higher viscosity motor oil.

motor oil has nothing to do octane of gasoline. higher octane doesn't mean higher performance or anything like that. it has to do with compression. if you have a high compression engine (which you don't), you need high octane gas. for you, regular grade octane is enough.

about the oil all over your spark plugs. whatever you read on the other forum is not correct. oil over your spark plugs can prevent your spark plugs from igniting the air fuel mixture effectively. if you put in higher octane gas, it won't make a difference.

so, my best recommendation is, if you cannot afford to fix the pistons, rings, valves, whatever, then use a high viscosity oil. that should slow down the burning a bit.

 

[Turk]

Do the MMO piston Soak on that thing...............

 

[Tobygot]

I did the MMO piston soak. I let them soak for 8 hrs. I didn't see any results. When I drained the oil that came in the car, there were slug chunks left behind on the steel grate at Autozone.
I've been running Mobil 5000 10w-30 w/ 20% MMO for about 700 miles now. I have 2 quarts left and then I'm switching to Shell 15w-40. I was thinking about lowering MMO to 10% and continuing with it for a while. I'd like to just keep going w/ 20% but it smokes like crazy. If it still smokes the same, I'll just stick with 20%.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[Quest]

IMHO at this burn rate (1qt/100miles), nothing can fix the problem anyways.

In that sense: forget about MMO soak, Molasoak, virtually anything for your oil control ring is so stuck, nothing can free them other than a complete disassembly and give it some elbow grease (or replace the piston sets and ring set with new ones and rebuild the engine from there).

Just simply drive the vehicle to the ground if that's ok with you (OP).

Q.

 

[Spyder7]

Originally Posted By: Quest
IMHO at this burn rate (1qt/100miles), nothing can fix the problem anyways.

In that sense: forget about MMO soak, Molasoak, virtually anything for your oil control ring is so stuck, nothing can free them other than a complete disassembly and give it some elbow grease (or replace the piston sets and ring set with new ones and rebuild the engine from there).

Just simply drive the vehicle to the ground if that's ok with you (OP).

Q.


+1. Your Saturn sounds like it has the oil control ring defect that affects some Saturns (and some 8th Gen Corollas, including mine). Your plugs are fouled because the oil control rings are so badly worn/damaged, that enough oil is getting past them to result in the consumption you are seeing and also to foul the plugs.

Using a higher octane gas won't help. As Quest has said, at that level of oil consumption the only thing to do is feed it oil and drive it into the ground. The rings are too worn/damaged for any kind of piston soak or additive to achieve anything.

-Spyder

 

[Ken2]

If the burned oil has left carbon deposits in the combustion chamber, and these deposits glow red hot and cause the gasoline to pre-ignite, then high octane gasoline might help.

Try Auto-Rx to clean your engine. Contact them for specific instructions for your oil consumption problem, then follow the instructions exactly. If stuck rings are the problem, this will probably fix it. If sealing parts are worn or broken, only replacing those parts will fix it.

 

[SteveSRT8]

What the OP read is relative to newer dry manifolds on higher performance engines. Larger displacement and poor PCV designs contribute to oil build up in the intake.

Contrary to what was said earlier in this thread, oil DOES contribute to pre-ignition and thus effectively LOWERS octane.

Some of you guys don't get out much.

 

[Spyder7]

I've been dealing with this problem since I bought my car in May, and the similarities are very similar between the consumption experienced by some Saturn owners as it is by some 8th gen Corolla owners because the cause is the same and it has nothing to do with the valves and everything to do with documented piston ring defects in both.

ARX, at that level of consumption, is like putting a band-aid on bleeding stump. It isn't going to work. The piston rings (the PISTON RINGS not the VALVES) are beyond the "stuck" phase and severely worn or damaged.

I did move up to 89 Octane in my Toyota awhile back, and saw benefits - though not in oil consumption. I also tried 91, but, oddly enough, it didn't do as well on 91 as it did on 89 or even 87. I still use 89, combined with a UCL. I use other things as well, but mine was a borderline case and recent trends indicate it hadn't crossed the point of no return.

A move up in octane may help in some ways, as it did for me, but it will not reduce consumption. At 1 quart every 100 miles, to reduce consumption there are two options:

1. Rebuild the engine;

2. Replace the engine.

Nothing else is going to produce much effect. And if you spend some time surfing the many Saturn threads on this issue, you will see the same sentiment echoed over, and over, and over again.

BTW, replacing the PCV valve and inspecting the rest of the system was the first thing I did. It had no effect on oil consumption either. And mine, at 1 quart every 1,200 miles, is a borderline case that is not the total write off (as far as this issue goes) that a burner consuming 1 quart every 100 miles is. At that level the rings are toast and nothing in a bottle, nor in the PCV system, nor from a fuel pump, is going to do anything to change that.

Edit: and someone needs to read up a little more about what he's talking about before suggesting that a replacement PCV and higher octane gas is going to have a magical effect on consumption at the level of 1 quart every 100 miles. Wish thinking at its best, and poorly informed at that.

-Spyder

 

[countryboy9799]

I can see where oil could contribute to a pre-ignition but with the saturn I doubt it would matter much. It is a low performance car and more than likely does not need much of an octane rating. As long as it does not ping I wouldnt spend money on it. That is a lot of oil to be using, like 60 bucks like of oil per 3000 miles.

With the ring problems these engines have I would not do an auto rx, why keep putting money into a dead horse? Save it for your next car.

With my olds achieva I am not putting any money in it unless I have to due to it having 206,000 miles. It starts and runs great though, burns 1/4 qt per 2500 miles. I could fix a few things but am not putting money in it unless something serious breaks.

 

[fdcg27]

That was always my understanding.
Excessive oil consumption has the effect of lowering the octane of the fuel, as will the intentional addition of diesel or any oil to gasoline.
Still, the Satty probably doesn't have very high octane requirements to begin with, has probably lost a good bit of its original compression, and may even have a knock sensor.

 

[mechtech2]

Oil alone, or carbon from it's being burned can cause you to need a higher octane fuel.
Why?
The compression ration is increased. There is less volume in the CC now.

At 1 qt in 100 miles, you have the High Holy Queen of oil burners.
Who gives a rat's derrier if it spark knocks?

 

[addyguy]

Eventually, this level of oil consumption will force a solution:

- you'll get pulled over for excessive smoking, and be forced to fix the car,

- you won't totally on-top of oil top-ups, and the engine will burn out,

- you'll go broke from all the oil you have to add, all the time.

Hope you have a replacement plan. Until that happens, I'd get my hands on an uber-cheap drum/barrel of 15W-40 HDEO. That'll keep you in oil for a bit!

 

[MonumentOiler]

At a quart per 100 miles I would get a side job with access to used motor oil.

The second job will help pay for your next car and there is no sense in burning brand new oil when free clean used oil will do.