Oil for engine that burns it

[jesset1989]

Hello
I am new to this forum. I have a 2002 Honda Civic LX with 207k miles on the clock. I've had the car for 2 years and a few months, and I've put 30k on it since I bought it. It hasn't given me many problems until the last couple oil changes. It seems like I need to add more and more oil between changes. I've added over 1.5 quarts in about 1500 miles. I think my engine is burning oil because it smokes out the exhaust. It killed my catalytic converter and I had it replaced. It doesn't seem to have any other symptoms. The oil doesn't look milky, coolant level and color is ok. I'm not a mechanic but after doing some research it seems that it's my valve seals or piston rings. It runs fine no noise or other symptoms. So my question is would high mileage oil help and what else can I do to keep it going for as long as possible? I currently use Castrol GTX 5W 20. Should I switch to castrol high mileage and just drive it into the ground? Thanks.

 

[Bandito440]

Start with Maxlife 5w-30, and you can move to 10w-40 if need be.

However, if you're burning oil to the point that it's smoking all the time, you're probably going to be destroying catalytic converters until it's repaired.

 

[zoli]

256K miles, 1 quart per 1000 miles oil consumption. Cylinder head refurbishment and piston rings replacement were the only solution. 5w50 oil did not help for me.

 

[slug_bug]

That amount of oil consumption is not too terrible. I would go up a grade to 5w-30.

When my van started burning more oil than usual I switched to QS Defy 5w-30 and that helped a little bit. I then switched to PYB 5w-30 and that was a little better still.

Change your PCV valve. That might help quite a bit.

 

[Bud_One]

Does the vehicle have any history of the head being rebuilt or head gasket replaced ? I had a 99' with the D16Y8 -, previous owner had recently replaced the head due to overheating and cracking the cyl head. The lower end was not touched. It ate oil like it was going out of style. 165k miles on it. Engine finally lost most of it's compression to the point that it wouldn't idle , I had to replace it.

 

[Drew99GT]

For sure try a high mileage oil and I'd also throw 1 quart of Rislone engine treatment in it just to see if the oil control rings have any carbon that could be freed and reduce consumption.

If that doesn't do anything and the smoke gets worse, you know it's a mechanical problem. When does the smoke occur? At cold start up, acceleration, or decelerating? That will help pinpoint whether it's valve seals or rings.

 

[jesset1989]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
For sure try a high mileage oil and I'd also throw 1 quart of Rislone engine treatment in it just to see if the oil control rings have any carbon that could be freed and reduce consumption.

If that doesn't do anything and the smoke gets worse, you know it's a mechanical problem. When does the smoke occur? At cold start up, acceleration, or decelerating? That will help pinpoint whether it's valve seals or rings.


I only notice smoke when revving in park

 

[anndel]

does the color of the oil look like a malted milkshake or normal brown/black-brown color? If like a milkshake then the head gasket is blown.

 

[jesset1989]

Originally Posted By: anndel
does the color of the oil look like a malted milkshake or normal brown/black-brown color? If like a milkshake then the head gasket is blown.


Oil lools normal

 

[evanautumn]

had an old Audi with similar symptoms...10w40 maxlife plus a bottle of STP stuff pretty much cut off the burning. Only oil I lost after that was through leakage.

 

[jesset1989]

Thanks for all your replies. I think im gonna try changing the pcv valve and switch to a 5w 30 high mileage. Hopefully this will at least slow down consumption

 

[KD0AXS]

Use whatever's cheap, check the oil every time you fill up the gas tank, and add as necessary.

1 quart per 1000 miles is really not excessive consumption for an engine with over 200K miles on it. Saturns burn twice that much oil and still run forever as long as you don't run them out of oil.

 

[hpb]

I'd throw one of those "Stop Smoke" type additives in and cross my fingers. With over 330,000km, you've certainly had the best out of it. Assuming the rest of the car is in good condition, it might be worth swapping in a lower mileage engine from a wreck.

 

[HM12460]

That old and with that many miles? Use whatever is cheap.