first off i've been lurking the site for a while and just joined to get some feedback, i've got a 2000 honda civic with 143000 mile on it and it is burning oil pretty fast, no visable leaks to speak of just some dampness around the oil pan but since i went to pennzoil high mileage 5w-20 it's been going through a quart every 500 miles. was running 10w-30 before and the burn rate was about 1 every 1000, but for the winter and the cold weather this year in the east wanted to give the 5-20 a try my question is do you think ARX will help or should i just go up to a 10w-40 weight?
Honda civic burning oil
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First check that oil pan gasket and oil pan bolt. May need to be replaced.
Check PCV valve and probably replace it.
There is really no reason to stay with the 5w-20 or go to the 10w-40. Stick with a 5w-30. You might try the Auto-RX and then try Valvoline Max-Life.
Check PCV valve and probably replace it.
There is really no reason to stay with the 5w-20 or go to the 10w-40. Stick with a 5w-30. You might try the Auto-RX and then try Valvoline Max-Life.
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The 2000 Civics were not back spec'd for 5w20. Stick with 5 or 10w30. I have had great luck with maxlife as my Civic burned a litre every 5000 KM (3200miles). My consumption is now less than half a litre over 6-7000 km. I'm not sure if the 2000 had a PCV or not. I think only the DX models did.
If you did not change the oil yourself last time:
Check the filter for leaks. Maybe they left an old oil filter gasket on the mount? Might explain oil pan dampness.
I know this was an issue on CR-V's at one time.
+2 on replacing PCV if not done in awhile. If your car is not VTEC, your car has it. Not quite sure if VTEC.
Your vintage Civic is one of the best - guess I don't want to believe it's burning oil at such low mileage.
Check the filter for leaks. Maybe they left an old oil filter gasket on the mount? Might explain oil pan dampness.
I know this was an issue on CR-V's at one time.
+2 on replacing PCV if not done in awhile. If your car is not VTEC, your car has it. Not quite sure if VTEC.
Your vintage Civic is one of the best - guess I don't want to believe it's burning oil at such low mileage.
Vtec or not, it does have a PCV valve, change it. I would stick to a 5w-30 for the time being. When it warms up a bit, get an underbody flush and start looking to see where you have a leak. And keep an eye out for smoke at startup, or when you letoff or get on the throttle.
I'd be pretty surprised to see it burning this much oil, the D series was made forever and pretty bulletproof, and built to be low maintenance. Then again, these tend to get beaten pretty hard sometimes. I guess the upside to that is that there's a whole army of 19-year-olds who can replace your engine for pretty cheap.
I'd be pretty surprised to see it burning this much oil, the D series was made forever and pretty bulletproof, and built to be low maintenance. Then again, these tend to get beaten pretty hard sometimes. I guess the upside to that is that there's a whole army of 19-year-olds who can replace your engine for pretty cheap.
My '93 Civic stopped burning oil when I switched from Castrol GTX 5W-30 to Amsoil 0W-30 synthetic oil at 118,000 miles. I now have 265,000 miles and still no oil burn.
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The 2000 Civics were not back spec'd for 5w20. Stick with 5 or 10w30. . I'm not sure if the 2000 had a PCV or not. I think only the DX models did.
All 2000 Civic use a PCV valve. Some Civics that use 5w20 oil consume a bit of oil, while others don't. I tried 5w20 in our 1998 Civic back when it first came out hoping to improve gas mileage. Not only gas mileage dropped, but the engine consumed 1 quart of oil in only 5K miles. I switched back to 10w30 and consumption went away and MPG went back up.
We gave the car to my nephew as a high school graduation present and today the car has 260K miles and does NOT burn any oil. The only reason why it loses a tiny bit of oil is because the cam seal is leaking. But other than that, its good for another 260K miles.
The 2000 Civics were not back spec'd for 5w20. Stick with 5 or 10w30. . I'm not sure if the 2000 had a PCV or not. I think only the DX models did.
All 2000 Civic use a PCV valve. Some Civics that use 5w20 oil consume a bit of oil, while others don't. I tried 5w20 in our 1998 Civic back when it first came out hoping to improve gas mileage. Not only gas mileage dropped, but the engine consumed 1 quart of oil in only 5K miles. I switched back to 10w30 and consumption went away and MPG went back up.
We gave the car to my nephew as a high school graduation present and today the car has 260K miles and does NOT burn any oil. The only reason why it loses a tiny bit of oil is because the cam seal is leaking. But other than that, its good for another 260K miles.
YES , Vtech Civics do indeed use a PCV valve.
At 130K miles I bought a new PCV valve for our 1998 Civic EX (Vtech) and replaced it cause I was thinking it was getting clogged up.
I cracked open the valve and it was very clean on the inside, just a tiny bit of oil, but ZERO grime clogging it. If you do regular oil changes on your Civic , there is no need for a new PCV valve.
At 130K miles I bought a new PCV valve for our 1998 Civic EX (Vtech) and replaced it cause I was thinking it was getting clogged up.
I cracked open the valve and it was very clean on the inside, just a tiny bit of oil, but ZERO grime clogging it. If you do regular oil changes on your Civic , there is no need for a new PCV valve.
^^Do as the guys said. ^^
But there is a possibility that the rigs are stuck, or the bores are worn, and you may have to go further.
With that king of oil burning, you will probably overwhelm the catalytic converter and it can plug up or partially plug.
But there is a possibility that the rigs are stuck, or the bores are worn, and you may have to go further.
With that king of oil burning, you will probably overwhelm the catalytic converter and it can plug up or partially plug.
Thought I would chime in here:
Similiar car and issues:
- 97 Civic D16Y7, 230 K Km's on it. Daily driver
Was running castrol syntec 5w30, going through about a litre to liter and a half per 5000 km. Ran that for about 5 months 16,000 kms. The first week of February I replaced the PCV, the old one was definitely gunked up, the piston inside did not move freely at all. The oil was changed at the same time to rotella T syn
Since I have been running rotella T syn 5-40 consumption has dropped significantly... I haven't had to add oil yet. Not sure how much is from PCV, and how much is from the switch to RTS. The engine also has a rear main seep & oil pan seep, but nothing ever drips onto the floor. This car sees redline 4-10 times daily, 5-6 days a week. On cold days, cranking speed is noticeable slower, and when the engine is rough for the first 5-15 seconds after cold start on really cold days.
FWIW, I would try new PCV and then monitor oil consumption.
Similiar car and issues:
- 97 Civic D16Y7, 230 K Km's on it. Daily driver
Was running castrol syntec 5w30, going through about a litre to liter and a half per 5000 km. Ran that for about 5 months 16,000 kms. The first week of February I replaced the PCV, the old one was definitely gunked up, the piston inside did not move freely at all. The oil was changed at the same time to rotella T syn
Since I have been running rotella T syn 5-40 consumption has dropped significantly... I haven't had to add oil yet. Not sure how much is from PCV, and how much is from the switch to RTS. The engine also has a rear main seep & oil pan seep, but nothing ever drips onto the floor. This car sees redline 4-10 times daily, 5-6 days a week. On cold days, cranking speed is noticeable slower, and when the engine is rough for the first 5-15 seconds after cold start on really cold days.
FWIW, I would try new PCV and then monitor oil consumption.
thanks for all the ideas all, but i guess i should have let yah know this past fall i did try the pcv valve and it really didn't help i am changing the oil this weekend anyway and i wasn't going to go back to the 5w-20 since it is warming up now anyway. i knew the 2000 civic wasn't spec'd for the 5w-20 but it does have a little bit of piston slap when it was so cold this winter until the engine got some heat into it then it would go away,so thats where i got the idea for the 5w-20, which did help. it was much more quite on startup, i will check the pcv again though. i didn't have much faith in the hose from the base of the intake to the valve it was really soft so it may be sucked shut or blocked with gunk.
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