2003 Civic Burning Oil - Dirty Piston rings?

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Alright so I posted this thread https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4647014#Post4647014 and was suggested to try HM oil and all.

I saw post by Trav : https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3990078/1 and another one where few ideas are suggested : https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3990497/2 for cleaning piston rings/valves

My question is, can it be same problem on my Civic? If so, can I use MMO/B12 Chemtool which are easily available on Walmart to try the cleaning? Thanks for all the help
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If the rings are actually coked(sealed shut by hard carbon)that is a hard nut to crack. Ring coking is caused by too long of OCIs typically with dino. Myself, I have never had that issue.
 
First you need to determine if you are burning oil (we assume you are).

The easiest way- bundle up some clean toilet paper or paper towels and put near the exhaust tip while someone gives it fuel after its warmed up- you should see some oil splatter and darkening of the toilet paper after a minute or so.

The next is to read your plugs- you will see clearly whats going on inside of your combustion chamber.

Do you have coked rings? or do you have leaking valve seals?

Valve seals- blue smoke will be obvious on startup and deceleration- you may have to switch to conventional oil to see it clearly.

To attack your coked rings you will have to pull your plugs anyways so plan on doing that soon regardless.

Let us know how your plugs look along with the toilet paper test and the startup/deceleration tests...to help you attack whats wrong.
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
If the rings are actually coked(sealed shut by hard carbon)that is a hard nut to crack. Ring coking is caused by too long of OCIs typically with dino. Myself, I have never had that issue.


Please forgive my ignorance, but we have been very religious about oil changes. Usually after every 3K-5K with an oil filter.

This problem started after we had to put a re-manufactured head, are rings coking happening in the head or bottom area?
 
Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
First you need to determine if you are burning oil (we assume you are).

The easiest way- bundle up some clean toilet paper or paper towels and put near the exhaust tip while someone gives it fuel after its warmed up- you should see some oil splatter and darkening of the toilet paper after a minute or so.

The next is to read your plugs- you will see clearly whats going on inside of your combustion chamber.

Do you have coked rings? or do you have leaking valve seals?

Valve seals- blue smoke will be obvious on startup and deceleration- you may have to switch to conventional oil to see it clearly.

To attack your coked rings you will have to pull your plugs anyways so plan on doing that soon regardless.

Let us know how your plugs look along with the toilet paper test and the startup/deceleration tests...to help you attack whats wrong.



Thanks for your helpful and sound advice. I'll take pictures of plugs tomorrow.

There's no visible smoke in terms of burning or anything and no dripping of oil either?
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Originally Posted By: maverickfhs
Originally Posted By: tig1
If the rings are actually coked(sealed shut by hard carbon)that is a hard nut to crack. Ring coking is caused by too long of OCIs typically with dino. Myself, I have never had that issue.


Please forgive my ignorance, but we have been very religious about oil changes. Usually after every 3K-5K with an oil filter.

This problem started after we had to put a re-manufactured head, are rings coking happening in the head or bottom area?
O.K. So,then,the problem is with the reman head/installation. Beyond my pay grade. Sorry.
 
Originally Posted By: maverickfhs
Originally Posted By: tig1
If the rings are actually coked(sealed shut by hard carbon)that is a hard nut to crack. Ring coking is caused by too long of OCIs typically with dino. Myself, I have never had that issue.


Please forgive my ignorance, but we have been very religious about oil changes. Usually after every 3K-5K with an oil filter.

This problem started after we had to put a re-manufactured head, are rings coking happening in the head or bottom area?


Ah! New info brought to the table.
 
Originally Posted By: maverickfhs
This problem started after we had to put a re-manufactured head, are rings coking happening in the head or bottom area?

That used to happen "all the time". People would need to rebuild a head, typically because of a burned valve, and when they put it back together the engine would burn oil.

That happened to me when I rebuilt the heads on a Ford 289 V8. It went from using a little oil to being a smoker overnight.

Nowadays it doesn't see to be as much of a problem. Don't know why. Closer tolerances for the original rings? Less wear of the rings due to better oils? Closer tolerances for the cylinders? Less cylinder wear due to better oils?
 
Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
Losing a quart every 500 miles seems like too much to not have any smoke or drips. It's going somewhere. Need more info.
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I am going to pull spark plugs tomorrow and will share pictures. I am stumped too
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Possibly the valve guides are worn, or were knurled in the reman process. Knurling is an old practice and not the best way to repair valve guides because it can create an oil burner. Replacing the guides is the correct practice. Unfortunately there is no way to know which repair was done (if any at all) without a tear down.
 
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