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How is it possible not to see smoke?

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AWD-Tony

Proven Member
6,801
3,735
Sep 11, 2017
Cincinnati, Ohio
I’ve had to add 1/2 quart of oil in three fill ups so > 600 miles. No leaks externally. Dual catch can, pcv with dual check valve and vent to pre turbo, and there’s only a few ounces of oil and water in the catch can.

Plugs are good

Compression is 120 110 110 100

The top of the piston is def wet, not soaked.

But I never see it smoke, start up, driving and in boost. My wife was driving behind me and she said it doesn’t smoke. I know I need new rings. Just curious why it doesn’t smoke. And shouldn’t the plugs be covered in oil?

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Are those compression numbers on cold or hot engine? I think you need to do a leak down because those number are way low in my opinion. I had a case at work that customer complaint was oil consumption and it turned out to be cracked ring lands. The only problem visually was when you remove the oil cap, smoke came out. No misfires and plugs were relatively dry, no smoke out the tail pipe that could be noticed. I will mention that pcv system needs to function properly in order to diagnose consumption issues. Meaning that's where you should start as it is a cheap thing to do. You can also measure how much crank pressure or vacuum you have. Also I will add leak down and compression numbers were not bad on that car. It was under warranty so we replaced the block and opened it up and found cracked ring land. Very interesting topic. Please post your findings as my Chykalo eats 2qts between oil changes. I am scarred to pull the pistons. My compression numbers are 165 on hot across the board tested 3 years ago last. Another part that could eat oil is turbo. I ruled mine out as I changed it.

I will add that I never did leak down as my dsm is not my DD.
 
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Are those compression numbers on cold or hot engine? I think you need to do a leak down because those number are way low in my opinion. I had a case at work that customer complaint was oil consumption and it turned out to be cracked ring lands. The only problem visually was when you remove the oil cap, smoke came out. No misfires and plugs were relatively dry, no smoke out the tail pipe that could be noticed. I will mention that pcv system needs to function properly in order to diagnose consumption issues. Meaning that's where you should start as it is a cheap thing to do. You can also measure how much crank pressure or vacuum you have. Also I will add leak down and compression numbers were not bad on that car. It was under warranty so we replaced the block and opened it up and found cracked ring land. Very interesting topic. Please post your findings as my Chykalo eats 2qts between oil changes. I am scarred to pull the pistons. My compression numbers are 165 on hot across the board tested 3 years ago last. Another part that could eat oil is turbo. I ruled mine out as I changed it.

Those numbers are cold and dry. I did a leak down test a while back, no gauge just air in into the combination chamber. Can’t remember if it was before or after rebuilding the head. Anyway, I heard air coming from the oil cap.

My pcv system is fine. I have two one way check valves.

I know the numbers are low and I will eventually rebuild the bottom end.
 
A half quart in 600 miles likely wont make smoke, thats actually not considered excessive by manufacturers standards these days, a quart every 1500 is considered to be acceptable.
 
I'm not a professional but those are definitely low compression numbers. Plugs look good color to me. The engine must be a bit worn or higher mileage I would assume? Youll be happy with a good rebuild. As said above a worn turbo with shaft play can definitely cause smoke or bad valve seals. But no smoke is a good thing in my opinion. As for the can I prefer vented on a dsm but recirculated isnt bad especially with good baffling and check valves!
 
A half quart in 600 miles likely wont make smoke, thats actually not considered excessive by manufacturers standards these days, a quart every 1500 is considered to be acceptable.
This man speaks the truth. Vw and Audi 1qt in 1k miles is normal. They try to hide it for a long time. No wonder they had rings recall. Hahaha
 
A half quart in 600 miles likely wont make smoke, thats actually not considered excessive by manufacturers standards these days, a quart every 1500 is considered to be acceptable.

Matt, that’s unacceptable by yesterday’s standards.

I'm not a professional but those are definitely low compression numbers. Plugs look good color to me. The engine must be a bit worn or higher mileage I would assume? Youll be happy with a good rebuild. As said above a worn turbo with shaft play can definitely cause smoke or bad valve seals. But no smoke is a good thing in my opinion. As for the can I prefer vented on a dsm but recirculated isnt bad especially with good baffling and check valves!

Turbski is good, no play and no oil in exhaust or intake. Also new valve seal installed 700ish miles ago when I rebuilt the head

This man speaks the truth. Vw and Audi 1qt in 1k miles is normal. They try to hide it for a long time. No wonder they had rings recall. Hahaha

I worked for vw for a couple of months. Oil consumption and electrics were an every day complaints. Also worked for Toyota for most of my service adviser years. The only oil consumption issue they had was for their 2000 v6 engines due to poor oil passage causing sludge build up. I get that our engines will use oil but it just seems a bit too much to me. What I don’t understand is why I don’t see it.
 
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The plugs wouldn't be wet with oil because it would burn off by the time you pulled them out to inspect. Unless you had a terrible oil consumption problem, which you don't.

The Subaru STI engine requires a full quart of oil to be added every 1k miles. Because the cylinders point downward. (which is absolutely retarded)

If you're going to rebuild it then I wouldn't even worry about it until then.
 
Turbski is good, no play and no oil in exhaust or intake. Also new valve seal installed 700ish miles ago when I rebuilt the head

That's good well it just sounds like you need a good solid rebuild on the block! I'm always happy to see a non smoking dsm I dont even like rich tunes that cause fuel smoke under load LOL
 
Matt, that’s unacceptable by yesterday’s standards.



Turbski is good, no play and no oil in exhaust or intake. Also new valve seal installed 700ish miles ago when I rebuilt the head



I worked for vw for a couple of months. Oil consumption and electrics were an every day complaints. Also worked for Toyota for most of my service adviser years. The only oil consumption issue they had was for their 2000 v6 engines due to poor oil passage causing sludge build up. I get that our engines will use oil but it just seems a bit too much to me. What I don’t understand is why I don’t see it.
When I say by today's standards I'm talking about everything newer than the 1950's, LOL Mistubishi would tell you that you have no problem.
 
The plugs wouldn't be wet with oil because it would burn off by the time you pulled them out to inspect. Unless you had a terrible oil consumption problem, which you don't.

The Subaru STI engine requires a full quart of oil to be added every 1k miles. Because the cylinders point downward. (which is absolutely retarded)

If you're going to rebuild it then I wouldn't even worry about it until then.
The plugs wouldn't be wet with oil because it would burn off by the time you pulled them out to inspect. Unless you had a terrible oil consumption problem, which you don't.

The Subaru STI engine requires a full quart of oil to be added every 1k miles. Because the cylinders point downward. (which is absolutely retarded)

If you're going to rebuild it then I wouldn't even worry about it until then.

I know Solomon. Don’t want to tear it down any time soon. Just annoyed it’s drinking oil for a living.
 
I had a similar issue with my 95 Tsi, changed turbo due to excessive shaft play and problem was solved. Then my boost controller failed, spiked at 30lbs from the normal 21 i was running and well we all know what gotta leash and walked home after that !!! hahahaha
 
When I say by today's standards I'm talking about everything newer than the 1950's, LOL Mistubishi would tell you that you have no problem.

I’d speak to the service manager and regional rep and make them warranty a new motor. Lol
 
That's good well it just sounds like you need a good solid rebuild on the block! I'm always happy to see a non smoking dsm I dont even like rich tunes that cause fuel smoke under load LOL

Me neither. I see a street car that smokes and my mind tells me it’s junk. It’s not always the case but my mind just goes there.
 
I had a similar issue with my 95 Tsi, changed turbo due to excessive shaft play and problem was solved. Then my boost controller failed, spiked at 30lbs from the normal 21 i was running and well we all know what gotta leash and walked home after that !!! hahahaha

I wish it was the turbo
 
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