Where the hell is my oil going?

[CarTrader29]

I noticed every two weeks I need to add about a quart. Car doesnt burn oil or leak at the oil pan gasket. Any ideas on what to check? I noticed by the beather theres some oil but I'm not sure if thats whats causing the problem.

 

[dave99gst]

its deff going sumwere.. . most turbo cars concoume oil to a degree.
a quart every 2 weeks is kind of alot .

 

[daveyfx]

Check the oil feed (and return) line and the valve cover gasket I guess...

 

[99gst_racer]

Weel, there's only two ways yo 'lose' oil - Burning it and Leaking it. It's got to be doing one or both. Park on concrete for a day. You'll find that leak soon enough if it is there. If it's not leaking, then you know it's burning. Then your question will be "what's causing it to burn"......

 

[blk97eclipse]

I noticed every two weeks I need to add about a quart. Car doesnt burn oil or leak at the oil pan gasket. Any ideas on what to check? I noticed by the beather theres some oil but I'm not sure if thats whats causing the problem.

i have the same problem, i have to put about a quart in every two or three weeks. I asked a similar question in a thread a little while ago my reslut was check the compression and the rings maybe the rings have gone bad or blown off and having some go by.

 

[T is for TURBO]

look in your coolant overflow tank... it may be hideing in there. Hope to god it isn't though... Happened to my 95 grand prix. low oil light came on. looked in the overflow tank, and the coolant was brown. cause: cracked block. cost: 1600 for labor, new radiator/hoses and new engine.

 

[BISHILVR]

bad valve stem seals, it IS a 90'.

 

[blkbrd1988]

Is there any way of checkin if the seals are bad, I did a compression test and it was 203 180 200 176 so does that mean rings are starting to go bad. im gonna run another dry and wet test tommorow.

 

[crankbender]

Do you have a leak or spot under the car if you park on the cement. If you do lets fix the external leak before looking IN the engine.

As for the valve stem seals you usually will get a puff of smoke when starting if your seals are leaking.

 

[CarTrader29]

No smoke on start up, no oil leaks on the concrete, and no puff of smoke while driving or boosting....

 

[blkbrd1988]

Did you look on the back of the block to see if the valve gasket was leaking back there? Do you have oil on your plugs?

 

[CarTrader29]

definitly not that because I changed that not too long ago.

 

[NiTeZ]

well i ran into this prob plenty of times...if there is no sign of leak and it's not smoking check for leaks right above the exhaust manifold. if the oil is hitting the manifold it's burning right off so you can't tell what's going on. another good test is while running the engine remove the oil cap see if any smoke comes out you might wantta start getting ready to rebuild. if nothing then you should be fine. just check around the exhaust to make sure it's not leaking around there. good luck finding it and hope it's something as simple as that.

 

[BISHILVR]

with valve seals, the problem is that it can burn such a small amount that you can't really see it all the time. But the small amount over a period of time add's up. let the engine get pretty warm (take it for a 20 minute drive) then let it sit in your driveway and idle until the cooling fan cycles a couple of times, stand behind the car and smell the exhaust for the smell of burning oil, then you'll know for sure (have someone rev it a couple of times while your behind it, not to 5k or anything major)

 

[Flybiyou]

I have the same problem I posted about it but never got a good anwser. I lose about a quart ever 800 to 1000 miles. I asked the guy that built the motor and he checked everthing and said it was fine. Its been doing this for 3 months and no problems so far (knock on wood). Just keep adding the oil. The other guys are right though a little oil here and there comeing from seals and such add up sometimes the smallest leaks are the most hardest to find. This is on a built motor though with 25,000 miles on it compression is fine. Leak down showed only 3 to 5 percent so im still searching the problem to.

 

[CarTrader29]

I finally figured out where my oil was going. Valve cover gasket it bad AGAIN... I changed it like a few months ago. I noticed a puddle of oil sitting on the intake manifold close to the injectors. Also I noticed I had a exhaust leak. A bolt at the end came off. How the hell can I fix that?

 

[CarTrader29]

why do I keep having to change the valve cover gasket??? Anyone know why they go bad fast?

 

[temfate]

I would think it's more likely a problem with improper installation of your valve cover gasket than it's going bad. Make sure to scrap off all remains of previous gasket maker and crud on both surfaces. Then add a new gasket and some gasket maker material to help seal, and tighten it in the proper order as the shop manual recommends.

Of course it it still goes bad maybe your cover is messed up?

 

[c5chris]

why do I keep having to change the valve cover gasket??? Anyone know why they go bad fast?

I gave up changing the VC gaskets and got myself a new valve cover. It fixed the problem, no more leaks.

 

[BISHILVR]

alot of people overtorque the cover and either crack it or warp it, follow the book on the cover for torque.

 

[DSMcrazy3]

alot of people overtorque the cover and either crack it or warp it, follow the book on the cover for torque.

They've also been know to just plain flat out not install it correctly, there are many places to add sealer, like he said..follow the book

 

[93talonkid]

after seeing your compression numbers, yes your rings are going bad your compression is really high you should be seeing 159-160 all across the board roughly.

 

[93talonkid]

id get it looked into.


sean