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DE losing oil slowly...


MDMetal

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For the past few years it feels like I need to completely refill the engine oil every 3-4 months. I'm not seeing any puddles of oil or odd smoke so not really sure where it's going. I used to suspect the sandwich plate to my extra oil cooler wasn't tightened properly but I fixed that awhile back so it's a mystery again.

 

Anyone have any thoughts that I should check for?

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If there are no leaks then you must be burning the oil due to worn bores, rings, valve seals/guides etc.

 

The rev up DE is notorious for using oil.

 

I would not expect much exhaust emission as the cats run so hot that it just burns the oil off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What's the fix? Mile wise It's actually been standing for awhile but 6 months ago it was my daily and had the same issue, certainly had many happy years previously but the fact it's persisting makes me worry. How serious is this issue?

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On 26/06/2018 at 10:06, MDMetal said:

What's the fix? Mile wise It's actually been standing for awhile but 6 months ago it was my daily and had the same issue, certainly had many happy years previously but the fact it's persisting makes me worry. How serious is this issue?

My understanding of it is, 2 options Rebuild the engine or replace the engine.

Or the likely choice, drive it till it drives no more and then go with option 1 or 2 

 

Both are roughly 3-6k 

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Quote:

"For the past few years it feels like I need to completely refill the engine oil every 3-4 months"  

 

Blimey, slow down boys. 4 posts in and it's an engine rebuild even though no one's actually looked at it. Using oil is what DE models do very well. As Zmanalex has said, the REVUP DE does it even better.  I had the REVUP DE and yeah it used oil, much more than any other car i've had and ran it like that for years. Sold it to a good friend of mine and it's still running 2 years later. Just keep an eye on it. After all, it could be down to the brand and type of oil you're using. 

 

Obviously get someone to look at it if you're not engine savvy. 

 

i wouldn't be considering a rebuild based on what it "feels like". Not sure? Make sure you are! 

 

Not trying to be a clever dick, just trying to pull things into perspective before forking out hard-earned cash. 

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On 28/06/2018 at 08:07, Rock_Steady said:

Quote:

"For the past few years it feels like I need to completely refill the engine oil every 3-4 months"  

 

Blimey, slow down boys. 4 posts in and it's an engine rebuild even though no one's actually looked at it. Using oil is what DE models do very well. As Zmanalex has said, the REVUP DE does it even better.  I had the REVUP DE and yeah it used oil, much more than any other car i've had and ran it like that for years. Sold it to a good friend of mine and it's still running 2 years later. Just keep an eye on it. After all, it could be down to the brand and type of oil you're using. 

 

Obviously get someone to look at it if you're not engine savvy. 

 

i wouldn't be considering a rebuild based on what it "feels like". Not sure? Make sure you are! 

 

Not trying to be a clever dick, just trying to pull things into perspective before forking out hard-earned cash. 

Oh I agree, but 'if' like Alex said the bores, rings and valves etc are shot. Then rebuild or replace, that's the situation I was basing the reply on.

But that said, 4-5L of oil every 3-4 months is a lot of oil loss. 

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I feel your pain. I have this same issue. I didn't burn a drop until around 50,000. Then at 60,000 I had a full engine rebuild from Regal Engines in Purfleet. They quoted me 10 days and £4k (which I paid immediately) and it took them 3 months. Mate the excuses I heard was ridiculous, he had a cold for the first week or two. Then he didn't have a ramp (I scheduled the car in with 2 weeks notice), it was ridiculous. However I must say the quality of the rebuild was good. It leaked oil from the rocker cover initially which really worried me, however it's done 50,000 miles so far so the build quality has been good. I wouldn't use them again as I spent fortunes on hiring car's. Speaking with other garage's they said it was most likely they sourced another engine from Japan and were delaying me so I didn't get suspicious as once it was in it's very awkward to check the engine #.

 

Yes it still does burn oil. I've tried replacing the positive crankshaft (PCV) valve, valve cover (rocker cover) gaskets most recently. I'll update you on this as I can't say whether or not it's worked yet though I'm dubious on this.

 

It really annoys me having to top up oil on it also, it's quite impractical if you're doing a lot of miles as I live on a hill so I need to top up oil at the gym when the car's on flat ground, and I always ending up ruining my Ralph's.

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Sounds similar to me, I checked out the PCV this weekend and it's quite oily when removing, I'm going to see about checking inside the plenum to see how clean it is in there, maybe an oil catch can is a good investment. I'll have to read up on the rocker cover and see how to check for issues there.

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On 29/06/2018 at 17:08, Willsy1980 said:

Oh I agree, but 'if' like Alex said the bores, rings and valves etc are shot. Then rebuild or replace, that's the situation I was basing the reply on.

But that said, 4-5L of oil every 3-4 months is a lot of oil loss. 

True

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I'll be checking the rocker gaskets and spark plug o rings I guess!

 

Out of interest if it is burning some oil would that explain the HFC's throwing cel's occasionally? As the exhausts will contain slightly more oil vapour than expected?

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I took the upper plenum off and found this, looks oily, obviously it should be spotless is this bad or really bad? The pcv looks a bit oily so some of it is coming from that I guess, the valve rattles when shaken so its working? I'm thinking the spark plug rings are leaking that's a common fault I can address? 

 

Would a catch can be much help? 

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Yeah looks pretty oily, but we've all seen worst. That centre plate held down by x6 10mm's covers a well that maybe full of oil from the high vac side of the oil breather system. I'd be looking to clean that out for sure while the upper plenums off. 

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8 minutes ago, davey_83 said:

Yeah looks pretty oily, but we've all seen worst. That centre plate held down by x6 10mm's covers a well that maybe full of oil from the high vac side of the oil breather system. I'd be looking to clean that out for sure while the upper plenums off. 

Interesting! Which is the high vac side the drivers? 

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