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Excessive oil usage over 1800 miles


colinh1

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Hi all

 

Firstly I'm fairly new here and this is my first post.  Bought first Z at the end of 2018, (2004 DE) had to do a bit more work that I had originally allowed for , including clutch and flywheel, new front end bushes, diff bushes, new coil overs, W Brace, a bit of rust treatment and undersealing, and new oils all round, filters etc.  Only thing I thought I hadnt done was replace the knocking fuel damper.

 

I was driving away and enjoying every minute.  Probably did about 1800 miles and recently noticed that the oil pressure was very low.  Checked oil level and it wasn't registering on the dip stick.  After adding 0.5 litre after 0.5 litres until I had added 2.5 litres it eventually registered on the dipstick.  So to rule out any dipstick issue I drained the oil and found that the engine had used approx 3 litres over 1800 miles.

 

Having looked at hundreds of threads here and on other sites, I have since carried out dry and wet compression tests, and a leak down test.  These are the results ( the dry and wet figures are on a hot engine:

 

Cylinder   Cold Dry Wet Diff   Leak down
1   191 206 247 41   7.5
3   191 206 225 19   7.5
5   202 210 247 36   7.5
2   202 212 228 16   7.5
4   205 212 232 20   7.5
6   203 212 239 28   10

 

Whilst there is no oil smoke coming from the tail pipes I have noticed oil inside the exhaust pipe tips.  My question is, if the engine tests look ok, where is so much oil escaping from.  Finally I had a look at the PCV and it seemed to be ok with a good suck coming from the manifold - and the valve seems free enough.

 

Any thoughts or ideas would be very warmly received.  pic of plugs for info.

Thanks
Colin
 

IMG_20190801_174724.jpg

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8 minutes ago, ZMANALEX said:

So let's get this right.

 

You have done 1800 miles without checking your oil level ????  :scare:

 

You are lucky that you never turned a shell and put a con rod through your block.

 

What cats are you running?

LOL LOL...

 

I know - I was shocked when I realised how little oil was there.  They are the standard cats.  I should also have added the obvious - I don't have any oil leaks.

 

Thanks

Colin

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Your OEM cats will burn off the oil so you may have very little obvious exhaust emissions.

 

You don't say the mileage the car has covered however assuming it is high then it will just be normal wear and tear, oil control rings, piston ring glands, valve guides, valve stem oil seals, ECV, hoses. etc etc.

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ZMANALEX

 

Many thanks for the responses.  The clock is at 87,000 miles.  Do you reckon thats normal consumption - say 1 litre every 600 miles?

 

So I don't need to free up the garage for the next few weeks, stripping the engine and replacing rings, valve stem oil seals etc at silly money.??

 

Thanks again

Colin

 

 

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We do a bit of mechanical work, rebuilt a few engines, but normally on low performance cars. 

 

If I have to fix it I will - It'll cost me parts and time.   However, I don't understand why the test results don't align with the amount of oil its using???

 

I just used the oil that our motor factors looked up - its Comma Fully Synthetic Xtech - 5W-30.

 

 

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19 minutes ago, colinh1 said:

We do a bit of mechanical work, rebuilt a few engines, but normally on low performance cars. 

 

If I have to fix it I will - It'll cost me parts and time.   However, I don't understand why the test results don't align with the amount of oil its using???

 

I just used the oil that our motor factors looked up - its Comma Fully Synthetic Xtech - 5W-30.

 

 

That amount of oil does sound excessive based on what I have read. I have moved to fuchs titan pro s 10w50 as part of my service in a bid to reduce my oil consumption, but mine is 1/4 to 1/2 a litre every 1000 miles dependant on how hard I drive it.

 

Did the spark plugs have oil on them when you removed them? 

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11 minutes ago, Rikz2004 said:

That amount of oil does sound excessive based on what I have read. I have moved to fuchs titan pro s 10w50 as part of my service in a bid to reduce my oil consumption, but mine is 1/4 to 1/2 a litre every 1000 miles dependant on how hard I drive it.

 

Did the spark plugs have oil on them when you removed them? 

Thanks Rikz2004 for your response.  I have to say I have probably been driving through the lower gears pretty hard. 

 

Yes there was some oil  on some of them.   I posted a pic of the plugs on  the original post.  The plug ends were perfect colour though.

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24 minutes ago, ZMANALEX said:

I have always looked on Comma stuff as a budget brand.

 

I would try a different brand of oil, have a look on the Opie Oils web site and choose carefully and perhaps a slightly heavier viscosity.

ZMANALEX

 

I will do exactly that and see how it goes.  The oil that is :-) 

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5 minutes ago, colinh1 said:

Thanks Rikz2004 for your response.  I have to say I have probably been driving through the lower gears pretty hard. 

 

Yes there was some oil  on some of them.   I posted a pic of the plugs on  the original post.  The plug ends were perfect colour though.

So just to confirm, was there oil in the plug well before you removed the spark plug? As in the top of the plug rather than the bit that sits inside the engine? 

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8 minutes ago, Rikz2004 said:

So just to confirm, was there oil in the plug well before you removed the spark plug? As in the top of the plug rather than the bit that sits inside the engine? 

Rikz2004  - thanks for your response -

Sorry I misunderstood you.  No there was no oil in the plug wells before removing the plugs.

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10 minutes ago, colinh1 said:

Rikz2004  - thanks for your response -

Sorry I misunderstood you.  No there was no oil in the plug wells before removing the plugs.

I guess then the question is if it's recently gotten worse, or if its always been that bad?

 

If it's always been that bad and not gotten any worse then I'd move to a thicker good quality oil and see if that reduces it.

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21 minutes ago, colinh1 said:

I haven't had it that long, and the previous owner didn't happen to mention it LOL.

 

Only done 1800 miles in my ownership.  So I suppose trying 10w-30 of a better quality oil might be the first thing to try?

I'd probably go straight to good quality 10w-50. That's shitty that the previous owner didn't mention anything. From this thread it sounds like they've stitched you up :bang:

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37 minutes ago, Rikz2004 said:

I'd probably go straight to good quality 10w-50. That's shitty that the previous owner didn't mention anything. From this thread it sounds like they've stitched you up :bang:

Thanks that makes me feel so much better LOL

 

Going back to my original post, has anyone any best guess as to what is causing the oils loss.  Whatever it is I'd like to sort it.....

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