Thanks & Questions on 93 I4

[wally748]

Thanks to all for diy & info. This is a great site.
My 93 LE I4 w/124500K is burning/using oil. This started about two years ago---1/2 Qt. in about 35/3800 mi. In Jan. of '09 I started losing about a qt.every 13-1500 mi. This last check was about 2 wks. ago. It was down a qt. in about 750 mi. in Jan. of '09.all seals leaked except f.&r. main,dist. o ring have been replaced by me or dealer(in my area more cheaper& honest than other shops) just before it started using in 09 i noticed the oil was getting much darker between changes. it had always stayed a golden color,no additive ever in oil except a dye that another shop put in to determine leaks. i never changed oil myself and always asked for 10-30 just this last time switched to 10-40 about 2wks.ago other things --spring of last yr. cleaned egr(very dirty)& modulator,t/b,&engine bay air filter is ok checked plugs about a wk .ago looked very good -2 yrs, old except 1 closest to dist. had oil at bottom threads & up to white part of insul. not on electrode a search on this site tells me its bottom threads of tube please correct me if im wrong. regular oil changes 35-4000.car runs great, want to keep it .no sign of leaks on drive way no oil on spak plugs. if its burning and i think it is wouldn't it show on the plugs? and wouldn't it smoke at a least a little bit? last spring i changed the valve cover gasket and oil cooler o rings every thing looked clean no sludge at all . i have not had a compession test done yet i would like to know more about what it tell me before i put out the$ ? i just cleaned the t/b again a few weks. ago it was worse than last yr. and that was the first time. had oil &condsation not alot but some also conds.droplets in intake tube just after the resenator could the conds. be because i had just started it up ,turned it around to work and not warmed up?my hc's were high just barely passed limit 275 mine 272 tech said it was probably cat. clogged from burning oil or engine carbonized from local driving about 98% of my total milage is just that , is my cat really bad or something else. if it is &i get a new one &don't get the oil problem fix ed or clean the engine how long will it last? i have a haynes manual and it helps alot but not in this case.i realize this is alot of reading i also know from reading this site there are knowledage people w/ experience that have answers for this problem. again thanks for all your help-past present& future.PS i omly have about 6k on it for the yr. if that helps any


wally

[wally748]

Originally Posted by wally748

Thanks to all for diy & info. This is a great site.
My 93 LE I4 w/124500K is burning/using oil. This started about two years ago---1/2 Qt. in about 35/3800 mi. In Jan. of '09 I started losing about a qt.every 13-1500 mi. This last check was about 2 wks. ago. It was down a qt. in about 750 mi. in Jan. of '09.all seals leaked except f.&r. main,dist. o ring have been replaced by me or dealer(in my area more cheaper& honest than other shops) just before it started using in 09 i noticed the oil was getting much darker between changes. it had always stayed a golden color,no additive ever in oil except a dye that another shop put in to determine leaks. i never changed oil myself and always asked for 10-30 just this last time switched to 10-40 about 2wks.ago other things --spring of last yr. cleaned egr(very dirty)& modulator,t/b,&engine bay air filter is ok checked plugs about a wk .ago looked very good -2 yrs, old except 1 closest to dist. had oil at bottom threads & up to white part of insul. not on electrode a search on this site tells me its bottom threads of tube please correct me if im wrong. regular oil changes 35-4000.car runs great, want to keep it .no sign of leaks on drive way no oil on spak plugs. if its burning and i think it is wouldn't it show on the plugs? and wouldn't it smoke at a least a little bit? last spring i changed the valve cover gasket and oil cooler o rings every thing looked clean no sludge at all . i have not had a compession test done yet i would like to know more about what it tell me before i put out the$ ? i just cleaned the t/b again a few weks. ago it was worse than last yr. and that was the first time. had oil &condsation not alot but some also conds.droplets in intake tube just after the resenator could the conds. be because i had just started it up ,turned it around to work and not warmed up?my hc's were high just barely passed limit 275 mine 272 tech said it was probably cat. clogged from burning oil or engine carbonized from local driving about 98% of my total milage is just that , is my cat really bad or something else. if it is &i get a new one &don't get the oil problem fix ed or clean the engine how long will it last? i have a haynes manual and it helps alot but not in this case.i realize this is alot of reading i also know from reading this site there are knowledage people w/ experience that have answers for this problem. again thanks for all your help-past present& future.PS i omly have about 6k on it for the yr. if that helps any


wally

forgot something. new pcv valve last spring when i cleaned it along w/the t/b just recently i sucked air from the outlet it shut off right away when i blew the other way a very, very small amount escaped and, i cant remember if thats right or not .

[BlueGoat]

So it does not blow blue smoke out the rear? And you have no oil on the egine itself?


ok so you said you have no oil on plugs, you replaced the valve cover gasket, rear main is fine as well as the front egine crank seal. Is there any oil stains on the ground when you leave the car overnight?
Anyways i would say check cam seal crank seal and oil-sending-unit.
If you can get under the passenger side of the car or look down by the pulleys. Check to see if you have fresh oil collecting on your axle boot or in the area of your pulleys. let me know and i can help ya try an figure this out. Although a compression test would be ideal in this case

[wally748]

thank u for responding. no oil stains on ground sending unit was replaced last spring and does not show any leakage just had oil &filter changed and ask mech. to check for oil leaks said there did not appear to be any. mon. i will pull the r. front wheel and check myself. thanks again

wally

[wally748]

Originally Posted by wally748

thank u for responding. no oil stains on ground sending unit was replaced last spring and does not show any leakage just had oil &filter changed and ask mech. to check for oil leaks said there did not appear to be any. mon. i will pull the r. front wheel and check myself. thanks again

wally

also i meant to say all seals have been replaced by me or dealer except f.&r. main &dist. o ring

[JohnGD]

That's what I was going to ask and you answered. However, I wouldn't suck on the PCV valve. Petro distillates aren't good for your health. A new PCV valve and grommet is about $10 or so even at the dealer. A new grommet should be used with a new PCV valve. Be careful it can get brittle and fall into the valve cover when you try to remove it.

You first have to rule out external oil leaks -- cam, crank seals, valve cover gasket, spark plug tube seals, and oil pan gasket/RTV seal. If you rule these out, then try a compression test. If you have mechanically inclined friends, get a compression gauge from Harbor Freight, $9.99:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92697

Squirt some oil on the second run to see if the compression increases. If so you have worn rings. However, this checks only the compression rings and not the oil control rings. For example, the oil rings may be plugged up with varnish and carbon.

You might want to check oil pressure using 10W-30 as well. Excessive rod bearing clearance can also lead to oil consumption, because too much oil splashed on the cylinder walls simply overwhelms the oil control rings.

Another source would be the valve stem seals. If you haven't changed these since 93, I think these would be a problem area.

Originally Posted by wally748

forgot something. new pcv valve last spring when i cleaned it along w/the t/b just recently i sucked air from the outlet it shut off right away when i blew the other way a very, very small amount escaped and, i cant remember if thats right or not .

[wally748]

thank u JOHNG the reason i have put off the compression test is because i did read somewhere on this site that it did not test for oil rings. compression seems fine the way the car runs i still get the same mileage as when it was new 24-26 local 38-39 highway when i go to my home state in va. (staunton) thanks for the info. on health (old habits sorta linger )on mon. i will get under the car with some light and check all you mentioned the clean plugs just dont seem to go with the oil consumption. also the local mileage is not in heavy traffic. if i cant find any sign s of leak how does a leak down work?

[BlueGoat]

Leak down is kinda same as compression test......,in a way any-who, your mech will have the right tools to get it done. Have the oil-pump checked as well could be leaking just not enough at the moment to notice.

[wally748]

UPDATE!!! got some blue smoke yesterday eve. my son came over and after supper itold him to start the car again.no smoke, i motioned him to rev it up he misunderstood and, shut it off no no start and rev it up he only went a little above up normal no smoke at that point i said push down on it a puff of grey blue smoke came out and he let up i told him do it again and hold it for about 2 seconds a stream of grey blue smoke came out and every cleared up im sorry guys i did not mean to waste your time from i what read on this site i thought it would happen at normal start.but i still have some ?? does this sound like valve seals? should my cat. be bad from so little oil consump.or is age , why are my plugs not fouled. btw when it dropped to a qt. in 750 mi. prior to that i was on a straight stretch of road for about 8 mi. i would slow to 40 hit it up to 80 to see if any smoke did not see any but had to watch for cop& road mabe it just dissapated? dont know.THANKS AGAIN FOR all your TIME AND HELP if any one can answer these ?? it would be greately appreciated

[BlueGoat]

Well oil getting into your exhaust will cause the cat to prematurly fail quicker then usual.
Valve seals.. uh could be. I would check out your local mechanic see if you can get them to stick the feed line camera down in there an look to see if your getting oil into the intake an check the rings etc..pistons. let me know they say. I would think you'd run into oil in plugs but not always the case.

[wally748]

thank you. i will check into that.
wally