1zz-fe massive oil usage

[joeyicu]

i haven't had this car long enough for me to have caused the damage, but my motor is using a quart of motor oil every 500 miles, if you park the car on a hill it will also leak motor oil from the exhaust and leave a healthy looking stain. i got the car with 3 quarts low and assume that the previous owner rain it dry and potentially damaged the cylinder wall and/or the piston rings. my question is with this kind of oil usage that i am talking about could the failure be in the head rather then the bottom end. i would prefer a head failure of some kind so i wouldn't have to pull the whole motor out but could just yank the head and have it rebuilt.

anyone ever had a problem like this before? there is no other drive ability issues other then massive oil use

[Qslim]

Originally Posted by joeyicu

i haven't had this car long enough for me to have caused the damage, but my motor is using a quart of motor oil every 500 miles, if you park the car on a hill it will also leak motor oil from the exhaust and leave a healthy looking stain. i got the car with 3 quarts low and assume that the previous owner rain it dry and potentially damaged the cylinder wall and/or the piston rings. my question is with this kind of oil usage that i am talking about could the failure be in the head rather then the bottom end. i would prefer a head failure of some kind so i wouldn't have to pull the whole motor out but could just yank the head and have it rebuilt.

anyone ever had a problem like this before? there is no other drive ability issues other then massive oil use

Oil usage like this usually is a piston ring problem rather than a problem in the head. The only way to tell for sure is to start diagnosing with a pressure gauge and a compressions test.

[knarf]

I also recently purchased a '98 corolla, and with each mile driven, the oil problem seemed to worsen. I'm going to replace the motor and trans as soon as I can accumulate enough money.I suspect that some 1zzfe's carry some oil management defects. Would a leak-down test reveal whether the oil rings are are defective? I ask this because the used engine supplier does this test before delivering the motor, and I don't want to end up with another oil burner. Does anyone know of a used engine supplier with a 1zzfe near Marquette Michigan?
knarf (Frank)

[vibebreaker]

try monkeywrenchracing.com they are also in michigan though I don't know how close to you. on their website, they have prices for used 1zz/2zz engines.

[Bitter]

if you're going to goto the trouble of replacing the engine, check out the bitog forums and see what they recommend for something that you can pour in to free the rings. its a deposit stickage problem usually, and sometimes you can free or partially free the rings with chemicals that dissolve the gum and varnish holding them there. the most you'll waste is a little money and some time, but thats a drop in a bucket compared to the cost of a new engine. if it works or works partially then you can drive a little longer and save a little more money.

[mikered30]

Originally Posted by Bitter

if you're going to goto the trouble of replacing the engine, check out the bitog forums and see what they recommend for something that you can pour in to free the rings. its a deposit stickage problem usually, and sometimes you can free or partially free the rings with chemicals that dissolve the gum and varnish holding them there. the most you'll waste is a little money and some time, but thats a drop in a bucket compared to the cost of a new engine. if it works or works partially then you can drive a little longer and save a little more money.

Are you talking about Seafoam or Auto-Rx?

[knarf]

Bitter,
Forgive me, but what exactly is 'bitog forum' ? I did not do a compression test, however the engine smokes when started and when I rev it up it produces a smoke cloud. The check engine light went on too. I have not driven it since. I'm driving my '95 Lumina with 190K miles (second motor and trans though Thanks eh?
knark ( Frank)

[PhatRoyale]

BITOG stands for "Bob is the oil guy" forums, google it

[joeyicu]

Originally Posted by Qslim

Oil usage like this usually is a piston ring problem rather than a problem in the head. The only way to tell for sure is to start diagnosing with a pressure gauge and a compressions test.

i was thinking the same thing, i havent compression tested it yet, the car has good power still so maybe ill just let it die a slow death and just keep on added the oil untill one day when it goes boom, then ill do a 2zz-ge

[joeyicu]

Originally Posted by knarf

Bitter,
Forgive me, but what exactly is 'bitog forum' ? I did not do a compression test, however the engine smokes when started and when I rev it up it produces a smoke cloud. The check engine light went on too. I have not driven it since. I'm driving my '95 Lumina with 190K miles (second motor and trans though Thanks eh?
knark ( Frank)

same issue, i dont know if my CEL is related to the oil consumption, but it does smoke ALOT

[stubborn1]

An additive probably won't fix your problem. My 98' was burning a quart every 600 miles due to the oil control rings being stuck into the piston. Last winter, I pulled the head, sent the head out for a valve job, and re-ringed the engine. It cost meabout $700 in parts and machine shop charges.

Do a dry compression test, then a wet compression test. Even though I had issues with my oil control rings, I still showed 190 across the board on a dry test. After adding a little oil to each cylinder and rerunning the test, the numbers shot way up leading me to diagnose the ring problem.

Here's a picture of what the rings look like when you have this issue - not pretty:

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2.../engine017.jpg

[Bitter]

true, some snake oil may do nothing, but its not hard to try.

[Flashmn]

That engine those pistons are from has had some severe neglect. That brown shit is burnt oil.

[Bitter]

Originally Posted by Flashmn

That engine those pistons are from has had some severe neglect. That brown shit is burnt oil.

not as severe as you'd think. just takes a couple of delayed or missed oil changes. in the latter 1zzfe's they redesigned some things and changed the interval back to 5k max from 7500 miles. hell some people got into trouble following the 7500 mile schedule to the T. some configurations of the engine ran a little hotter and it was compounded by either stop and go driving on hot hot days, going a few thousand over on a change, or low quality oil being used. the 98-2000 engines suffered the worst. iirc the internal changes were either slightly different pistons which kept the oil control ring area cooler or it was just a different ring material.

[knarf]

What criteria does one use to decide which used 1zzfe engine to purchase? Is a '99 1zzfe a better choice than a '98 version? What exactly does a leak down test reveal? Will a leak down test tell you if a 1zzfe has bad oil rings and or bad valve seals? What questions should I ask the used engine dealer? Thanks eh?
knarf (Frank)