Oh No Car Question

[Zysoclaplem]

2001 Honda Accord
155k miles

A friend tells me I have "blow by" from my engine. I managed to lose almost a quart of oil somewhere in 1k miles of driving.

So he has me take my oil cap off when the car is running, and there is air blowing out of the crank case.

We replaced the PCV valve and it is still doing it.

Car doesn't smoke, nor does it leak oil. The spark plugs are clean with no oil on them.

Is this a big problem?

I have never had any problems with this car.

Thanks!

 

[Black88GTA]

Rings are worn out, allowing combustion to get past them. This causes the air blowing from the crankcase. Oil is also getting past the worn rings and being burned in the combustion process, hence the loss of oil. Time for an engine rebuild.

You can drive it like that (probably for a while), as long as you make sure the oil stays topped up. The engine won't be at peak efficiency, and this could also cause premature wear of O2 sensors.

**EDIT: Smoke from the tailpipe usually doesn't appear unless the car has a REALLY BAD oil burning problem. 1 quart / 1,000 miles isn't bad enough to cause the car to smoke. I had a car that burned it at about 1 quart / 2,000 miles for the entire 40k miles I had it.

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Is there anything I can do short of rebuilding? I cannot afford to do that, I'm still paying for the car.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Monitor oil consumption. May have been a one-time deal with it not being filled completely. If oil is getting into the cylinders, you'll see it on the plugs.

ZV

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Monitor oil consumption. May have been a one-time deal with it not being filled completely. If oil is getting into the cylinders, you'll see it on the plugs.

ZV

Well I replaced the spark plugs today, and I will monitor the oil every couple of days.
But what about the crank case blowing air? Is it something common on Honda with certain engines? I thought it was just the perfect car, never had a problem. Then, boom, out of no where.

 

[thomsbrain]

i agree with ZV. monitor the oil for next 1K and see what happens. but i don't know enough about it to tell you what's going on with the "blowing air."

if it makes you feel any better, the engine in my old accord has used a quart per 1K for the last 100,000 miles. it started using when a string of bad mechanics resulted in a "long story" that left the car wounded internally but totally functional. adding oil got old pretty quick, but i didn't need to change the oil very often, since it was continually "freshened."

 

[AMDMaddness]

http://www.restoreusa.com/ it will help but wont fix it, the only thing to fix it like they said is a rebuild.

 

[Zysoclaplem]

I just don't understand why this would be happening to this car. It's always been very well maintained. Is this something that just sometimes happens? I figured it would be a great car until at least 200k miles.
My car buddy told me a rebuild could cost up to $2000 dollars. I am not spending a 3rd of the price of the car to rebuild the motor. Thats insane. I'll drop another long block in before I do that. They go for $500-$800 on ebay. If I had 2k to throw around I would just pay the car off.

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
I just don't understand why this would be happening to this car. It's always been very well maintained. Is this something that just sometimes happens? I figured it would be a great car until at least 200k miles.
My car buddy told me a rebuild could cost up to $2000 dollars. I am not spending a 3rd of the price of the car to rebuild the motor. Thats insane. I'll drop another long block in before I do that. They go for $500-$800 on ebay. If I had 2k to throw around I would just pay the car off.

Guess the magic Honda didn't live up to the hype, eh? Pssst....despite what the fanboys would have you believe, they *do* break, just like all cars.

Installing a longblock would be the way to go, if you can do it yourself (or have friends help you for free / very cheap). However, to have a shop do it would still be very expensive. I would just drive it like that until it didn't drive anymore...you can still get lots of miles out of an engine that's burning oil.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
i agree with ZV. monitor the oil for next 1K and see what happens. but i don't know enough about it to tell you what's going on with the "blowing air."

if it makes you feel any better, the engine in my old accord has used a quart per 1K for the last 100,000 miles. it started using when a string of bad mechanics resulted in a "long story" that left the car wounded internally but totally functional. adding oil got old pretty quick, but i didn't need to change the oil very often, since it was continually "freshened."

was your oil filter "freshened" at the same time?

 

[xgsound]

My boy has a 2001 Accord that now has 170,000 miles on it. It had 145,000 on it when he got it. It twice has used 1 quart of oil in a tankful of gas, but not often. Just check the oil at every fillup, top it off (even if it's only 1/4 quart) , and change the oil / filter regularly. If it gets to the point that it fowls plugs or destroys O2 sensors quickly you'll need to do something else at that time.

Were the old plugs fowled? If not, you don't have a serious problem yet.


Jim

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Originally posted by: xgsound
My boy has a 2001 Accord that now has 170,000 miles on it. It had 145,000 on it when he got it. It twice has used 1 quart of oil in a tankful of gas, but not often. Just check the oil at every fillup, top it off (even if it's only 1/4 quart) , and change the oil / filter regularly. If it gets to the point that it fowls plugs or destroys O2 sensors quickly you'll need to do something else at that time.

Were the old plugs fowled? If not, you don't have a serious problem yet.


Jim

Oh no they were definitely not fouled. They were old, but no oil or problems really. I replaced them regardless.
And I found I was not actually a quart under. I have checked it twice since adding an extra quart Saturday and it has been about 1/2 -3/4 of a quart over. So I don't know what is going on there.
And it's not a serious problem yet. But I am the kind of person who worries constantly about the future, and now I have it set it my head that I will need a new long block before too long.
Can anyone with an accord of this year an model (2001 Honda Accord 4-banger VTEC) see if they are getting a good amount of blow by from their crank case when they remove their oil cap while the car is running?
My friend told me Hondas are very odd sometimes and they often do things other cars do not, and it can be considered normal.

 

[funboy6942]

OK honda engines have air pressure that will come out of the oil cap, even when new, what you have to worry about is if the air coming out of the cap is smoke. If you take the cap off and see NO SMOKE, then YOU DO NOT have blow by, if you take the cap off and SEE SMOKE then YOU DO have blow by.

Blow by WILL NOT cause you to burn oil. Blow by is the gases from the power stroke (when the spark plug ignites the fuel and air) and the expanding gases (power stroke) slip past the rings into the crank case and THAT is blow by as the smoke you see coming out of where you put the oil in, or pcv hose.

Id say if your plugs are not oil fouled, or look black or wet, then your not burning the oil but have a leak somewhere. But again if you take the cap off and see no smoke but feel air, not to worry that is typical, just worry if it has (white) smoke with it. OH I should say even if it has some smoke not to worry to much, it just means your cylinder and rings are worn, hell you got almost 160K on the tick, dont fret, many cars have blow by and will continue to run for many, many more miles, and will not cause any harm to you or any one. Just save up to buy a new car in a year or two, and you will still get about 60-100K more miles. The worse that will happen with a car that has blow by is you will have lack of power over time till to much gets past the rings and it hardly runs anymore.

 

[funboy6942]

So do you have smoke coming out of the oil fill hole or not?

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Originally posted by: funboy42
OK honda engines have air pressure that will come out of the oil cap, even when new, what you have to worry about is if the air coming out of the cap is smoke. If you take the cap off and see NO SMOKE, then YOU DO NOT have blow by, if you take the cap off and SEE SMOKE then YOU DO have blow by.

Blow by WILL NOT cause you to burn oil. Blow by is the gases from the power stroke (when the spark plug ignites the fuel and air) and the expanding gases (power stroke) slip past the rings into the crank case and THAT is blow by as the smoke you see coming out of where you put the oil in, or pcv hose.

Id say if your plugs are not oil fouled, or look black or wet, then your not burning the oil but have a leak somewhere. But again if you take the cap off and see no smoke but feel air, not to worry that is typical, just worry if it has (white) smoke with it. OH I should say even if it has some smoke not to worry to much, it just means your cylinder and rings are worn, hell you got almost 160K on the tick, dont fret, many cars have blow by and will continue to run for many, many more miles, and will not cause any harm to you or any one. Just save up to buy a new car in a year or two, and you will still get about 60-100K more miles. The worse that will happen with a car that has blow by is you will have lack of power over time till to much gets past the rings and it hardly runs anymore.

No smoke. But everyone but you tells me differently. I really want to believe you haha!

 

[xgsound]

Only Black88GTA and AMDmadness even hint at what to do if you have a problem. Everyone else says keep the oil checked and filled and drive it.

Don't be so pesimistic. Accept the good running car for what it is.


Jim

 

[nakedfrog]

I forget... what happened to your Volvo?

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Monitor oil consumption. May have been a one-time deal with it not being filled completely. If oil is getting into the cylinders, you'll see it on the plugs.

ZV

Well I replaced the spark plugs today, and I will monitor the oil every couple of days.
But what about the crank case blowing air? Is it something common on Honda with certain engines? I thought it was just the perfect car, never had a problem. Then, boom, out of no where.

Actually, the crankcase is almost always at a slightly higher pressure than atmo. Positive Crankcase Ventilation, basically means that your engine recycles and burns the blow-by that gets into the crankcase, by ventilating the crankcase and looping that back into the intake. (You always get a little bit of blow-by).

It seems REALLY unlikely to me that your rings have a serious problem with sealing, on a 2001. Unless it's been overheated a lot, or something miserable like that.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Cars burn oil quit worrying about it so much. 1 quart per 1k miles isn't much and some cars burn that much new. Start to worry when its burning 1 quart every 100 miles.

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem

Originally posted by: funboy42
OK honda engines have air pressure that will come out of the oil cap, even when new, what you have to worry about is if the air coming out of the cap is smoke. If you take the cap off and see NO SMOKE, then YOU DO NOT have blow by, if you take the cap off and SEE SMOKE then YOU DO have blow by.

Blow by WILL NOT cause you to burn oil. Blow by is the gases from the power stroke (when the spark plug ignites the fuel and air) and the expanding gases (power stroke) slip past the rings into the crank case and THAT is blow by as the smoke you see coming out of where you put the oil in, or pcv hose.

Id say if your plugs are not oil fouled, or look black or wet, then your not burning the oil but have a leak somewhere. But again if you take the cap off and see no smoke but feel air, not to worry that is typical, just worry if it has (white) smoke with it. OH I should say even if it has some smoke not to worry to much, it just means your cylinder and rings are worn, hell you got almost 160K on the tick, dont fret, many cars have blow by and will continue to run for many, many more miles, and will not cause any harm to you or any one. Just save up to buy a new car in a year or two, and you will still get about 60-100K more miles. The worse that will happen with a car that has blow by is you will have lack of power over time till to much gets past the rings and it hardly runs anymore.

No smoke. But everyone but you tells me differently. I really want to believe you haha!

<----Father was a master mechanic all his life and helped him work on every car he ever worked on since the age of 5.
Been working on cars on my own since the age of 13.
Been buying and selling cars on my own since the age of 14, have bought and sold over 300+ cars of every make and model.
took all mechanics courses is high school.
Went to Wilco traning school senior year and received a diploma in Auto Mechanics and a ASE certification in brakes.
Ran my fathers used car lot and repair shop for 4 years till he died in 1993
Was the service manager for GAC finance group, Ford, and Dodge.
Continue to buy and sell cars to this day, just not as often due to my disability.

Now you can take my word on it or not, but if you still dont want to go to ANY used car lot and find your car, start it and pull off the oil cap, then get back to me and lmk who your going to believe from now on

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
I forget... what happened to your Volvo?

I sold it to my ex who sold it to my current.

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Originally posted by: funboy42

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem

Originally posted by: funboy42
OK honda engines have air pressure that will come out of the oil cap, even when new, what you have to worry about is if the air coming out of the cap is smoke. If you take the cap off and see NO SMOKE, then YOU DO NOT have blow by, if you take the cap off and SEE SMOKE then YOU DO have blow by.

Blow by WILL NOT cause you to burn oil. Blow by is the gases from the power stroke (when the spark plug ignites the fuel and air) and the expanding gases (power stroke) slip past the rings into the crank case and THAT is blow by as the smoke you see coming out of where you put the oil in, or pcv hose.

Id say if your plugs are not oil fouled, or look black or wet, then your not burning the oil but have a leak somewhere. But again if you take the cap off and see no smoke but feel air, not to worry that is typical, just worry if it has (white) smoke with it. OH I should say even if it has some smoke not to worry to much, it just means your cylinder and rings are worn, hell you got almost 160K on the tick, dont fret, many cars have blow by and will continue to run for many, many more miles, and will not cause any harm to you or any one. Just save up to buy a new car in a year or two, and you will still get about 60-100K more miles. The worse that will happen with a car that has blow by is you will have lack of power over time till to much gets past the rings and it hardly runs anymore.

No smoke. But everyone but you tells me differently. I really want to believe you haha!

<----Father was a master mechanic all his life and helped him work on every car he ever worked on since the age of 5.
Been working on cars on my own since the age of 13.
Been buying and selling cars on my own since the age of 14, have bought and sold over 300+ cars of every make and model.
took all mechanics courses is high school.
Went to Wilco traning school senior year and received a diploma in Auto Mechanics and a ASE certification in brakes.
Ran my fathers used car lot and repair shop for 4 years till he died in 1993
Was the service manager for GAC finance group, Ford, and Dodge.
Continue to buy and sell cars to this day, just not as often due to my disability.

Now you can take my word on it or not, but if you still dont want to go to ANY used car lot and find your car, start it and pull off the oil cap, then get back to me and lmk who your going to believe from now on

I'll just believe you then...lol.

 

[Scarpozzi]

He forgot to mention that he's from TN too. That makes a huge difference.

I agree that it's most-likely a leak somewhere, but the only way to really be sure is to look where you park the thing. See if there's an oil spot under your car. If you don't see anything obvious, it may take getting up under the engine and looking for a slight drip.

Best case scenario is that your oil filter never seated properly.... Who knows, it could be that simple.