YACT: My car is burning 1 qt of oil every 250-300 miles.

[Shawn]

It's a 94 Miata with 110k miles. It was supercharged for the past 3 years but I sold the supercharger because I needed the money and started having problems with the engine. I'm guessing I blew a valve seal or something. I've driven about 4k miles in its current condition and it seems to run ok, it just burns a ton of oil! How long can I drive it like this? I always add oil before and after any big trip and usually check every couple of weeks anyway. It seems to burn the most oil when I'm on the highway running it at high rpms. It doesn't burn oil nearly as fast just driving around town.

Anyway I absolutely cannot afford to get it fixed right now or anytime soon. I could probably fix it myself but i have no time right now and probably won't in the foreseeable future. Think I will be able to keep it running for another 2 years until I get finished with college? If not then I'll just have to live without a car. :-/

 

[Bryophyte]

Does your state test for emissions? If it does, you have until then.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
Does your state test for emissions? If it does, you have until then.

Nope.

 

[Syrch]

omg your the stinky car on the road i get stuck behind

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
Does your state test for emissions? If it does, you have until then.

Nope.

Any smoke coming from your tailpipe? You could still get busted for that, even without emission testing.

 

[Skotty]

One quart every 300 miles is not good, but it's not that bad either. I think it takes more than that for the car to become a smoking stinker. Just don't let your oil get too low, as that's the fastest way to ruin your engine completely.

 

[compuwiz1]

I have a hard time believing that car is burning that much oil. If it has been maintained anywhere near proper schedule, it would never burn that much oil. I'd be looking for leaks, unless I knew the car has had a hard life.

I'd think a head job would cure the problem. I'm almost certain it's not rings.

 

[BoomerD]

Not sure if Florida has any kind of laws governing cars that blow smoke or not...Probably not...it's been run by a Bush for many years...

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
Does your state test for emissions? If it does, you have until then.

Nope.

Any smoke coming from your tailpipe? You could still get busted for that, even without emission testing.

I ask this as well to make sure your burning it and not leaking it. With as much as your saying you should have a nice cloud of smoke from the tail pipe all the time, if not I'd be checking for a huge ass leak. And yes you will leak more at highway speeds because your pumping more to the top of the engine and pissing more out somewhere. Again provided your not leaving a cloud of nasty smelling blue smoke for all the smell behind you cussing you out

 

[j00fek]

im sure your rings and or seals are gone in the car. its worth replacing if you want to keep the car and you have the place to do it

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Skotty
One quart every 300 miles is not good, but it's not that bad either.

Yeah, it's only 3 times worse than the point where something is clearly broken (1 quart every 1,000 miles), 10 times worse than is normal for a 1960's or 1970's car, and 20-40 times worse than is normal for any car since the mid 1980's. So yeah, it's not that bad. :roll:

Why bother to give information when you clearly have no clue?

To the OP: Provided the level never drops below the "min" point on the dipstick, you can theoretically keep running the engine without damaging the main componants. However, the additional oil is likely to foul sensors, it will certainly kill your oxygen sensor at some point, and will also clog the catalytic converter if you run it too long like this. You'll also be needing to replace the spark plugs every 5,000 miles or so due to oil fouling if the oil really is being burnt and not simply leaking.

If it's "just" leaking, then there's no potential engine damage from simply adding more oil to keep it always above the minimum level, but the trail of oil does make the car useless as a getaway vehicle... "Roger that Sheriff, we followed the trail of Coastal 5W30 and have him holed up in cheap motel room with a woman named Skyler."

ZV

 

[oldman420]

that car is a gross polluter
it shouldn't be on the road

 

[desy]

I HATE cars like that on the road

 

[Vic]

Sucks to hear about your Miata. It's always been one of my faves.

At that level of consumption, you've got to be leaving a smokescreen. That can't be good. And my guess is rings. You should do a compression test.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Maybe your car has a 2 cycle engine and you didn't know it.

 

[Shawn]

Well there is smoke at WOT but it's fine cruzing. Anyway a lot of the oil might have been lost due to the fact that my valve cover is leaking again. I keep replacing these damn things. I'm probably over torquing the bolts. Anyone know where I can get a torque wrench that can do 43 - 78 inch-lbs? I can never find any.

 

[radioouman]

1 quart in 300 miles is acceptable according to Saturn dealerships.

The problem is that you will clog up your catalytic converter and either you will lose power or it will get so hot that it breaks up and starts to rattle.

 

[Raduque]

It's been burning oil since you took the supercharger off? I can't believe I'm the first to stumble upon your solution: put the S/C back on!

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Well there is smoke at WOT but it's fine cruzing. Anyway a lot of the oil might have been lost due to the fact that my valve cover is leaking again. I keep replacing these damn things. I'm probably over torquing the bolts. Anyone know where I can get a torque wrench that can do 43 - 78 inch-lbs? I can never find any.

Have you tried Sears? And inch-lb is just 1/12th of a foot-lb, so you're just talking about roughly 3.5 to 6.5 foot-lbs.

And at 110k miles, the factory cat is almost certainly already gone. I helped my brother replace the cat in his 94 Miata at ~130k miles because it wouldn't pass emissions, and the cat pipe was a hollow tube all the way through. It seems to be a little-known fact that this is common for cars after 100k miles, to be running essentially cat-less.

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Well there is smoke at WOT but it's fine cruzing. Anyway a lot of the oil might have been lost due to the fact that my valve cover is leaking again. I keep replacing these damn things. I'm probably over torquing the bolts. Anyone know where I can get a torque wrench that can do 43 - 78 inch-lbs? I can never find any.

Well if your not leaving a smoke screen then your not burning that oil. As far a warping the gasket, make sure you have not bent the sh1t out of the valve cover itself or cracked the metal at any of the bolt holes. You dont need a torque wrench just buy a rubber gasket, not cork, and start with the middle bolt it get snug, then middle across top, then next middle across down and keep going till you get to the end of the valve cover. Then repete turning the bolts another 1/2 turn. You dont have to crank on it till it stops. Just needs to be snug. Great thing about the rubber gasket it is swells, sure it cost a few cents more, but unlike cork it wont get brittle and will last about 3x as long.

Just be sure to remove all old gasket crap, small wire brush on a dremel works great, and dont use that gasket maker in a tube stuff, just the gasket only, you dont need that stuff all over the place. Just a few small drops to keep the gasket in place as you put it back on but thats it, no need to coat the entire gasket with it.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Skotty
One quart every 300 miles is not good, but it's not that bad either.

Yeah, it's only 3 times worse than the point where something is clearly broken (1 quart every 1,000 miles), 10 times worse than is normal for a 1960's or 1970's car, and 20-40 times worse than is normal for any car since the mid 1980's. So yeah, it's not that bad. :roll:

Why bother to give information when you clearly have no clue?

To the OP: Provided the level never drops below the "min" point on the dipstick, you can theoretically keep running the engine without damaging the main componants. However, the additional oil is likely to foul sensors, it will certainly kill your oxygen sensor at some point, and will also clog the catalytic converter if you run it too long like this. You'll also be needing to replace the spark plugs every 5,000 miles or so due to oil fouling if the oil really is being burnt and not simply leaking.

If it's "just" leaking, then there's no potential engine damage from simply adding more oil to keep it always above the minimum level, but the trail of oil does make the car useless as a getaway vehicle... "Roger that Sheriff, we followed the trail of Coastal 5W30 and have him holed up in cheap motel room with a woman named Skyler."

ZV

Yea if someone would have brought a car like that to my shop I tell them to stop driving it. It only takes 1 person driving it to think oh I juts put a quart in last week its ok and keep driving. And as Zenmervolt pointed out, you are damaging your sensors and other items that can add up quickly.

If you HAVE to drive it run a 20w50 or soemthing thick in hope it slows down a little. If you don;t have to drive it, like its a fun car, then park it until you can either find the leak or tear the motor down to do a ring and seal rebuild at the least.

 

[IGBT]

..is it a flex fuel vehicle? burns both oil and gas??

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Well there is smoke at WOT but it's fine cruzing. Anyway a lot of the oil might have been lost due to the fact that my valve cover is leaking again. I keep replacing these damn things. I'm probably over torquing the bolts. Anyone know where I can get a torque wrench that can do 43 - 78 inch-lbs? I can never find any.

Try this, it's from the 1999 FSM, but the cover should be the same.

http://www.infinitemile.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=5729

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: Shawn
Well there is smoke at WOT but it's fine cruzing. Anyway a lot of the oil might have been lost due to the fact that my valve cover is leaking again. I keep replacing these damn things. I'm probably over torquing the bolts. Anyone know where I can get a torque wrench that can do 43 - 78 inch-lbs? I can never find any.

Try this, it's from the 1999 FSM, but the cover should be the same.

http://www.infinitemile.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=5729

Good find!

 

[thomsbrain]

my old accord has used a quart every 1,000 miles for the past 100,000 miles or so (ever since a series of catastrophic mechanic mistakes). checking it once a week got old (i drive a lot), but the car never skipped a beat. when it started leaking from the rear main seal in addition to burning, i figured it was time to make it somebody else's problem. i'll be putting it up for sale soon.