Oil Probs

[li Arc]

Hey guys,

So I noticed I've been losing oil at a great rate...from max to min takes perhaps 3-4 weeks, then I've got to fill up again; I'm guessing this is more than a litre. I haven't seen any oil spots underneath the car, and I finished my headgasket about a year ago (coolant looks pretty clean too). What I noticed though was that when the engine was running, there was a little bit of steam coming out of the oil filler cap, and I'm wondering if my oil could all be evaporating away instead! I'm planning on taking a trip to the yard this weekend, hopefully...

Also, I noticed when I'm engine braking down a hill at 4kRPM with no throttle, I've got some white smoke coming out the rear; not a lot, but enough that I could smell the "bad engine smell". I'll take another look at my AF gauge when that happens, but when I drive normally I don't see any problems. Even when I'm driving at 4k, as long as it's not engine brake, it doesn't smoke like that. Ideas? AF gauge during all other times seems to point to normal operation, and the O2 sensor was replaced about a year ago as well, as was valve stem seals.

li Arc

[Jim Mesthene]

What kind of oil?

[Matt88S]

Look down between your engine and firewall, see if there is oil slung around in that area. A bad front main seal can leak out quite a lot of oil.

[Eiron]

Originally Posted by Jim Mesthene

What kind of oil?

And how many miles in 3-4 wks?

[li Arc]

Just regular engine oil is what I'm referring to. I'd say I do a tank (550+km) per week, so 3-4 weeks is about 1500-2000km. It's not actually dripping from anywhere, but just...gone. Even on the firewall side of the engine, it's not any more "dirty" than it would usually be. I can't really see anywhere that's leaking and like I said, there aren't any puddles or even oil drips on the ground where I normally park...it's weird.

li Arc

[TooMany2cvs]

Originally Posted by li Arc

It's not actually dripping from anywhere, but just...gone. Even on the firewall side of the engine, it's not any more "dirty" than it would usually be. I can't really see anywhere that's leaking and like I said, there aren't any puddles or even oil drips on the ground where I normally park...it's weird.

OK, so it must be being burnt. Either turbo seals or rings are the most likely causes.

Don't let it get to "Min", though - top it up little but often.

[Jim Mesthene]

Older Turbos sometimes suffered from stuck Piston Rings.
Often, running a light synthetic oil will clean up that condition.
I'd try some 5w-30 Mobil One (or equivalent) for a few thousand miles. You may burn a little more Oil initially.
You have little to lose by trying it.

[IronJoe]

How many miles are on your motor?

[li Arc]

Hmmm...old turbos eh? I did take a look going down the hill to work today at 4kRPM but it wasn't really smoking this time, and the O2 sensor says it's at about 0.65-0.75V, which means pretty much stoichio, so it's not poorly burned fuel. I may be swapping turbos in a month or so, but perhaps I'll try running some 5W30 anyhow. We only use Mobil 1, and we have a couple jugs of 5W30 lying around. Turbo's the biggest culprit then? I've got 365k km's on the engine, which is about 228k miles, IJ...

li Arc

[li Arc]

Hey, so to add onto this, I've been getting more and more smoke now, at lower revs, and now on open throttle as well. This morning, I got knock when approaching 13 or 14psi, the engine ticked a bit, the knock LED lit, I backed off the throttle a bit and looked out the rearview...I left a bit of a smokescreen for the guy behind me. I wasn't even really punching it, but it wasn't totally gradual neither. So, I've sent off my Super 60 turbo that was sitting around needing a rebuild to Blaast Performance, and they'll be putting in a stage 1.5 turbine wheel for me which they mention should flow more than a stock wheel but with increased response and a lower spin-up threshold, by like 500-800rpm! So, hopefully that will fix my problem.

I'm also experiencing problems with the noise from the valve lifters clicking away. Normally that means my oil level or pressure is low, but it's intermittent, and usually comes in and goes away when I'm idling, even after I've topped up my oil. Should I assume the pressure is being lost at the turbo where we suspect the oil leak and just hope the turbo replacement will fix it? I actually have 2 brand new valve lifters sitting around in bags, but I don't really think it's the lifters if they're not constantly clicking at idle...

li Arc

[900t]

I had some major leakage at the turbo oil lines, the bolts kept backing out on me after reinstall, the oil was clean so it didn't make too much of a mess, ymmv.