Drinking oil

[SteveM16v 0]

300 miles and I have to top the oil up - nearly empty if giving it some, only half empty if taking it easy. Also, seems to be running rich, strong smell of exhaust fumes and the exhaust is brand new. It isn't running very well anyway. seems to have lost some of the umph - any ideas?

 

1.8 16v - pre cat

 

Thanks as always

[theRuler 0]

well presuming you aint got a slick under it the size of a kuwaiti oil field (ie you dont have a gusher of a leak) do you reckon it could be valve stem seals? how many miles have you done matey?

[stevemac 0]

Could be the head gasket ??

 

Is the car using water too ?

[randal 0]

Sounds like the seals to me, I've got a similar problem with a couple of the same symptoms as you. I get a smell of fumes, burning through oil at a rate of knots, and the like. I do have a small oil leak, but not enough to constitute the loss I've got.

 

Do you get a bit of blue smoke on startup? Or is it constant? Or is it only when you stick your foot down?

 

Might be time to get that head rebuilt, that's what I'm doing in the hope it's not the bottom end - else that's getting done next!

[randal 0]

aarrg! can a mod delete my dupes please?

[stevemac 0]

aarrg! can a mod delete my dupes please?

No worries m8 .. :D

[randal 0]

Cheers! :D

[SteveM16v 0]

Bloody hell I hope its not the head gasket.....again! That was only done 5 months ago. No there’s absolutely no oil leak and there’s no smoke of any sort although the water is an interesting one (I know.... your all thinking the head again) but this may just be down to my lack of engine knowledge (I push a pedal and it goes).

When cold the reservoir doesn’t seem very full at all. In fact there’s nothing in it other than the main hole in the middle has water but that’s it. I think that’s just the way they are when cold and that when it’s hot, it may be full – not sure??

 

If as I hope it is the stems, what’s the damage for getting them sorted?

 

Thanks

[Supercharged 2]

Who did the HG??

[SteveM16v 0]

Oh no don't say that - a little local garage.

[Roger Blassberg 0]

If its valve guide related, and it is using that much oil, there will be clouds of smoke when you give it the go after over-running down a hill.

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[SteveM16v 0]

Thanks Roger however I don't really understand what you mean by 'give it the go after over-running down a hill'?

 

Thanks

[Kevin Bacon 5]

He means give it some gas after an extended period of overrun.

 

In other words, find a long steep hill and go down it in 3rd with your foot off the gas pedal (needs to be a quiet road ideally) which is over-run. Engine vacuum is at it's greatest in these conditions and is when oil is likely to be sucked through worn components, such as valve guides and piston rings.

 

At the bottom of the hill, look in the rear view and plant the gas (still in 3rd) and see if you can see a cloud of blue smoke.

 

To be honest, I wouldn't be overly worried if you can. A lot of engines will do that under those conditions. If oil consumption is low and smoke minimal/non existent during normal driving, I shouldn't worry about it.

 

I noticed smoking in these conditions from my VR when on holiday in Cornwall but barely uses any oil at all under normal driving. The head was rebuilt by stealth last year and the bores signed off as OK and within tolerance. I spoke to Stealth about my smoke and he said not to worry about it, so I'm not, LOL!

[Henny 0]

With the engine warm and running, get a mate to rev the knackers off it and watch the exhaust as he lets go of the throttle (let it snap shut, don't ease off on it)... then get him to rev it again (only not as hard this time)while you're still watching the exhaust...

 

If you get blue smoke out of it on the over-run (the bit just after he lets go of the throttle) then you've almost certainly got valve guide and stem seal wear....

[SteveM16v 0]

Oh I see, thanks for clearing that on up - the problem is I haven't seen any smoke but then I didn't when the head went last time?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

So how much exactly is it 'using', say over a 1000 miles? You've said empty and half empty in the first post but that doesn't make much sense to me.

 

If you can't see smoke, you might want to check for leaks. If your engine was burning tonnes of oil, you'd definitely see blue smoke quite frequently.

[Roger Blassberg 0]

Yes, sorry to express myself badly, and thanks to Kev for the translation into English.

 

I hope that, by "half empty",you mean half way down the patterned area on the dipstick; I think this represents about half a litre, which is quite a lot over 300 miles. Twice as much, i.e. "empty" is not at all good in my view unless you are using fully synthetic oil with a very low viscosity which frankly is like water and unsuitable for an engine of mature years.

 

Obviously it is going somewhere and if it is not leaking out it must either be burnt or be getting into the water.

 

Are your spark plugs fouled up with oily deposits? You say you have seen no smoke, but it is quite difficult to see out of the back of a C; get a friend to follow you for a few miles and get a better report than a static test which does not put the engine under load.

 

If oil is getting into the water in such quantities it will be obvious from the look of the header tank.

 

Best wishes

 

RB _

[SteveM16v 0]

Yep, half way down the patterned bit - it even got to the bottom and the warning light/buzzer came on (this was the first I knew of the heavy oil usage!)

 

Confession time - I did once over fill the oil….. I'm thinking your all going to start shouting that this is the cause of the issue?????

 

From what I've described, is it fairly safe it’s not the head gasket? Was I right about the water levels?

 

Thanks a lot

[Roger Blassberg 0]

Well, overfilling can lead to seals getting blown in the extreme situation, and also catalytic convertor damage if oil gets to it. Of course it depends on how much over you filled it and how long it stayed overfilled - not long if you are losing oil at the rate you describe...

As Kev said earlier, check the consumption over a few thousand miles before getting too worried.

By the way, what oil are you using? I now use 15-40, a bit thicker than the recommended 10-40 but it has cut my oil consumption very significantly to about 2500 miles per litre. The Chevron stuff complies with VW spec and you can get it in 20 litre drums from Costco for about £20.

 

Best wishes

 

RB