AtomicCEO Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 10W40, 10W30, 5W30... What's the W? Whats the 30-40? What do I want to use in an 8 year old sedan that burns off 4 quarts of oil in 2000 miles? Is there some way to prevent burning oil in an old car? It's getting bad, and I always have to add 3-4 quarts between oil changes. If I forget about it, I'm running on zero oil... which I understand is bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furd Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 The numbers refer to viscosity. The number before the "W" is viscosity when cold, the number after is viscosity at operating temperature. If you live in a cold climate, you'll want 5W30. Otherwise, 10W30 is fine. And until you get that engine fixed, by the cheapest oil that you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted May 19, 2007 Author Share Posted May 19, 2007 And until you get that engine fixed, by the cheapest oil that you can. What kind of problems cause oil burnoff? I'm not leaking... I don't have spots in the garage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cre8tiff Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 What kind of problems cause oil burnoff? I'm not leaking... I don't have spots in the garage... Blown head gasket? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrobn26 Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 As far as 10W40 vs 5W40, just check the manual and go by the mfg's recs. 4 quarts in 2K miles is excessive. Even if you owned a 60's Lincoln! They were notorious oil burners. Head gasket, valve guides, and several more could be the cause. 1 quart/ 3K is about normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boat_hacked Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 WHAT CAUSES EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION Oil consumption depends primarily on two things: the valve guides and piston rings. If the valve guides are worn, or if there's too much clearance between the valve stems and guides, or if the valve guide seals are worn, cracked, missing, broken or improperly installed, the engine will suck oil down the guides and into the cylinders. The engine may still have good compression, but will use a lot of oil. Worn valve guides can usually be restored a number of different ways. One popular method machine shops use is to ream out the guides and install thin bronze or cast iron guide liners. Knurling is another procedure that can reduce valve guide clearances. With aluminum heads, the original guides can be driven out and replaced with new ones. With cast iron heads, the guides can be reamed out to accept new valves with oversized stems. If the oil burning is due to worn or broken rings, or wear in the cylinders, the engine will have low compression. The only cure here is to bore or hone the cylinders and replace the worn or broken piston rings Oil burning can also occur if the cylinders in a newly rebuilt engine are not honed properly (too rough or too smooth), or if the rings are installed upside down, twisted onto the pistons, or the end gaps are too large or are not staggered to reduce blowby. HOW TO REDUCE OIL CONSUMPTION There are no "miracle" engine treatments or pills that will stop oil burning. But some crankcase additives can slow oil burning. There are also "high mileage" motor oils that are specially formulated with extra additives to slow oil consumption. Switching to a slightly higher viscosity motor oil (say changing from a 5W-30 to a 10W-30 or a 10W-40) may also help reduce oil consumption. If an engine is using oil because of a leak, the leak must be fixed to stop the loss of oil. Valve cover, timing cover and oil pan gaskets are usually not too difficult to replace, but leaky cranksahft end seals can require a lot of disassembly (particularly the rear main crankshaft oil seal). One alterantive to replacing a leaky gasket or seal is to add some "seal conditioner" to the crankcase, or to switch to a "high mileage" motor oil that contains additional seal conditions. The additives soak into the seals and gaskets, causing them to swell slightly. Hopefully, this will slow or seal the leak. If the engine is using oil because of worn valve guides or valve guide seals, it is possible to replace just the valve guide seals without having to remove the cylinder heads or overhaul the engine. New valve guide seals can drastically reduce oil consumption. I�ve seen engines go from using a quart of oil every 500 miles to using no oil between oil changes (3000 miles)! Replacing the valve stem seals requires a special valve spring compressor to disassemble the valve springs on each cylinder (one at a time). Remove the valve cover and all of the spark plugs. The piston in the first cylinder must then be placed at top dead center. This can be done by rotating the engine with a wrench on the crankshaft pulley until the timing marks line up. If the engine has no timing marks, insert a plastic straw into the cylinder through the spark plug hole so you can feel the piston as it approaches top dead center. The cylinder must then be pressurized with compressed air through the spark plug hole to prevent the valves from dropping down into the cylinder when the valve springs and retainers are removed. Another trick for holding the valves in place is to snake a piece of rope or rubber tubing into the combustion chamber through the spark plug hole when the piston is at top dead center. The rope will fill the void between the piston and valves to hold the valves in place while you change the seals. Be careful, because if a valve accidentally drops down into the cylinder, the cylinder head will have to come off the engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thews40 Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 What kind of problems cause oil burnoff? I'm not leaking... I don't have spots in the garage... It's prolly worn rings. You didn't say how many miles were on it, but seeing that you've run it low on oil before the car is a time bomb. I wouldn't drive it too far, cause if something bad happens it's gonna be bad. You should look into a rebuild or ditch the car for what it's worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted May 19, 2007 Author Share Posted May 19, 2007 Yikes. Looks like I'm due for a service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Holy Roller Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 Put a cup of sawdust in the crankcase and sell that bad boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddy Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 Is there white smoke coming from the exhaust? If so, you've got a blown head gasket. You'd have coolant/water mixing with the oil as well. You've got problems with that engine. It's leaking from somewhere...could be a number of things. Get a mechanic to check it out. Probably looking at a fairly expensive bill since tearing down the engine isn't easy. When you replace it, get Da Vette. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 (edited) Buy generic motor oil by the case at walmart. It will cost you less than $1 a quart. If you drive 12,000 miles per year, you are out $24. Big deal. It's a lot cheaper than fixing the problem or buying a new car. Just make sure to check the oil every time you put gas into it. (I wouldn't drive cross-country in the car, but for an around-the-town vehicle, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Eventually the car is going to die, but you might as well use it for as long as possible (unless you feel like trying to screw somebody over by selling it without revealing that it has this oil-guzzling problem).) Edited May 19, 2007 by wiegie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 egad. Valve seals, rings, head gasket, the possibilities are endless. If you've been running this way for a while I'd say there's lots of bad things happening to that engine. If you want to keep the car then I'd say you want to rebuild the top half. This can get VERY pricey depending on what needs to be done. Time to buy a Vette. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 5w-30 is the oil most used in cars as it covers the temperature range most peeps are exposed to in these parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thews40 Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 egad. Valve seals, rings, head gasket, the possibilities are endless. If you've been running this way for a while I'd say there's lots of bad things happening to that engine. If you want to keep the car then I'd say you want to rebuild the top half. This can get VERY pricey depending on what needs to be done. Time to buy a Vette. good advice here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted May 20, 2007 Author Share Posted May 20, 2007 good advice here Two questions: 1) Are you selling a vette? 2) How many baby seats fit in a vette? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 At last count, I could strap 30 on mah hood. The kids are always begging me to take them back to the Watkins Glen road course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Two questions: 1) Are you selling a vette? 2) How many baby seats fit in a vette? 1) No. 2) Depends on coupe, vert, or Z06. The vert and Z06 have a nice back deck that you could strap 3 or 4 on. For the coupe, I'd just throw the kids in the hatch loose and use the cargo net to hold them in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cre8tiff Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Is there white smoke coming from the exhaust? If so, you've got a blown head gasket. You'd have coolant/water mixing with the oil as well. You've got problems with that engine. It's leaking from somewhere...could be a number of things. Get a mechanic to check it out. Probably looking at a fairly expensive bill since tearing down the engine isn't easy. When you replace it, get Da Vette. I win Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil_gop_liars Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Maybe Atomic can have a wine and fix my car party... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted May 21, 2007 Author Share Posted May 21, 2007 Maybe Atomic can have a wine and fix my car party... I did have a "build my deck" party. Nobody had ANY fun at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 10W40, 10W30, 5W30... What's the W? Whats the 30-40? What do I want to use in an 8 year old sedan that burns off 4 quarts of oil in 2000 miles? Is there some way to prevent burning oil in an old car? It's getting bad, and I always have to add 3-4 quarts between oil changes. If I forget about it, I'm running on zero oil... which I understand is bad. won't work very well as personal lubricant for your "party", if that is what you are asking.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 btw, is this your honda? if so i have to say i'm surprised it is having this type of problem already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 btw, is this your honda? if so i have to say i'm surprised it is having this type of problem already. Honda? I'm not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted May 21, 2007 Author Share Posted May 21, 2007 btw, is this your honda? if so i have to say i'm surprised it is having this type of problem already. Me too. I definitely think it's worth investing some money into. It's only got like 90K on it. I'm tough on cars... but not THAT tough. I've only had it for the last 20K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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