Burnin lots of oil

[silvertdi]

My rabbit is burning lots of oil. About 1 - 2 quarts per tank of fuel.  How can I tell if its the valve stem seals or the rings?  I don't see any abnormal blue smoke while driving which would be the rings, and I don't see abnormal blue smoke while the engine warms up.

[Doug]

The miracle of modern engine oil is that it burns with low smoke produced. But first are you sure that it is not leaking somewhere? That is a lot of oil to be consuming. If it is going through the combustion process then I would suggest that the motor will need everything to get it back to "normal". Have you tried disconnecting the crankcase breather from the intake manifold to see just how much blowby pressure is present? It is amazing that it hasn't run away on you yet using the lubricating oil as fuel.

[jtanguay]

what year of rabbit? i'm assuming it is not turbo?  how many km's/miles on the motor?

i'd have to go with Doug on this one... it's probably a leak.  when i changed my oil cooler i didn't replace the o-ring despite it having a tear.. i thought to myself that it would be okay (ask the driveway and parking spots if it was okay though  :oops:  :lol:) because i had to get it running as it was my only day off.  i just recently changed it and guess what? no more oil leaks, and i don't need to top off my oil as often!

my oil consumption is also directly related to my driving habits/style.  if i drive gingerly, i can consume little if any oil.  if i drive hard, well you get the picture.  sometimes the temperatures inside these motors are high enough to burn the oil pretty cleanly (assuming that it is turbo)

[silvertdi]

Its an 81 non turbo with 100,000 miles (so the odometer claims).  I park the car in my garage and have not found any oil spots on the floor.  I did have a leaking injector which dripped diesel on the floor, but that's another story.  I have not pulled the hose off that connects to the airbox.  I'm sure it would blow pretty hard.  When I take the oil filler cap off or pull the dipstick out while running it blows pretty good.  If it were to run off on my what could I do to stop it?  I plan on getting through another year with this motor, find a TD and drop that in.

[Doug]

For runaway, just leave it in gear then apply the brakes to stall the engine with the clutch engaged. The brakes have more than enough energy absorbing ability to stop the engine dead in its mounts.

[akrallysport]

Mine needs 1L/1500 km or about 1qt/1000 miles because I know that the valvecover gasket is leaking down the backside. As others have indicated, with that consumption rate due to rings or valve guides the engine would've runaway by now. Brakes are enough to shut it down... I've stalled during an emergency stop because I didn't hit the clutch fast enough.

Mind you, my valvecover leak doesn't drip on the ground either...

[Doug]

Venting the crankcase blowby to atmosphere will help to prevent runaway while you comtemplate your options continuing to use the vehicle. My 1.6 used close to 6 litres of oil over 1500 km of highway travel last winter with no undue problems before it was rebuilt. Mind you it was important to watch the temperature guage and check the oil closely for sufficient on the dipstick with frequent stops.

[jtanguay]

i find that my oil consumption is directly related to my driving style... harder you push the engine, the more oil it will burn.  black smoke out the tailpipe = high egt's and combustion temps = lots of oil burning.

try taking it easy on the car and you might see a drop in oil burning.  what kind of oil are you running? dino burns soooooo quickly.

[silvertdi]

Thanks for the info, guys.  Right now I'm using Rotella T 15W-40. As soon as the temperature drops I'll switch to sythetic 5W-40.  I put injectors in and took off the plastic part of the airbox to work unimpeeded.  I did notice a little oil on the back of the head and tightened the valve cover down.  I really hope that is the problem.  As far as runaway...what exactly is it caused by?  Pooling of oil in the intake manifold that gets sucked into the engine?  There is a little oil in the intake manifold, nothing that a paper towel couldn't take care of.  Would a "shotgun bore brush" placed in the valve cover breather help condense the oil vapor and return it to the crankcase?

[jtanguay]

Thanks for the info, guys.  Right now I'm using Rotella T 15W-40. As soon as the temperature drops I'll switch to sythetic 5W-40.  I put injectors in and took off the plastic part of the airbox to work unimpeeded.  I did notice a little oil on the back of the head and tightened the valve cover down.  I really hope that is the problem.  As far as runaway...what exactly is it caused by?  Pooling of oil in the intake manifold that gets sucked into the engine?  There is a little oil in the intake manifold, nothing that a paper towel couldn't take care of.  Would a "shotgun bore brush" placed in the valve cover breather help condense the oil vapor and return it to the crankcase?

rotella is a really good dino oil brand.  it doesn't burn as much like other dino oils.  running synth is a good idea in the cold.  puts less stress on starter and engine components, but is thinner and therefore may leak more if there was already an oil leak before.

valve cover gaskets aren't too expensive i don't think.  cheap insurance if you ask me  :wink:

[saurkraut]

If your air cleaner is not soaked in oil, you probably have the normal amount of blow by.  A "little" amount of oil in the bottom airbox is normal.

So, you probably have a leak.  Try changing over to the rubber valve cover gasket and see if that cures your ills.  Also look at both pressure switches ( one on the oil filter flange, one on the trans side of the head ) and see if they are leaking.  Check the bottom of the bell housing, and the bottom of the timing belt cover.  If its leaking in either of those two places, the crank seals are going.  For a band aide, kluge repaire of the crank seals, try a splash of automatic transmission seal conditioner in the oil.  Might give you a temporary reprive from a crank seal change.

[silvertdi]

Thanks saurkraut.  I will do that.