Author Topic: Oil Consumption is getting ridiculous (Read 5102 times)

gnavs · « **on:** October 21, 2008, 10:31:22 am »

Things are getting worse with my 97 AAZ. I seems like I'm putting nearly a litre of oil in every couple fillups. I didn't find any oil in the intake and it doesn't physically leak on the ground. My inclination is the piston rings are worn and leaking.
Does anyone know what the price of a rebuild like this would typically be or if its safe enough for a semi-noob to attempt?

the caveman · « **Reply #1 on:** October 21, 2008, 11:08:07 am »

Could be your turbo. pull off the intake at the turbo housing and check if there is ton of play at the impeller shaft. small play is okay,more than a couple of mm's means time for $$$

gnavs · « **Reply #2 on:** October 21, 2008, 11:12:41 am »

Quote from: "the caveman"

time for $$$

I figured this much either way

I'll look into that today, thanks

jtanguay · « **Reply #3 on:** October 21, 2008, 01:08:11 pm »

in the interim you can do the following to reduce oil consumption.

NO:
1. hard accelerations-consume oil, especially on a worn engine
2. loading the engine when it will not go any faster (upshift! or ease off)
3. driving hard while motor is cold

you can still drive when the motor is cold, just be gentle, with rpm's at 2000-2500. when black smoke is coming out the back, most likely it is accompanied by some of your motor oil, unless you use a good synthetic oil.

what kind of oil are you running? i tried wynn's stop leak and it reduced my oil consumption to about nil in my old jetta. come winter time though it would not turn over @ -25C :shock: :lol: then again, it had new rings put in and they were still breaking in though... and if you do decide to use one of those stop leak products, remember that it thickens the oil up pretty good, so you MUST give the motor a chance to warm up when cold. let it idle for a good minute or so before driving off so the oil gets to where its needed.

BlackTieTD · « **Reply #4 on:** October 21, 2008, 02:24:41 pm »

take off the oil fill cap when its at operating temp. oil smoke may puff out there if the rings are badly worn.

gnavs · « **Reply #5 on:** October 21, 2008, 03:15:42 pm »

I've been using LubroMoly 15W40 diesel motor oil for a while now. Its not cheap so it must be good

Thanks for the help guys, I'll look into all this when i get home from work.

Smokey Eddy · « **Reply #6 on:** October 21, 2008, 04:21:19 pm »

Quote from: "BlackTieTD"

take off the oil fill cap when its at operating temp. oil smoke may puff out there if the rings are badly worn.

there will always be "some" however... pointing the issue back towards the turbo again - if you dont find a horrendous amount of oil puffing out of there

jtanguay · « **Reply #7 on:** October 21, 2008, 04:27:59 pm »

i would hope that his turbo would be okay using a high grade oil like lubro moly... otherwise it's not good publicity for it :lol:

i noticed a huge drop in oil consumption just in the way i drive. referring to my post above. of course new rings really make a big difference, but not when you're breaking them in.

this being a '97 car i'm assuming it has EGR, and i'm also assuming that the EGR is coating your intake pretty good at this point... for now i would at least disconnect the vacuum line to reduce the gunk. have you noticed a drop in performance???