Oil usage --- HELP !!!

[stewardc]

had the 1.6 turbodiesel (Garrett T3) rebuilt in my 1981 Caddy pickup. It sounds good, has great power, etc., but, at present (5000km on rebuild) it is using a liter of oil every 400km (240 miles). There are no obvious leaks, so where do I start looking for this extreme usage?

[greggearhead]

5000km on rebuild is still pretty fresh - you are using non-synthetic oil to seat the rings, yes?  Don't know if it still holds true, but I have seen new engines that never broke in with synthetic glaze the bores or whatever happened that didn't allow them to seat, even after using dinosaur oil later.

[stewardc]

I started on Dino - switched to synthetic, then back to dino. Here's hoping :cry:

[zyewdall]

I broke mine in on pure synthetic, driving the hell out of it (i.e. trying to keep up with traffic flow and such...   .  NA 1.6 diesel, but should be similar to the turbo.  It doesn't seem to be burning any.  Might check valve guides?  My friend's rabbit has good compression, but burns a quart ever 250 miles from bad valve guides).

[fspGTD]

Moved to troubleshooting.  IDI Engine is for power enhancement related discussion only.

[stewardc]

I have been keeping accurate records, and here's what I found. Short hauls of an hour or less give 1200km per liter. Long hauls to Fredericton (4 hours on divided highway) give 400km per liter.
I'm thinking it may be a PCV line suction issue. I changed to a smaller diameter hose-see below (this might increase the velocity???) Perhaps this could be corrected by putting on a larger hose with a pot scrubber in the end. Anyhoo, I'm also looking for a PCV oil separator now, if anyone knows of a good one?

[stewardc]

I changed the PCV hose to a larger one and installed a baffle material. The hose is now clear, but absolutely no difference in oil usage. 400km on the last liter of oil and it now has abour 9000km on the engine. I'm baffled.
If the valve seals were bad, would it use this kind of oil??? After all, the engine sat for 7-8 years after being rebuilt.

[jtanguay]

I changed the PCV hose to a larger one and installed a baffle material. The hose is now clear, but absolutely no difference in oil usage. 400km on the last liter of oil and it now has abour 9000km on the engine. I'm baffled.
If the valve seals were bad, would it use this kind of oil??? After all, the engine sat for 7-8 years after being rebuilt.

was it broken in after rebuild???

[stewardc]

It was rebuilt, then sat with no usage for a number of years. I only started driving it for the first time on April 1 of this year. From the first day till now, nothing has changed. I'd think that with 9000 km on the rebuild, oil usage would be improving.

[addautomotive]

You noticing much smoke?

What about your turbo? I was using 1 liter per 1500kms, then swapped in a good used t3 and now I'm using 1 liter every 2-3000 kms, depending on how hard I drive.

[stewardc]

You noticing much smoke?

What about your turbo? I was using 1 liter per 1500kms, then swapped in a good used t3 and now I'm using 1 liter every 2-3000 kms, depending on how hard I drive.

No great amount of smoke...mostly black when pushed. The turbo was not rebuilt, but seemed good and tight at the time of install.

[jtanguay]

did the engine sit with dino oil in it? did you change oil before starting it back up? The engine has 9000k on it now, so 5000k was done right after rebuild?

[stewardc]

0 miles right after rebuild. 9000 since getting it our in April. It sat with dino oil in it...not changed till it had about 3000km on it.

[jtanguay]

well if the car sat for 4-5 years with dino in it, and no oilchange before driving 3000km, then that could be a problem

[stewardc]

How?