I hate cars

It's better if he is armed with info when he takes it in. If he knows a few cylinders are burning oil or low compression or all are perfect the mechanic will have a hard time trying to lie especially if the mechanic doesn't know about any previous tests.

edgarr

Yea, thanks alot everyone I need to know as much as I can so I can figure this out.

edgarr

Yea, that is why I'm here asking you guys. I don't know shit about engines so I wanted to get other people opinons so I could figure this out.

edgarr

Still havent been able to get the car checked, I'm trying to do everything next weekend.

edgarr

Hey, I know I was supposed to report back but I just been busy,thought about selling the car but decided not to. I talked to a few mechanics about my issues with the car they all said that they will have to take it apart to find out the problem. I will be getting my spark plugs changed , getting a compression test and new oil change also the mechanic I'm with now said to seafom the engine and it will clean out the motor. This will be done either this Saturday or the next.

My question is should I do a seafom? some people say it's good some say it's bad. I will be doing this in this two weeks for sure, the car feels like shit when I drive it, I get a little of shacking on the pedals specially on second gear when I'm underload.

Also does any store carry that redline oil? I think I wanna change to a thicker oil.

rkan121

I had an 04 TSX w 50k miles and it burned 1 quart every 1000 miles. I fought with Acura corp and lost after a long battle. I ended up trading the car in to a dealer. Do the leak down and compression and check PVC. But ultimately you might want to consider other options , like selling or trading ,if this problem really bothers you. How much is a TL engine.....2000+$$. I would not even consider that an option given your mileage. However it is your car and if you plan on keeping it you have a big decision to make.

roof2006

None of that stuff will fix your oil consumption issue. The compression test can at least help diagnose the problem.

edgarr

thats what i told my mechanic but he said it wasnt necessary because my spark plugs werent misfiring. i just looked up what a compression test does i guess ill go somewhere else where they know what they are doing.

thanks.

edgarr

thanks man. i dont want to sell the car but it looks like thats what im gonna have to do. did you ever find out what the problem was?

I hate cars

Pull the plugs yourself. If they are black you're burning oil. If not you're leaking oil. You can post pictures of the plugs and we'll help you with the diagnosis.

I hate cars

If you're in SoCal or Central Cal, Ill diagnose it for free.

edgarr

Oh man thanks alot but im in new Hampshire. I got the plugs changed yesterday and they were fine. I will be getting the compression test next week, I got recommend a good place and I'll be calling them Monday.

edgarr

All the spark plugs were a little light brown and the top but that's it. He Show me one was loose but it looked normal too.

I hate cars

If the plugs look ok, you're not burning oil. No need for a compression test. Worst case you have bad exhaust valve seals leaking oil into the exhaust ports which will cause smoke out of the exhaust sometimes but the engine is not burning it internally.

I would go back to chasing leaks. Do you happen to have a picture of one of these plugs and how many miles did they have on them when you checked them? Did you happen to take a picture of any of them. Mine have always looked like a brand new plug except for the outer diameter where there's just a little carbon. The white ceramic insulator looks about the same as a new plug.

You can do a compression check, it won't hurt anything but the plugs will show if it's burning oil. You can also have good compression and still burn oil while you can have bad compression and burn no oil.

It's always possible you had a mis shift somewhere in the car's life where the exhaust valves just barely smacked the pistons which over time can wear out the valve guides and cause oil to get past the valve seals and into the exhaust ports. It's a long shot but you never know.

I went back and read through this and noticed you said there was carbon on the dipstick. Is this at the handle on the outside or underneath, where it's sealed in the valve cover? I wouldn't give up on this thing just yet.

While I don't suggest Redline due to it's price and the rate your car is burning oil, you can try a 10w-30 (Amsoil ACD is an EXCELLENT oil that fits this bill and it's cheap for a true synthetic) or a 15w-40 (summer only) just to see if it slows the consumption down. No 5w-30 or 0w-30 or 0w-40, etc.

edgarr

i had one plug that i was gonna take with me but i forgot it over there. i called to see if they had thrown them out yet but no one picked up.
we did find that i had a leak coming from the transmission, one of the seals that connects to the axle. we check for more but nothing unless he got confused. what color is the gm fluid? cuz at first it looked like oil.
the carbon was on the outside handle of the dipstick nothing underneath.

if its the exhaust valves like you say i would have to replace the whole motor?

Thanks for the help.

edgarr

hey, i hate cars, can i get an answer on the exhaust valves? havent gotten around to go get the compression test cuz im short on money but hopefully next week.

im really thinking about selling the car but i cant afford buying a type s.

how long you think the car would last without fixing anything? it its the valves how long you think i colud keep driving the car for?

also i noticed im low on coolant, i shouldnt be losing any coolant specially when i got the timing belt done just 6 months ago. could this be related to the car burning oil?

thanks

I hate cars

If its exhaust valve seals you can run it like that forever as long as you keep the oil level up. It will eventually ruin one or both catalytic converters. The fix is to pull the heads off and have new guides/seals installed.

I'm still thinking its something else. How low on coolant was it.

edgarr

sorry for the super late response.ok, i changed out the pvc valve, the oil to amsoil 10w 30. i asked for the 15w 40 like you recommended but the guy said that was for diesel engines. i also put in something to prevent the car for burning oil ( forgot the name) . so lest hope for the best and it was the pvc valve the problem.

i have also asked different people about my issue and most of the tell me its the piston bearrings.

I hate cars

You shouldn't have added any additives. The stop leak/burning additives are usually a blob of viscosity index improvers which you don't want in your engine.

The guy selling the oil is an idiot. Also there's no piston bearings but piston rings can cause oil burning and that's what most people automatically say. I hope the thicker oil and PCV valve help but I'm still not convinced its burning oil.

Is it using coolant or was it just low the one time?

edgarr

yea, i feel too that i shoundnt have put the additive in. after the next oil change it will all come out right? the coolant was a one time thing but i will keep an eye on it. thanks

roof2006

I just changed the oil in my Pontiac 400 with 15w40; and every brand I saw does indeed say "for diesel engines only." I had to work hard to ignore the "don't do it!" voice in my head.

I vote against using such a heavy oil in your Acura engine - particularly since you don't yet know what the problem is.

Wacker

Before I built the motor in my old celica, it burned oil pretty bad. I ran rotella 15w 40 in it. It worked great!!

tallenintegsys

My '11 TSX (6 speed man) has burnt oil since new. You can see my service records here http://myacurasucks.com Please spare me the insulting maintenance questions, our '03 MDX has 190K so we do our maintenance. Honda is not standing behind these cars. They have already lost a class action to the tune of 1.6 million cars but that is worded so they don't have to do anything unless you are burning more than a quart of oil per 1000 miles. THIS IS NOT NORMAL AND DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU IT IS (Excessive Oil Consumption Isn't Normal - Consumer Reports) I do hope you'll forgive the tone of this I'm very frustrated.