Where does the oil go?

[AZmike]

I finally got my engine to stop leaking oil (rear main, valve cover, distributor o-ring) so I figured I'd put in a new PCV valve since I hadn't put one in during the last 28k that I have driven this car. After prying all the little pieces of the old brittle valve out of the hose I put the new one in. It seemed a little loose but I didn't worry about it. Since then I have driven about 500 highway miles. I checked my oil level and it had gone down about a half quart. I haven't had any oil problems like this before. Is there any chance that these two things could be related, or was it just coincidence? It doesn't seem to make sense, but the only thing I have changed since I noticed this was that little $3 valve.

If the engine is burning the oil, has anyone had any luck with those oil additives? I don't get any blue smoke, so if it is burning it's not burning fast. I think I remember reading something about putting brake fluid in the oil a few miles before the next change to help the valve seals. Does that work?

Thanks for any ideas

[cruznz]

brake fluid!!!!!!!....neva heard of that being used.......in my old HQ Holden....cause we dont have lead in our petrol....i just used 2 stroke oil...worked fine

[anchovies]

For whtever reason this thread is like dejavu. I think someone posted the same question b4
Maybe oil is leaking through there, but I don't see how.

[dosh8er]

DON'T put brake fluid in your gasoline/petrol/fuel/whatever.

That's not good.. brake fluid is only meant for hydralic brake systems, it might do some serious damage. (just a reminder, ever see what brake fluid does to the paint on the car ?!? My point exactly)

[AZmike]

This is what I was referring to:

Originally posted by shepherd79
sound like your valve seals are going dead. to make them a little soft. putt about 5-10oz of brake fluid before you change your oil. run it for a few minutes and it should do the trick.
in thread #5220

Lots of stuff will damage paint. Brake fluid doesn't harm the caliper piston for example. PSF will do the same thing to your paint and it doesn't hurt the pump or lines. I'm not planning to do it, I was just curious if anyone had heard about it. It doesn't sound like it.

I did a few searches and didn't dig anything up. It's hard to search when the words have to be more than 3 letter (can't use 'PCV' or 'oil').

Any other suggestions?

[oldsub86]

Brake fluid has been used successfully to swell the seals in an automatic transmission that is slipping. I don't see why it wouldn't help the valve seals too. A bit of a gamble but the car is old and if you don't want to do the job right, then you may be prepared to take the chance and give it a try.

I am not sure what else is in brake fluid but I think it is basically a light oil. I think it has something to resist the absorption of water but I don't know what else - maybe corrosion inhibitors too.

The pcv might permit oil to be sucked through and burned. I know that with my old Suburban I once let the pcv remain on top and not plugged into the valve cover. The result was that it sucked engine oil into the air cleaner and ruined the filter. I am not sure of the layout on your engine but is the hose routing such that it could be pulling oil by the pcv into the engine intake and burning it?

Randy

[89AccordNate]

With a name like Randy, he probably knows right since he probably has a mullet! And mullet guys know their motors!

Nate.

[Grant2k]

i remember hearing something about brake fluid in oil one time. i don't remember for what.

anyway, since you are losing oil, have you looked under the car after you park? you may have something leaking like your filter or drain plug that you didn't think of.

[BLck89accord]

:lol :lol :lol that was a good one Nate.

[oldsub86]

How do you know I even have any hair? ( I do admit that based on what I have read here, I assume I am older than most of you bunch by quite a bit.) Sorry - no Mullet

Have a look at this from a Celica list. http://www.y8s.com/celica/air-oil/

Randy

[89AccordNate]

Damn, that response was to nice......I cant make anything out of that, sorry guys.

Im working on growing a mullet.

Nate.

[AZmike]

Originally posted by Grant2k
i remember hearing something about brake fluid in oil one time. i don't remember for what.

anyway, since you are losing oil, have you looked under the car after you park? you may have something leaking like your filter or drain plug that you didn't think of.

I know I have no leaks. I can park for a day or two without a drop.

[Neuspeed87lx]

i didnt read threw everything but when your checking the oil level you arent checking it right after you drove the car are you ?

[dosh8er]

check your coolant color?!? maybe that's a weird looking crappy mixture of oil and coolant.. head gasket.

I had a friend w/ a crappy ol' pontiac grand prix... thing went through oil like a quart every 800-1000 miles. or less. he didn't have blue smoke billowing out the back either.

[AZmike]

I checked the oil level a minimum of 3 hours after driving a couple of times.

I always keep an eye on my coolant. It's still nice and green--definitely not a bad head gasket.

Randy, the assembly at http://www.y8s.com/celica/air-oil/ goes between the crankcase and the intake, right? I took a good look at an Accord at the junkyard today and it looks like there already is a chamber like that just below the PCV valve. Would it help if I stuffed the empty stock chamber with the plastic netting as shown on the website?

[rocky2]

I think that would be good (homemade seperator) when you engine is dieing and you wantto squezze the last miles out of it. although I suggest on the return line back to valve cover to put a loop in it sort of a drain-back setup'.
Maybe try some of that motor oil for high mileage engines or straight 30w with some STP could also help out. 5w in a high miler will burn up without a trace on plugs.

[Greg]

What the hell is this air-oil separator for? I just can't figure it out. Is it like a replacement for the PCV that is supposed to have a flame-trap design (isn't that what they call the ventilation system on some of those European cars??? Don't know much 'bout it).

How do you rig the thing?

But with the oil problem... Man, you could have a leak somewhere that loses oil but doesn't necessarily leave PUDDLES all the time. If you lost a drip-drip every once in a while out of the corner of the oil pan gasket or somewhere else, you wouldn't necessarily see drops on the floor.

You should jack your car up and look underneath carefully w/ a flashlight. Are you SURE it's not leaking here and there?

I gotta say that after I replaced my PCV and breather filter (I think EFI doesn't have the breather filter) on my carbed accord, I lost like 1 gallon of oil within a few weeks. Then I got really worried, topped it off, and checked it again after like 1000 miles. It was still up at max...???

I have no idea why... Maybe the PCV had to break-in or something. I know it makes no sense.

If I was you, I'd top it off, check it on LEVEL ground like a parking lot (most streets here slope downward toward the curb for water drainage -- don't know about where you live but I'm guessing they do over there too), make sure it's full, and then check again in 500 miles.

Maybe you changed your oil at the same time but didn't check to see that it was up at max after you ran the car and your oil filter sucked some down???

If I was you, I'd monitor it for a while to be sure before I started doing some drastic mods or dumping brake fluid in there!!!

-Greg

[oldsub86]

Hey Mike

I don't know a lot about the air/oil separator. I just happened to see it on another site about the same time as your post and thought it was interesting. I assume it is intended to act somewhat like the pcv and prevent oil being sucked into the intake. I also don't quite know how it might fit into a Honda system. I did not go out and look under the hood of our Accord.

Randy

[AZmike]

I've been watching the oil level very carefully and it hasn't moved any recently. I do check that I'm on a level surface first. My steret happen to be nice and flat: good for checking oil, bad when it rains. I guess it might be a PCV valve break-in sort of like Greg's experience.

I wasn't planning on doing anything drastic right away, even if it was actually burning the oil (it was still pretty slow). I was curious if anyone had something similar happen.

I am certain that I'm not leaking the oil. I've spent the past several months replacing leaky seals one by one until I could park it, let it sit for a few days, then jack it up and find no oil anywhere it shouldn't be.

Thanks for the advice guys. Hopefully no more oil 'disappears'.