oil consumption

[87SIA20A3T]

as the title implies, my car (87 prelude si-A20A3) consumes some oil. Some boob of a mechanic did a compression test, but he crossthreaded one of the spark plug threads, though he said it did fine compression wise. I think it is the valve seats that are worn out and leaking it, would I be assuming correctly? has anyone else had this problem? I just found it odd being that a-series are known for never dieing, and i do the regular maintenance on it and what not.

Also, how do you clear a check engine light after you fix the problem?

Thanks for the help!

[2oodoor]

Valve Seals not necessarily seats, would cause excessive oil consumption. Although you can get a lot of fuel contamination in the oil with poorly seating valves, which in turn will damage the rings and bearings if the oil condtion is not maintained.
If you park on concrete also observe if you are leaking any. These motors are notorious for getting oil leaks, minor issues where rubber has turned hard and cracked.

A20xx are not supernatural they can develop the same issues as any other, but they are tough:D

unhook the battery for several seconds and reconnect, that should clear your codes.

[87SIA20A3T]

The car also has a odd vibration at high speeds, though that might be one of the tires not being properly balanced. So what your saying is that it could be the valve seals, which intern if left unchecked, lets gas and oil mix causing the oil to not be the proper viscousity and killing a bearing of sorts?

[2oodoor]

The car also has a odd vibration at high speeds, though that might be one of the tires not being properly balanced. So what your saying is that it could be the valve seals, which intern if left unchecked, lets gas and oil mix causing the oil to not be the proper viscousity and killing a bearing of sorts?

not so much viscousity as lubricity :D also causes sludge, varnish, blah blah blah.
Another fact of life of an aluminum head motor is you will eventually have head gasket problems. It is par for the course. And when that happens you take off the head and have it checked, have the valves lapped back into their seats, and replace the valve seals. Then motor on another 100,000 miles. My guess would be that a majority of these motors that are in the junkers were blown head gaskets, and contaminated oil and oil leaking out problems .. not that those three issures are related but could be under circumstances, it happens and people that don't do thier own work will not shell out the money to fix them.
With the price of fuel now days, I have a feeling you will see more people dragging these junkers out and fixing them though.

[87SIA20A3T]

well, I am at 145,000 right now, And my oil usually is very dark, even after I change it (like when i check it at 1,000 miles)could the gas mixing in be the reason it does this?

[2oodoor]

wow that is really low miles for an 87- sounds awesome
The pvc may not be working right, and yes the oil sounds like it is getting thrashed too fast. I have had motors that would do that but eventually start getting clear oil on the stick after three or four oil changes using castrol gtx. It took about 9 -12 months of daily driving to get clean doing that.

[cygnus x-1]

If it consumes oil the valve seals are likely bad. Does it smoke when first started up? I mean blue smoke, not just the typical white smoke you get when it's cold. Could also be the PCV valve.

C|

[Dr_Snooz]

unhook the battery for several seconds and reconnect, that should clear your codes.

Actually, you reset the ECU by removing the #11 CLOCK fuse under the hood for 10 seconds. It's a little easier than disconnecting the battery.