Anyone know how to fix oil burning?

[mwebb]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...bad value stem seals let the engine "suck" oil into the cylinder.

while this is very correct ,
it gets worse .
the leaking valve stem seal on the exhaust valve allows oil to drip down the valve stem , where it gets baked on causing an increase in valve stem OD which leads to the exhaust valve sticking in the exhaust valve guide which ends with catastrophic engine failure , when Mr Piston slams into Mr stuck open exhaust valve .

i have found
most / all owners of older hondas that require valve adjustments as part of normal service ,
never ever perform valve adjustments and most do not even know that such a thing exists - ?
i have seen many a honda engine that needs a valve job because of lack of proper maintenance -

when you do get around to performing your valve adjustments
grab the upper spring plate and wiggle it , when that cylinder is at TDC ,
there should be no perceptible wiggle IF the valve guides are still good ,

when you get the cyl head back from the machine shop , before you pay for the repair , wiggle the upper spring plate on all the exhaust valves , if they wiggle .
the machine shop did not replace the valve guides -
punish them accordingly .

the vacuum gauge is your friend it will reveal engine problems and it is easy to use and easy to connect and cheap , works on any engine .

[oil pan 4]

I wouldn't put much faith on curing most of the problem with just a valve seal replacement.

[EdKiefer]

1 qt of oil a day is a lot, I doubt it only rings as that much oil usage would be clouds of blue smoke on acceleration (under load) . Bad valve guides seals tend to leak at high vacuum (when you lift throttle) .
With Honda's I bet it more valve guide/seals , though I bet rings have wear too .
It is not true though that valve seals always goes into combustion, it is true on intake, but exhaust guides and seals can leak right out into exhaust system too.

[brucepick]

Latest post by RandomFact314, the original poster, was Nov. 1, 2011.

Might make sense to see if he's still following this thread. Not much sense in suggesting every possible analysis if OP has "left the building". IMHO.

[godscountry]

constant blue smoke at any speed is most likely rings,smoke when stopping at a light[motor is at max vacuum] and part throttle is valve guides and or valve stem seals.You get a big puff of smoke off idle and then it clears up as you come up to cruise speed.Have someone to a leak down test of the cylinders to see where the problem is,don't guess,it can be costly.

[JasonG]

Originally Posted by brucepick

Latest post by RandomFact314, the original poster, was Nov. 1, 2011.

Might make sense to see if he's still following this thread. Not much sense in suggesting every possible analysis if OP has "left the building". IMHO.

You do realize today is only 6 days later?

Between work, family, yard house, I understand the delay.
Maybe he worked on it some this weekend and will post tonight after working, cleaning house and tucking in the young-un

Also takes time to get $$ for a mechanic to do a proper leakdown test.

[E4ODnut]

A few years ago I bought a high mileage Sprint 1 L 3 cyl. It ran well and had good compression, no smoke, great fuel economy. It didn't take long for me to realize that it was burning about 1 L of oil every 400 KM, but yet no smoke. I was surprised. I tried every snake oil trick in the book to cure the problem. No joy. After about a year of this it started to lose power so something had to be done. I posted my problem to the specific forum and one of the Gurus responded with the opinion that because it was a high mileage city driven car with questionable maintenance it was very possible that the oil control rings were gummed up. After time the increasing oil consumption would have elevated combustion temperatures enough to damage the exhaust valves (hence the loss in power). "New exhaust valves and a set of rings is the only cure" he stated.

He was dead right.

I did an in frame. Cylinder bores measured to factory spec, as did the crank journals. Rings and valves only. 50,000 KM later, about 7000 km before necessary to add oil, but I don't, I just change it.

I realize that it's not a Honda, but I suspect that this is what you may have to do.