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Using around half a litre of oil a week! Is this normal???

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Old 25 June 2008, 08:11 PM
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scoobyhep
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Default Using around half a litre of oil a week! Is this normal???

Seems rather alot to me.. Been going on for sometime now, but runs ok.

Any thoughts please.
Old 25 June 2008, 08:14 PM
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Tucker82
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I dont think thats normal.... my old calibra used to get through alot.

Valve stem oil seals maybe? Im sure someone will know..
Old 25 June 2008, 08:18 PM
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Hmmm... All the valves were re-seated and the seals changes not all that long ago (12months) when i had it rebult.
Old 25 June 2008, 09:50 PM
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cster
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Mine does that every 10,000 miles, but it takes longer than a week.
Old 25 June 2008, 10:05 PM
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It seems to be running ok... A little smokey once started from cold.

Power maybe a little down..? But then that might just be me thinking that

Can't see much smoke on boost but then its not always that easy to see without risking going into the back of someone!
Old 25 June 2008, 10:13 PM
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Skooby53
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IMHO its too much, if you are getting smoke on start up the it's seeping through the seals. You may be getting smoke under boost, but as you say its not always possible to see. On lifting off the throttle you may also be smoking, after all removing a serious leak from the equation it must be going somewhere. Try and get someone to follow you and report what they see, just remember they are there!
Old 25 June 2008, 10:18 PM
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"Try and get someone to follow you and report what they see, just remember they are there!



I'll give that ago.

I've check for leaks 100's of times and just can't find any.

Thanks guys

Last edited by scoobyhep; 25 June 2008 at 10:24 PM.
Old 25 June 2008, 11:56 PM
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AdamR
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Mine has used about 1/4 pint in 4000 miles!

Possibly rings? Did you run it in properly after the rebuild?

Turbo drinking the oil. My GT4 did that when the turbo was completly knackered.
Valve stem seals. Shouldnt smoke at all on start up!

Just a few ideas to keep you going! Best of luck mate!
Old 26 June 2008, 07:40 AM
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M535I
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my rover coupe used that much when my turbo was starting to go , could only tell in traffic as the turbo dumped loads of oil in the exhaust and smokd me out lol .
Old 26 June 2008, 09:38 AM
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BlooSooby
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Sounds a lot. I'd take off the intercooler to see if you have a lot of oil residue in the turbo outlet pipe, although it's normal to get a little leakage from the TD04.

Failing that i'd get a compression test done to see if it's the rings.

Good luck.
Old 26 June 2008, 04:51 PM
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Thanks guys

Hope its not the rings, I kept below 3k rpm while I ran it in (1000miles ish)

The turbo maybe on its way out, it does smoke when started. Will get someone to follow to check whilst driving. As I said I'm sure its not as punchy on boost as before but may just be used to it

I should see a leak with the amount I'm getting through but have checked everywhere!


Do you need to remove the intercooler completely to check the turbo outlet for oil?
Is this an easy job?

Thanks again
Old 26 June 2008, 05:44 PM
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Originally Posted by scoobyhep
Thanks guys

Hope its not the rings, I kept below 3k rpm while I ran it in (1000miles ish)

The turbo maybe on its way out, it does smoke when started. Will get someone to follow to check whilst driving. As I said I'm sure its not as punchy on boost as before but may just be used to it

I should see a leak with the amount I'm getting through but have checked everywhere!


Do you need to remove the intercooler completely to check the turbo outlet for oil?
Is this an easy job?


Thanks again
doddle
Old 01 July 2008, 09:38 PM
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Hello again

Right.. Have had someone follow me.

No smoke under boost or when my foots taken off.

Smoke on start up untill warm then seems ok, still using more than average oil

Is it still worth removing intercooler and checking for oil there?

Cheers

Last edited by scoobyhep; 01 July 2008 at 09:40 PM.
Old 01 July 2008, 10:02 PM
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macky.d
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seems odd that it is doing it after a rebuild,maybe internal leak so check the coolant for imulsivation (white stuff),could be rings,i would just take it back to whoever rebuilt it mate.
Old 02 July 2008, 01:44 PM
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it thinks it's an RX7 ??
Old 02 July 2008, 01:53 PM
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philhasasti
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did u get forged pistons on the rebuild??
Old 02 July 2008, 06:52 PM
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Yes forged pistons (wiseco)

Say it was piston rings, would it be ok to run as normal as long as oil is kept a close eye on?

The garage insist everything was done right and would probably charge for anymore work. Plus took 6 months to rebuild last time!!!
Old 02 July 2008, 07:00 PM
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Id say its your valve stem seals, mine was the same, just spun a bearing, so gonna rebuild the heads while its all out aswell
Old 03 July 2008, 11:15 AM
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I'd still whip the intercooler off for a quick peep. It should only take you an hour to get it off, have a nose around and get it back on. Just be careful not to drop any nuts/bolts/washers into the engine bay, there's lots of little nooks and crannies down there for things to hide in.....

The only slightly tricky bit with the job is getting the hoses back on when replacing the i/c. Just needs a bit of wiggling......

I'd be surpised if it's your rings or valve seals if you had it rebuild 6 months ago. Has the garage got a good reputation? Why did it takes 6 months to do the rebuild?
Old 03 July 2008, 12:34 PM
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Mainly with it being an import they just could not get any parts anywhere so had to go through me to get anything!!

I've had it back around 9 months with no real problems apart from this one.

I was recomended by a guy on here, they seemed to do everything by the book and showed me most the stuff bit by bit, which was great so did'nt mind waiting so much. But 6 months mainly waiting for parts!.

Still must check that intercooler when I get time. Thanks for all the help

Any more thoughts just let me know
Old 03 July 2008, 01:29 PM
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Originally Posted by scoobyhep
Yes forged pistons (wiseco)

Say it was piston rings, would it be ok to run as normal as long as oil is kept a close eye on?

The garage insist everything was done right and would probably charge for anymore work. Plus took 6 months to rebuild last time!!!
It will use a bit more oil with forged pistons due to increased piston/bore clearance when cold over standard items, but that still sounds excessve.

Have a good word with your engine builder and see if he matched the bores to the pistons. I have had 2 sets of Wiseco's supplied to me, one set were quite good but the other set were all over the place and would cause excessive oil use if i had just put them into nominal size bores.

I presume the pistons are oversize? and he has not just dropped o.e sized Wiseco's into the standard bores?
Old 03 July 2008, 06:30 PM
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Originally Posted by p1mark
It will use a bit more oil with forged pistons due to increased piston/bore clearance when cold over standard items, but that still sounds excessve.

Have a good word with your engine builder and see if he matched the bores to the pistons. I have had 2 sets of Wiseco's supplied to me, one set were quite good but the other set were all over the place and would cause excessive oil use if i had just put them into nominal size bores.

I presume the pistons are oversize? and he has not just dropped o.e sized Wiseco's into the standard bores?
92.5mm oversized Wiseco pistons. The reason for the rebuild was a melted piston so all the bores were rebored out to fit.

Triple layer head gasket, ACL race bearings etc

All the heads were cleaned up etc, although when rebuilding it we did find that one head was solid lifters and the other self ajusting lifters, but they said that should'nt cause any probs??I doubt thats the cause anyway.
Old 03 July 2008, 08:43 PM
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Yes, but did he size each bore to match each piston? As i said the Wiseco's can vary in my experience, enough to cause issues if he has bored to nominal bore size.
Old 03 July 2008, 08:49 PM
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Hmmm not sure, it was sent to another company for reboring.

"Head Racing Developments" in Ely cambridgeshire. Say if they were slightly out... Would this cuase serious problems?
Old 03 July 2008, 10:41 PM
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Did they send the pistons off as well with the block?

Has it used oil at this rate since day one after the rebuild?

As i said, i have measured a set of wiseco's that were diffferent enough from each other (0.08mm or just over 3 thou in old money) that could potentially cause excessive oil useage if they were put into nominal sized bores. The other set i had were only 0.01mm (4 tenths of a thou) different to each other - no problem there.

These pistons were for a bike engine, but out of tolerance pistons are out of tolerance pistons no matter what engine they are for.
Old 03 July 2008, 11:18 PM
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merlin24
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Hopefully the builder sent the pistons with the block to be bored to suit and honed to the correct piston to bore clearance.
Wiseco are quite strict on where the Oil Control expander ring and tabbed side rail are placed on the EJ20/257 piston.
Being a Flat Four design,the Oil Control ring gaps have to be staggered away from the bottom of the piston to prevent oil passing when the engine is stopped /overnight/longer periods of time.
http://www.wiseco.com/PDFs/Manuals/TabbedOilRail.pdf
http://www.wiseco.com/PDFs/Manuals/RingEndGap.pdf
Bit of a concern having two different types of cylinder heads on it - Hydraulic lifters and shim bucket type. Wont effect the oil usage situation provided the valve guides and stem seals are ok but are the combustion chamber volumes the same and are the camshafts a matched set ???

Mick
Old 04 July 2008, 06:31 PM
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macky.d
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Default six bloody months!!

hello again mate
first ,still cant see why it took six months to rebuild even with an import,second if a good garage all work should have a warranty,and third maybe worth getting it on a dyno or even a coppression test just to see what the score is.......still think the garage is to blame!!
good luck mate
Old 09 July 2008, 07:11 PM
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Have'nt got a warranty for the build, in infact I'm still waiting for my receipt for all the work, they knocked some £'s off the TAX etc so said they would get it all typed up and call me.

My gearbox went shortly after and they fitted a new one, but i have'nt payed for that yet as I'm still waiting for the previous receipt from the engine build, so not really talking to them at the moment!

Tricky situation!!!


May get a dyno test done at PTS Luton if i can get in there.
Old 10 July 2008, 08:17 AM
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For the sake of looking into intercooler and pipes my money would be on the Turbo. It sounds like the seals on the turbo, if you look at the plugs they will start to get coated with oil and this will reduce power as you do not have the spark to burn the fuel.

Also when the seals do start to wear the engine burns oil when cold but can appear fine when warm and may only show when you change gear.
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