The oil light was flickering so I got it checked out and the Oil Sending Unit was replaced. today, (3 weeks later) my light was flickering and the oil was 2 and a half quarts low....2 AND A HALF QUARTS!! there is no oil spot under my car where i park it, i'm pretty sure smoke isn't coming out of my tail pipe. I would like to get a few opinions on what the problem is and what I should do...it's really hard to find a good mechanic that will give me an honest answer where I live too.

 

you might have this prob http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/514

 

Also change your PCV valve.

 

I burn a qt ~1000mi. I think it's normal. I run my car hard...redline every day. 22mpg.

Jae

 

My car does the same thing. No leak, no smoke... I just keep adding a quart of oil every 10 to 15 days. I'm pretty sure I know why mine is losing oil though. We'll just call it expensive learning.

First question: Did you check the oil level right after the work was done on your car? You need to know that the service person did not under fill it when he or she worked on it.
Second question: How many miles have you driven in those 3 weeks?
Third question: How many miles are on your motor?

If you really are losing oil that quickly and you are not leaking on the ground you do not need to worry about a leaky switch or a stuck PCV valve. I'm pretty sure that when PCV valves stick they cause pressures to build up in the crankcase and associated cavities that carry oil... this in turn will cause oil to push through the gaskets. In either case, you would have seen oil on the spot where you park and the underside of the car would probably be really messy and dripping with oil.

For your sake, I hope you do not have what I have and your machanic just did not put enough oil in your car 3 weeks ago.

But no matter what, you need to check your oil at least once a week until this is figured out.

D

 

I am adding a quart about every 4 days :-/ I have also not seen a spot. Also oil gathers in my MEVI chamber and when I have not used it in a while and I get on it I get a puff od smoke when the MEVI opens. any thoughts on this? flawless performance.

 

Add me to the list. Mine used about 5-6qt during a 3500mi span. I started using Lucas oil stabilizer (1qt during the oil change)and it cut it down to just over 3qt. No spots, and I haven't noticed smoke.

 

First of all, I'm sorry bud.

The only way to get oil into the intake that I know of is for one or more of the intake valves to not seat properly. Not having a good seal between the head and the valve will cause a condition some people call "Blow By". During the compression stroke when the intake valves are closed, contents of the cylinder cavity are pushed back into the intake.

The causes of this are usually worn or craked valve guides, carbon deposits on valves and/or seats, burnt valves.

How to fix: generally a "valve job" is required.

Now if the contents contain oil, you'll get oil in the intake. But this leads us to another problem as well. The seal between the oil ring(s) on the piston(s) and the cylinder wall are out of spec on one or more cylinders. This means that the clearance between the rings and the block is to large. This is allowing oil to seep into the top side of the cylinder(s).

The causes of this are usually cracked, diplaced or burnt rings on pistons. Also excessive scoring on cylinder walls could cause this.

How to fix: Generally a rebuild is about all you can do. You can try to use the additives that claim to remedy this situation but I know nothing about them or what they would do in the VQ.

This is my exact same problem. No fun to think about but I get in and drive and I can't believe my car is burning oil. It runs too strong to be worn that badly... so I think at least. But the dipstick does not lie.

I'm almost certain that the pooling of oil in your VI is the cause of the puff of smoke you get when it opens up. My speculation is that the oil will collect and fill the low areas of the VI while driving normally. Then, under hard acceleration, G forces pull the oil to different areas of the VI and the door opens... swoosh, you just got a shot of oil in through the intake giving you the puff of smoke.

As for me, I don't have a VI (though I WISH I did), so I don't have this problem, but I plan to drive this motor into the ground and rebuild another inthe meantime. I mean I hate driving an oil burner, but it pulls SOOO nice in the 1/4 mile that I just don't care enough to tear it apart yet.

Yeah this was long winded, I know. My apologies.

D

 

Actually, the problem first occured 2 months ago when I purchased the car. I changed the oil and it was fine for 2 weeks, I then did a search and figured it was the Oil Pressure sending unit. It was then fine until last night. I watch them put in enough oil or I do it myself, I'm just wondering where in hell it's all going!!

I have driven roughly 2000 miles in the last 3 weeks.
I have 107,xxx on my motor.

I would like to thank everyone for their sound advice. I had no idea that adding oil was this common!!! I mean especially for a car like the Max...hopefully I can find an easy/cheap solution.

 

Oil in the VI is a very common thing. everyones does it for some reason. if any VI owners don't believe me then go pop off your VI cover and take a looksee. I am not too worried about this anyway though. Car runs flawlessly, idles like a champ, and is running mid
14's with only minor mods. On a side note, anyone that has their VQ
rebuilt for any reason other than to build the motor, is loco. They are too inexpensive to rebuild. You jsut buy a new one. I have found a VQ with 16K miles on it that I am buying for $450. This has always been my plan due to the fact that I am about to boost. So don't cry for me :-) Also I have a very hard time believing that my car posesses
and of the problems you listed. If it did I would notice something. Rough Idle, smoke during normal driving something. It is much more likely that the cheap *** autozone PCV valve is stuck open. I guess I need to check that. But I have no plans on any expensive maintainence on this car. It gets me where I need to go(knocks on wood) and it is soon to have a powerplant transplant.

 

yeah..same symptoms here.... i hope i'm not burning oil. I'll change the oil pressure switch and then hope it solves the problem. Also the PCV valve as well.