Honda Car Forum

I have a 97 Accord with 125K
After driving from Michigan to California recently, my mechanic told
me I may be burning oil. He couldnt find any oil leaks, so he
speculated that my crosscountry road trip, at speeds averaging 70-80
MPH could be the reason.
After he did the oil change, I then just drove from California to
Austin, TX
I checked the oil and its down to the lower notch (barely acceptable
level).
It should take about 1/4-1/2 quart to get it in the middle of the
notches.
It seems extreme that I would "loose" 1/2qt of oil in only 2000 miles.
Could I be burning it? There is no blue smoke or smell coming out.
Any ideas? Thanks

Loosing 1/2 L of engine oil after driving 3000 KM over some of the hottest
terrain in the country seems very acceptable. If you would have done the
same drive, but in colder climate, oil consumption probably would have
been negligible.

Pars

Joe Blo wrote:

> I have a 97 Accord with 125K
> After driving from Michigan to California recently, my mechanic told
> me I may be burning oil. He couldnt find any oil leaks, so he
> speculated that my crosscountry road trip, at speeds averaging 70-80
> MPH could be the reason.
> After he did the oil change, I then just drove from California to
> Austin, TX
> I checked the oil and its down to the lower notch (barely acceptable
> level).
> It should take about 1/4-1/2 quart to get it in the middle of the
> notches.
> It seems extreme that I would "loose" 1/2qt of oil in only 2000 miles.
> Could I be burning it? There is no blue smoke or smell coming out.
> Any ideas? Thanks

"Joe Blo" <techman41973@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:e8fde247.0405221415.6f6c86c3@posting.google.c om...
> I have a 97 Accord with 125K
> After driving from Michigan to California recently, my mechanic told
> me I may be burning oil. He couldnt find any oil leaks, so he
> speculated that my crosscountry road trip, at speeds averaging 70-80
> MPH could be the reason.
> After he did the oil change, I then just drove from California to
> Austin, TX
> I checked the oil and its down to the lower notch (barely acceptable
> level).
> It should take about 1/4-1/2 quart to get it in the middle of the
> notches.
> It seems extreme that I would "loose" 1/2qt of oil in only 2000 miles.
> Could I be burning it? There is no blue smoke or smell coming out.
> Any ideas? Thanks

yup. its possible- probable, even. saturn and VW say its normal for their
cars to burn a quart every 1000 miles foor a car off the showroom floor.

id keep an eye on it, and maybe try either a thicker viscosity, a synthetic,
or a "high mileage" oil.

personally, if youre using 5w30 regular, id switch to 10w30 mobil1.

"Joe Blo" <techman41973@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:e8fde247.0405221415.6f6c86c3@posting.google.c om...
> I have a 97 Accord with 125K
> After driving from Michigan to California recently, my mechanic told
> me I may be burning oil. He couldnt find any oil leaks, so he
> speculated that my crosscountry road trip, at speeds averaging 70-80
> MPH could be the reason.
> After he did the oil change, I then just drove from California to
> Austin, TX
> I checked the oil and its down to the lower notch (barely acceptable
> level).
> It should take about 1/4-1/2 quart to get it in the middle of the
> notches.
> It seems extreme that I would "loose" 1/2qt of oil in only 2000 miles.
> Could I be burning it? There is no blue smoke or smell coming out.
> Any ideas? Thanks

yup. its possible- probable, even. saturn and VW say its normal for their
cars to burn a quart every 1000 miles foor a car off the showroom floor.

id keep an eye on it, and maybe try either a thicker viscosity, a synthetic,
or a "high mileage" oil.

personally, if youre using 5w30 regular, id switch to 10w30 mobil1.

Joe Blo wrote:
> I have a 97 Accord with 125K
> After driving from Michigan to California recently, my mechanic told
> me I may be burning oil. He couldnt find any oil leaks, so he
> speculated that my crosscountry road trip, at speeds averaging 70-80
> MPH could be the reason.
> After he did the oil change, I then just drove from California to
> Austin, TX
> I checked the oil and its down to the lower notch (barely acceptable
> level).
> It should take about 1/4-1/2 quart to get it in the middle of the
> notches.
> It seems extreme that I would "loose" 1/2qt of oil in only 2000 miles.
> Could I be burning it? There is no blue smoke or smell coming out.
> Any ideas? Thanks

++++++++++++++++++++++

Just as a further precaution, check when your PCV was last swapped.

'Curly'

--

On 22 May 2004 15:15:02 -0700, techman41973@yahoo.com (Joe Blo) wrote:

>I have a 97 Accord with 125K
>After driving from Michigan to California recently, my mechanic told
>me I may be burning oil. He couldnt find any oil leaks, so he
>speculated that my crosscountry road trip, at speeds averaging 70-80
>MPH could be the reason.
>After he did the oil change, I then just drove from California to
>Austin, TX
>I checked the oil and its down to the lower notch (barely acceptable
>level).
>It should take about 1/4-1/2 quart to get it in the middle of the
>notches.
>It seems extreme that I would "loose" 1/2qt of oil in only 2000 miles.
>Could I be burning it? There is no blue smoke or smell coming out.
>Any ideas? Thanks

Even with a new car, any mfr will tell you that 1qt/1000miles is acceptable
and will not take it as a warranty issue. At 125K miles, I'd say 1/2qt in
2000 miles is nothing to worry about but I'd throw a new PCV valve on
anyway just to see if it makes a difference - it'll take you all of 5mins
to do it yourself. I also think it's better to fill to just below the
upper mark on the dipstick.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com (George*Macdonald) wrote:

>Even with a new car, any mfr will tell you
>that 1qt/1000miles is acceptable and
>will not take it as a warranty issue.

I certainly hope that's a typo.

No its not a typo and Ford issued a bulletin stating the exact same thing
back in 96 before I left the business.

CaptainKrunch


"ravelation" <ravelation@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:22612-40B0B7BC-42@storefull-3273.bay.webtv.net...

fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com (George Macdonald) wrote:

>Even with a new car, any mfr will tell you
>that 1qt/1000miles is acceptable and
>will not take it as a warranty issue.

I certainly hope that's a typo.

On Sun, 23 May 2004 16:09:56 -0700, "CaptainKrunch"
<nobody@nothing.com> wrote:

>No its not a typo and Ford issued a bulletin stating the exact same thing
>back in 96 before I left the business.
>
>CaptainKrunch
>
>
>"ravelation" <ravelation@webtv.net> wrote in message
>news:22612-40B0B7BC-42@storefull-3273.bay.webtv.net...
>
>fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com (George Macdonald) wrote:
>
>>Even with a new car, any mfr will tell you
> >that 1qt/1000miles is acceptable and
> >will not take it as a warranty issue.
>
>I certainly hope that's a typo.

Some may be 1qt/2000 mi, but 1/1000 is typical to get a warranty
repair.

For a high speed trip in a car with 125K on it, I wouldn't be
concerned about 0.5 or even 1 qt/2000 miles. Just accept that it
needs a little closer attention now that it has some miles on it.

On Sun, 23 May 2004 07:39:56 -0700, ravelation@webtv.net (ravelation)
wrote:

>
>fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com (George*Macdonald) wrote:
>
>>Even with a new car, any mfr will tell you
> >that 1qt/1000miles is acceptable and
> >will not take it as a warranty issue.
>
>I certainly hope that's a typo.

If you mean it should have been 10000, no. If you check at Google for
Prelude posts by O.Phooey on his little saga with engine replacement and
oil consumption, that's basically what he was told.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??