[dtjohnst]

Seems some people say their H22's burn oil, some say theirs doesn't. When you ask about buying a Prelude, you're always told to make sure it isn't burning oil. I don't think the concern is being 1/2 a quart down between oil changes, it's going through a quart every 500 miles.

I asked this on PP.com but my thread got locked without an answer, so if you're a mod and you're going to lock this, I'd appreciate some direction as to why it's unallowed and how I can find an answer.

I realize there are a dozen reasons why oil can be burning. I'm not here to ask for an e-diagnosis of my engine. I have professionals with the engine in front of them to take care of that.

I'm hoping to either get an answer or generate a discussion on how to fix or prevent the problem on a permanent basis. Is there anything specific that should be done and has been proven to prevent H22's from burining oil? I don't want to rebuild my engine every few years. I'd like to take steps to avoid this. Perhaps changing out certain parts, machining something, some regular maintenance not listed in the manual, anything.

In short, what makes one H22 burn oil and another one not, and how can I make my engine one of the ones that doesn't after it's been rebuild?

 

[N2oH22]

i believe the rings go bad after hard and or a ton of miles if not properly maintained,hell even some well taken care of motors burn oil

 

[98auto]

I find that on my engine, if I dont drive hard (high rpms, high load, and lots of VTEC) it will *only* burn about a quart or two in 6500 miles. When I first got the car, I was playing with it and the first thing I noticed was all the oil spray on the bumper. I checked the oil, and sure enough it was about a quart low, and this was just barely after an oil change. Now, When I do oil changes, I buy enough for the oil change plus 1 quart to add halfway through the 6500 miles...an unfortunate side problem to owning a prelude.

 

[BBYlude]

yes, like stated above, the piston rings wear out. I belive there is a Honda TSB about this. My dealer said that I must burn a quart in 800 miles or less to have my warranty cover the repair. There are updated rings that you can install if you are doing a rebuild or having bottom end work done. Also, some have said that it is the special cylinder wall material that is used :shrug:

 

[LowFlyin']

I haven't seen this option posted for Hondas, but some of the domestic guys around here custom cut their own rings to smaller tolerances than the factory rings. Maybe that could be a solution?

 

[FirFitazLude]

I bought my prelude with 54000 miles on it. It burnt approx 1 quart every 500-600 miles. I just rebuilt my engine completley............. and I mean the only parts I re-used were the block and cylinder head.........burns about 1/2 quart every 600 miles.

 

[dtjohnst]

I bought my prelude with 54000 miles on it. It burnt approx 1 quart every 500-600 miles. I just rebuilt my engine completley............. and I mean the only parts I re-used were the block and cylinder head.........burns about 1/2 quart every 600 miles.

Yeah see, this is EXACTLY what I want to avoid. If I don't go in VTEC, I don't want to burn a drop, like pretty much every other car I've owned. Although to be honest, I'd be happy with 1/2-1 quart between oil changes, although most guys I know manage that and use VTEC all the time.

I take it you used all OEM parts?

 

[alphajesse]

I bought my prelude with 54000 miles on it. It burnt approx 1 quart every 500-600 miles. I just rebuilt my engine completley............. and I mean the only parts I re-used were the block and cylinder head.........burns about 1/2 quart every 600 miles.

Do what I did... get new rings and drop 'em right in. Fixed my issues with the motor in the civic when it was burning a lot. The machine shop had left the cylinder walls a bit too rough and it wore down the first set.

 

[slipknot95758]

i burn 1 qt every 4k or so and i hit vtec ever single day almost every single strat in 1st and second

i got my 4g with a h22 for a reason

 

[98auto]

I bought my prelude with 54000 miles on it. It burnt approx 1 quart every 500-600 miles. I just rebuilt my engine completley............. and I mean the only parts I re-used were the block and cylinder head.........burns about 1/2 quart every 600 miles.

that means you burn about 5 quarts in 6500 miles!! you must have to add a quart of oil every other month??

 

[71dsp]

How does this relate to a stock H22 that burns oil, though? You used Darton sleeves, aftermarket pistons, after market, rings, etc.

I bought my prelude with 54000 miles on it. It burnt approx 1 quart every 500-600 miles. I just rebuilt my engine completley............. and I mean the only parts I re-used were the block and cylinder head.........burns about 1/2 quart every 600 miles.

 

[junkyardninja]

I think the spec from Honda says the car can burn 1 qt in 3000 miles and still be in spec. Obviously, if you're hitting VTEC all the time you can expect to burn more - I think it is designed that way so that the engine doesn't kill itself.

When the car is buring too much oil you may need new piston rings, valve seals, or need remachined valve seats. I'll be getting my car fixed here in a couple weeks. I'll post back about the results then.

 

[98auto]

Mine burns oil but I never see any smoke or anything so for now I think its normal

 

[junkyardninja]

Mine has smoke, but only in the higher revs (toward 5K) or in VTEC. Hence the need for a fix.

 

[Solid]

I figured most of the oil burning was from the PCV system, so a catch can would help prevent that. You would still need to re-add the amount of oil that gets picked up.

 

[Brash22]

As far as I know, the FRM sleeves in the bores don't help the cause. And because the FRM is made in batches, this accounts for some of varience between the cars that use no oil and the ones that use heaps.

Also, I think we lose a bit in blow by as well. Basically when I pulled my stock intake off to fit the Type S, I noticed a small pool of oil in the bottom of the intake just past the throttle body. Presumably this could be fixed with a new set of oil rings.

I've found with mine, If I don't VTEC much the engine uses about 500mL per 5,000km (whatever that is in US measurements, I'm not sure), but if I go for a hard run through the twisties, consumption can go up 1 or 1.5L for the trip.

 

[98auto]

I got paranoid and checked my oil today when the engine was cold. It was below the halfway mark between the two holes but above the bottom hole. I have less than 1,000 miles till and oil change. I have 5,000 miles on this oil quantity. I actually overfill it a bit when I do oil changes, so I guess Ive burnt at least a quart in 5K miles.

 

[dtjohnst]

So, we're seeing the trend I suspected: some burn an abundance of oil, some don't. But it seems no one can nail down exactly why. Which makes me sad. Means it's a crap shoot whether or not it comes back.

I know what my problem is, I know why my engine burns oil. I don't need help with a diagnosis, though I appreciate the suggestions. While the engine is out of the car and their redoing the piston rings, I'm wondering what else might cause problems.

Perhaps I should be more clear on the information I'm looking for. Someone mentioned machined piston rings instead of stock ones. Someone else mentioned FMR sleeves being of low quality and ruining rings. That's what I'm looking for. Perhaps taking a skilled machinist and having him inspect the sleeve to determine if it might wear down rings and replace/machine in so it won't do it again so soon and making smaller rings will help.

If the intake can cause problems, do we know why? Oil seals might help, but why are they flaky on some cars and not others? Is there a difference? A better quality part to use instead?

If I'm going to spend $3k+ ripping my engine out and having it rebuilt, I want to rebuild it right so I can go 250,000-300,000km between complete overhauls instead of the 140,000km I'm sitting at now. A good, solid, properly built engine shouldn't be down to half compression on 2 cylinders and 1/4 compression on another within 140,000km. And since this is a common problem, but not a global problem, how can I put myself into the half that doesn't have this problem? That's the type of information I'm looking for. No offence to people who chimed in, like I said, i appreciate the suggestions, it just doesn't help me since I've isolated where I'm burning oil already.

 

[alphajesse]

FRM is actually a very high-quality material. It is uncommon and difficult to work with, so rebuilt engines often have problems. As for rings, stock rings are the best bet because they are designed to work with the material.

One thing that I have consistently found to improve oil consumption is replacing a worn PCV with a brand new OEM one. Stay away from the FRAM or other replacements. I find that replacing them at about 10k miles makes a big difference on both of my H22s versus replacing them at 15k or more in terms of oil consumption.

One other situation where I was burning excess oil that had an easy fix was using a bottle of Gumout Regane with a fresh tank of gas. I don't drive that car very often, and I had a stuck ring, complete with low compression. I tried some Regane and just before I was about to do something drastic, I checked the compression a 2nd time and it was back up and my oil consumption went down.

Finally, quality of oil is important. I use 10w-30 Redline in both of my H22s, and if there isn't anything else going on (as far as maintenance issues are concerned) this oil burns far less than other brands I've tried (Amsoil Series 2000 0w-30, in particular burned like MAD in my car) and the only one that has come close in performance was Valvoline SynPower 10w-30.

 

[98auto]

where do you buy redline oil and how much is it?