watchdogd

Last week I heard a light clicking noise when I would give the car some gas after sitting idle. At first I thought it was the TCT but it was long after the engine had warmed up. I pulled the dipstick and found the oil to be considerably below the X marks. After taking it in for an oil change Honda found that it was nearly 2 quarts low. It was about 3900 miles since the last oil change.

The noise has disappeared I am not sure if any damage has been done or if there is any problem with engine internally. I pulled one of the plugs this morning and have attached a pic. The tip is somewhat white which I hear can result from running hot.

I asked if it was possible that last time they changed the oil maybe the tech didnt fill it all the way. They said highly unlikely which I agree but figured its not necessarily out of the question.

There are no oil leaks, and the car is bone dry and looks very clean under the hood. Nothing is coming out of the tail pipe and the motor feels normal.

Does the plug look normal or is there any indication that something internally is wrong with the Motor ?







Sorry about the crappy picture my camera sucks

Thanks

adrs2k

What brand and weight of oil are you running? 2 quarts of oil does not just disappear. The plugs are not as tan as I would like to see, but they do not look "bad". Even when I ran Mobil 1 which my old S2000 would burn I would never ever ever go through 2 quarts of oil, even after canyon runs and track days. Not sure how hard you drive your car, but it is very doubtful that the car would burn that much.

I am sure you checked and have never seen a puddle on the ground? NO leaks from oil filter? I will have to say, this is another reason to not let a dealership touch your car because you really do not have any idea who or how your oil change was done. Sure an oil change is pretty basic but its now a variable that you can not rule out of the equation. I take my Accord and Jeep to get oil changes done at Goodyear Service center, but I always check the oil the next morning just to be sure it was filled up.


Just to put oil burning into perspective my last track day I started with the oil level perfectly sitting at the full line. After 4-20 min sessions and blowing smoke (as seen in pics I posted) thru 2 turns lap after lap, and I actually have some oil spots sitting in my tail pipes at the moment I only burned enough oil to drop the engines level to the first X below the full line. So even though I smoked and def burned what looked like a lot of oil, I really did not burn much at all. SO we are talking a very minimal amount.

berny2435

Or you can run into the case like I did and they extremely overfill the transmission oil... . I'm still not happy about that.

running 2 quarts low can make the engine run hotter b/c there is less oil to absorb the heat. The worse thing that can happen is if you were cornering hard and the oil sump sucked up air and some bearings went without oil for a short period of time. Some motors can run that low. I've seen a D16 run with 2 quarts before and it was fine somehow, someway.

Only way to really know if you did damage is to check bearings and cam surfaces visually and or with a profilometer. Of course loud noises can tell a story as well. If you drained the oil into a clean container, you can send an oil sample out to lab to analyze. They can tell you a little story.

watchdogd

I've been going to Tempe Honda for nearly the life of the car(6 years this month ). I believe they use the Penzoil Synthetic 5w30 and the same mechanic has worked on the car for about the same length of time as I have owned it. Since the car has the extended warranty I just do everything there and they have always been really good with service and all warranty claims.

I agree the oil doesn't just disappear and no matter how improbable maybe a mistake was made filling the oil last time. There is not one drip under the car, the engine and engine bay for that matter are both bone dry. They examined the car for nearly two hours yesterday including the oil change, test drive etc. and found nothing.

The clicking noise is entirely gone and the advisor mentioned something about low oil causing that which makes sense. I just want to know where all the oil went, assuming it was there in the first place

adrs2k

I really don't know how they would have made the mistake and left out 2 quarts, but it seems more probable that they messed up then the car burned or leaked it. You would have noticed smoke, and or seen puddles drips which you have not.

When my '04 had a TCT that was slowly going bad I could always tell when my oil level dropped to a certain point because the engine would tick. I would hear the tick, check the oil, and sure enough needed to add some. That was with Mobil 1 which my '04 would burn. I went to Valvoline 10w-30 synthetic and have never burned a drop in the 04 and in my 08, even after hard driving or long trips.

berny2435

Dissapearing oil? Hmm.

Do you engine brake often? as in downshift gears and coast to a stop?

Have you checked if the PCV valve is working properly?

RMurphy

I realize this is after the fact now, but it is not a good idea to go 3900 miles without checking your oil. Not checking it unless it's making a funny noise is also bad. Get in the habit of checking your oil at regular intervals so that you know right away when there is a problem. The owner's manual says something like every tank of fuel. I check mine once a month since it's only a weekend car for me. I also check it every day for the first two to three days after I have the oil changed. People make mistakes. Leaks can happen. It's easy to just check.

Do not knowingly drive a car that's 2 quarts low, not even to the dealership. Top it off first. Did you cause permanent damage? Don't know. But it's not a good idea.

Mine doesn't burn any oil, but I've heard reports of others burning a quart between changes with the car otherwise being completely fine.

Good luck. I hope it was just an anomaly.

Posted via mobile. sorry about any typos. :-( dyac.com is like my life story.

watchdogd

Ah yes I do downshift very often. And I agree with the other reply I should have been more proactive in checking the oil. I knew it was low the night before I took it to the shop but didn't realize it was 2 quarts low until they told me. I suppose maybe I should have towed it just to be safe.

How can I check PCV Valve ?

Boofster

I think spark plugs look fine.

<insert bit about doing your own oil change here>

Maybe look out for white smoke behind your car?

berny2435

Excessive downshifting and engine braking can cause a little extra oil loss through the PCV lines. essentially when the throttle body is closed, the engine creates a large vacuum force on the PCV line. This in return can suck more oil through the system.

But if you normally do this shifting, then you should normally see the oil loss if everything else if fine. If you did some track days durring this oil change, then that can also help explain the oil loss but you would have known if you had excessive consumption. Someone probably would have said something.

you should be able to do a search on s2ki forum how to test the PCV valve. Basically you just want to make sure it's not always open/stuck open. If it is stuck, you can try cleaning it or replace it.