hey guys long time lurker first time poster.

I have a 2001 s2000 with just over 50,000 miles on it.

My problem is that it burns through an entire quart of oil about every 500 miles! And this is under moderate driving conditions, with occassional VTEC usage..I am by no means driving the car excessively hard.

The car has done this since i purchased it about 8 months ago, and i have put around 10,000 miles on it.

The car has always run on mobil 1 fully synthetic 10w-30 oil, and the previous owner i bought it off of (who was the original owner) indicated to me that he has always used this same oil in the car since it was very new. (I am not sure the exact mileage when he began using synthetic)

The car runs and performs just fine, but the large oil usage is a concern for me.

I know these cars are supposed to use a bit of oil but i'd like to know does my car have a serious problem or could it be that i just have a very thirsty motor???

please help!

 

Bad rings?
Valve seals?

 

How can i test for this? I'll admit I am not very mechanically inclined..

If this were the case would the car suffer in performance or would something seem wrong? The only symptom i seem to have is the oil consumption..

 

Hm.. I'm not very familiar with S2000, but an engine is an engine..
I work on my own Nissan, but to check for a bad valve seal or bad piston ring, you need to get a leakdown tester.

Most shops can do it for you, if you don't have the equipment. You need to have at least an air compressor

 

Have you had your compression checked? A leakdown test? Have you had your valves adjusted. If everything is in spec, then it's time to switch to a thicker oil, Mobil 1 is a very thin 10w 40

 

No i have never had a compression or leakdown test..is this something the dealer can perform for me? Anybody know approximate cost?

And no i have not yet had my valves adjusted..i thought i read in the manual that they don't need to be adjusted until something like 100,000 miles?

And yes i have always used the 10w-30 viscosity..maybe a thicker one like you said would cut down the consumption a bit, but in this extreme of a consumption rate i am not sure just how much it would help..

 

and if something were to be wrong, such as a bad piston ring or valve seal, am i damaging the car further by driving it?

I just thought if there was such a problem like this i would notice it in the performance of the car..but i have driven other s2k's and they feel the same as mine.

 

Couple basic things. Is it leaking or burning? Is there a oil puddle in the drive? No, Run the car in the drive for 10 minutes on the driveway, is there a puddle now? (Some oil leaks only occur when the car is running.)

For Burning, does the car put out blue smoke? At idle? Under load? You may need someone to follow and watch you for this, but at a quart every 500 miles, there should be blue smoke.

At 50,000 miles, the car has either been abused, or it has a leak. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a leaky oil filter or drain plug. Get the oil changed if you haven't already.

 

If it were a leaking pan plug or filter, it seems that this would have been fixed during a routine oil change. Does that car have any problems passing emissions (presuming you have to) Does is smoke just after you start it after it's been sitting a while? It may not be easy to fix but should be easy to diagnose. Oil can only go 2 places: onto the ground or out of the tail-pipe.

 

It is definitely not leaking. It has idled for several minutes in my garage and on the driveway and i have never found a drop of oil on either surface.

I also wondered if it was smoking while i was driving and have looked into it. There is absolutely no blue smoke at idle or while driving..i have gone on group drives with friends and nobody was able to notice anything.

As for the leaky oil filter and drain plug, i can safely rule that out. I get the oil changed religiously every 4000 miles at the honda dealer, and the car has been consuming the same amount of oil since i took ownership (over 10,000 miles ago).

Thanks for the tips though..i am not sure how the car was treated in its past, but for what it's worth i did buy it off the original owner who was a man in his 40's who seemed pretty anal about it (all service records, etc).

So if the car was abused in the past, would a bad piston ring or valve seal be the likely culprit of this oil consumption? Are either expensive to replace?