Back in the 60's I worked on some of the big engines and it was critical to properly hone the cylinders (somehing like a 30 deg. cross hatched pattern, lubricated with kerosene) after boring or when replacing the rings. Otherwise the rings wouldn't find their happy home. I'd suggest going back to regular oil for a while to see if the oil consumption changes. You might start noticing the smoke from the regular oil that might not be so apparent with synthetic oil. Check inside your tail pipe to see if it is some what oily or grimey.

 

castrol syntec 10w-30 full synthetic

more than likely the original owner switched to mobil 1 synthetic too early. hopefully switching to another oil will help you out. getting the compression and leak down test would be good, just to make sure

 

Good advice, i think i will try the dino oil on my next change to see if that remedies any of the oil consumption. Would you recommend sticking with the 10w-30 viscosity for the dino oil or trying something a little thicker?

As for the tail pipe, just checked and it is not oily or grimey, just has a bit of carbon buildup like a normal exhaust pipe should.

 

Cool thanks, i think i'm gonna try the dino oil for my next oil change see if that helps, then when i switch back to synthetic i'll give the castrol stuff a try. Mobil 1 seems to not be working too well for me.

Yeah hopefully all it is was the previous owner switching to synthetic too early.

If switching oils doesn't help i'll go for the compression/leak down tests.

 

When there's time get a friend or wife/gf, to follow you on a clear road. Downshift and accerate away hard, through 6-8k. They should look for blue smoke, or any smoke really. This is free and will indicate if you're burning oil. If that is, IF synthetic oil produces visable smoke??? You might try again after the dyno oil 10w-40 change.

As far as the leakdown test, what do you do if it fails? You're not leaking bad enough to get a miss. And adding a quart of oil every 2 weeks, is cheaper than paying for a rebuild. Did you get any sort of warranty?

Well good luck, and make sure and keep a couple quarts in the truck.

 

I'd do the leakdown first then the oil change instead?

 

Check out Bob Is The Oil Guy Forums. A product that is very popular (that I've used myself) is Auto-Rx. Check out the threads there of all the folks that have used it, and had results reducing oil consumption due to cleaning build-up of contaminants on the rings and allowing them to seal better. Some folks aren't fans of oil additives, but at this point, you're drinking some oil, and might require additional service to fix. Contact the owner, and he might send you a bottle free for your feedback.

 

Maybe it is the synthetic oil that is not producing the visible smoke, so i will try the follow test again to check for smoke once i do a change to dino oil.. that is of course if my gf's lancer can keep up

And no i didn't get any warranty as i bought the car privately and the factory warranty had already expired.

 

babowc, since i don't have the tools to perform a leakdown test and am nearing my next oil change interval i thought it would be easier to try switching the oil first to see if that gives me any sort of improvement.

and s98d7fs , thanks for the link that could be a good idea.. i am hoping simply switching to dino oil will permit my piston rings to seat properly, but if that doesn't work then maybe i could give this additive a try.

Would most agree switching to a dino oil should be my first/easiest step towards finding a solution to this problem?

 

Back up a minute. When reading the dipstick it is supposed to be midway in the "x" area. Not to the top of the "x" area. Sounds like it's being over filled. Double check the owners manual.