Hello all,

I have a 2001 103k mile AP1.

I took the car out for an ~300 mile trip this past weekend.
Before I left the oil was half way along the dipstick (3x deep), when I returned it was just above the L.
This suggests to me that the car has consumed 300ml of oil, or approx 100ml of oil per 100 miles.
The driving was enthusiastic and lots of VTEC down back roads, mixed with motorway (highway) driving.
The car has no oil leaks and no blue smoke from the exhaust, although the tips do seem to go black quickly.

I am aware that these cars like to consume oil, especially the early ones, and I have read many of the posts on this forum about oil consumption.
But I just wanted a quick sanity check please as I have not had the car long, this seems like a lot and I want to know if the above is "normal"?

Many thanks in advance.

 

Should be 1 quart every 1000 miles. You're right on the dot, so the oil consumption appears to be normal for an AP1.

 

When you checked it, was the car on a level surface BOTH times, and had you allowed time for all the oil to drip back in the pan?

I have to assume you're doing this with the car turned off...

 

Hi, yeah, its was cold both times and on my level garage floor.

 

Is the oil old, and do you remember what brand/weight?

Did the issue just start, following some event or incident? Or did you just buy this car and you're discovering this?

 

I'm using Mobil Super 3000 5W-40. I've only owned the car for about 2500 miles and it seems to have always been like this during my ownership.

I think perhaps this is just how these early AP1s are? I was aware they burned lots of oil and the other commenter in this thread suggests that 1 quart per 1000 miles is normal?
This is also what I've read, I just wanted a sanity check as it seems like crazy consumption compared to a modern car.

 

Lol...no pretty much all modern cars burn oil by design. Especially a modern car with 103K miles.

There's probably nothing wrong with your car.

You can try changing the oil to something else. Castrol Edge 10W30 or 0W40 seems to slow down my car's oil consumption.

Here is what I would do.

• Change the oil.
• Fill it to the top of the dipstick's X position
• Reset your trip meter to 0
• Drive as you normally would and check your oil frequently
• Once your oil level goes to the lower X's, top the oil off again (likely 1 quart is needed)
• Check how many miles on your trip meter.

1qt per 1K miles isn't abnormal, nor anything to worry about.

 

Mahone,
you can thumb through my post on this, spanned a couple of months. I’m with you, I’m not used to needing to hawk my oil so closely. I’ve considered a catch can, not to stop the oil loss/consumption but, just as another data point. I also noted how sooty the exhaust is, I thought it was from my car running a little rich (cat is faulty and I bypassed the CEL with defouler), but I think it’s more related to burning oil.

if you find any tricks to lower anxiety over the oil loss, be sure to post

Cheers and welcome to the club!

 

A catch can is generally a bad idea. And its not going to do anything for oil consumption.

I wouldn't install one unless I needed to...and was willing to deal with the downsides

 

what downsides?