I had trouble with the car a few weeks back having a cel flashing. I pulled the codes and it showed misfiring on cylinders 1 2 and 4. I check spark plugs and found out that spark plug number 4 was covered in oil. I was worried but then decided to do the valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals. I also put a new pcv valve and iridium platinum spark plugs since it has 78k miles. Compression showed 215 220 220 220. Car has been good for a week now(400 miles) with no more cel flashing light. I was driving last night and my oil light flashed for a split second. It was like going to illuminate but didn't. I quickly shut the car down and checked my oil which sadly it was 3 quarts low. I added it and drove home. Car is now put away and I will not be using it until I figure out what damage I may have caused. Car is running good with no weird noises or smoke. I don't know how I manage to forget about my oil with over 4 years of ownership. I guess it might have been burning a little more than usual. It would burn 1 quart every 1000 miles and maybe more of I drove it hard ( which I never do by the way). What should I begin with so I can salvage my car as this car has gone through a lot with me. I'm not gonna give up on it like many other owners have.

 

I would drain the oil completely and look for signs of wear. Next step may be to pull the oil pan and valve cover and inspect. I would wait to hear from more experienced members. If you were driving the car lightly, there is a slight chance that no damage was done.

 

man 1 qrt per 1k miles?! thats a lot no? i mean given our cars will burn oil from time to time, i think my car loses some oil through blow by as well. but ive never been more than half a quart low. do you see any leaks anywhere? are you getting blue smoke? bring it over to billman or ask him what can be done as preventative measures. i feel you on not giving up on the s2k. i just did so much maintenance and i have a laundry list still. GL keep us posted

 

The light comes on when pressure drops to 10 psi or less. If you weren't driving really hard and you weren't in any high G cornering situations your engine might be saved. I would dump the oil and have a look for any shiny metallic particles and refill with new oil, if you want more peace of mind send out a sample of the used oil for analysis and have the wear metals analyzed. In many situations seeing the oil light is a sign of engine death, but in some conditions like light street driving and low cornering situations you may have been spared. What you describe can happen to many owners of these vehicles, keep the oil filled and check your levels more frequently, if you truly have been spared you won't get a second chance if it happens again. Good luck.

 

Car has burned this much ever since I purchased it and that's when it has 55k miles. I'm going to get an oil change this weekend and inspect the car. Should compression and leak down test tell me more than I already know? Billman sounds like the right answer. I'm gonna use my other car from now on until I fix this car. Sometimes I want a divorce from my car : /

 

I was at 3k rpms. I don't go over 4k in this car unless I'm on the highway and that's rare.

 

I would suspect the light flickerd due to being low on oil. You changed plugs, oil and cylinder psi seems good. I would drive the car keep an eye on things and by all means get in the vtec rpm 5k rpm is nothing for this car. I hit vtec every time I drive my car once warm. I drive on freeway crusing at 4 to 4500 just letting the engine sing so smooth that is crusing rpm. I suspect you are fine. Good luck and have fun!

 

I am pretty sure my original motor died from oil starvation. The damage was done at some point in the past, but it only became apparent at a later time and quite unexpectedly.

I get my used oil analyzed on a yearly basis and I did see a spike I lead wear just before the motor decided to puke, then it died with no warning. Your oil consumption isn't too high, everyone would like to have lower consumption but these cars do consume oil. Sometimes a change in oil brand can affect consumption levels. I know what you mean about divorcing your car, having a blown engine makes that even worse

 

yeah the oil light might have flashed due to the severely low oil level. luckily you werent pushing the car hard when that happened. check your oil level at every fill up. it takes 2 seconds and can save you headache/time/money in the future. i would still have billman look it over and maybe correct any issue that may be associated with your loss of oil.