Hey all,

Hate that I even need to post this. I've owned many ap1s and know you have to check oil frequently because they burn oil. I change oil every 3,000 miles, "usually.
So now I was 1200 miles overdue for oil change because I went on a long trip.

My vtec started lagging three days ago and when this happens I know it's usually due to low oil. In the past I had a b16 vtec was engaging like shit, turns out I was really low on oil, once oil was added it was fine. Anyway, two days ago my car started having a weird funny noise, it sounded like a raspy sound or exhaust leak. I thought it was exhaust for sure. Anyway finally after being a bad owner I went and checked my oil today. None on dipstick. I add one quart, nothing really on dip stick. Add a second quart a little registers on dipstick, add a THIRD quart and it filled it just under the full line. After I added the oil the raspy noise went away and car is running fine. Feels like normal sounds like normal.

Should I be worried or did I dodge a bullet? I know that I should probably be checking my oil every time I fill up and I will from now on. Is it just a waiting game to see what happens now?

 

OUCH!

What model year do you have? How many miles on the engine? You could do a compression and leak-down test to see if the engine has some compression ring or valve issues.

 

Comp and leakdown wont tell you the condition of your rod and main bearings, which will have suffered the most in this scenario. Without a doubt you added premature wear to the parts in your engine, its a guessing game to see what may fail first and when. Hope you will be lucky and be ok for a good wile. Check your oil level with every gas fill up religiously! This will give you a good indication of usage also. I have had engines in this car that have used oil and some really none at all, but I always check and keep topped off. Never let it get more then a half quart shy. Letting it go further runs the risk of starvation if you drive the car hard, and the lower the oil gets, the quicker it burns through it.

 

I agree that a strip down of the engine to inspect the bearing surfaces is prolly what is needed. In lieu of that, he could run a compression/leak-down since that doesn't require taking the engine apart. Only find if lack of oil caused ring, cylinder, and/or valve damage.

Prolly the best thing to do is drain oil & have it analyzed. Remove oil pan and inspect the lower end for damage.

Yeah... no easy answers here. Sorry.

 

Yikes! Yeah my guess is this one will come back to bite you. I am interested to know the outcome though, so please update. Also a UOA would be interesting just to see the wear metals although with all of that new oil it may not be obvious.

 

It is my daily, and it's still running just fine so I would hate to tear it apart while its still functioning. Can you guys recommend somewhere I can get the oil tested? I'm doing an oil change today, so i'll be able to send off a sample somewhere. I was really shocked to find out that it got that low. I've only owned the car for 6 months so I never noticed it burned that much oil, but I also usually am very religious when it comes to oil change intervals.

My AP1 is a 2002 and has 62k miles (all stock), relatively low miles for the year. I've owned 5 ap1's and some have burned hella oil and others didn't. The car seems to be running fine, maybe I should trade it in while I still have the chance.

 

I've also read I can remove the vtec solenoid to see if there's metal shavings inside, I'm going to try this right now. Everyone I read who had metal shavings in their solenoid screen, their motor was blown by then, it was too late. I guess I can use it as a gauge to see how much damage was actually done. I'll be sending the oil out today for the analysis, as I just changed the oil. Car runs great though no abnormal uses and feels just like before, but now with more paranoia.

 

If I find minimal shavings, do I clean it out, drive it and just pray it lasts a long time? I understand I prohably took some life off the car, but I'm making a 1,000mile road trip in a few days and don't want to get stranded :-/

 

Send it in to Blackstone, you can call and request bottles to send it in.

I think if it were me I would just drive the thing until you have any indication that you may have done catastrophic damage and deal with it then. Really all you can do.

 

Go to the Blackstone website and get them to send you some free bottles. Mine came in 3 days. Take a sample of your oil, ship it back to them and then cross your fingers. I don't think anybody does this service, I think you have to do it yourself - this way. You could also go to O'Reileys auto parts and get a WIX oil analysis sample bottle. You pay for it there and the shipping but it's all included so they send you the analysis whenever it's ready (usually 4-6 weeks I think)