1997 Es300 Consumes Engine Oil Too Fast

[Wudaye]

It consumes like 1 quater/200miles. I took the car to a shop and they replace my valve gasket but nothing changed.

Any one gotta any idea?

Thanks

[fordsvtmfl]

is it burning the oil?

[Wudaye]

is it burning the oil?

How to tell? I definitely see very black exhaust at times I start up the car.

[Lexusfreak]

Miles on the car? No oil leaks present?

[Wudaye]

Miles on the car? No oil leaks present?

Mileage 175k. Just got a call from a car shop. They said the leak is from Rear main oil seal or bearing seal. And they ask for the price of 1,100 to fix that. Is it really that expensive to fix that?

Thanks

[blk_on_blk]

If you're losing a quart every two hundred miles and it's coming out the rear main seal, you'd have one heck of a mess on your hands as well as under the vehicle. The rear main seals rarely ever really leak to the point they drip... usually they just weep as they get old and one can see trace residues of the leakage... definitely doesn't account to a quart/200 miles. I wouldn't replace the rear main seal unless you had the vehicle apart for something else (like tranny work or something).

It sounds like you are burning the oil, if it matches up with miles driven. Leaks don't match mileage, unless you drive the same amount within the same driving time. Leaks just... well, 'leak' and dribble out the lost oil whether driving or not, especially if they are below the oil reservoir level.

If you're getting blue smoke on start-up (black smoke usually means you're running rich), that's burnt oil. You could have worn valve guides and/or leaky valve seals, or you could be getting blow by from your rings (a sticky oil ring if it's not a compression ring). You can probably put in a bottle of no-smoke and see if that helps your problem. If you consume less oil with the No-Smoke and the smoke goes away, then more than likely you're burning the oil. Here's the link for the product: http://www.bardahl-ap.com/oil-additives.php ...by the way, this is just a temporary fix. If you do have worn guides/seals/rings, then only an overhaul will help, the No-Smoke will band-aid it for some time, but never fix it.

Also, check your engine for signs of sludge... smoke is often a side-effect of a sludging engine, which these engines have been known for.

[spalkin]

That's an incredible amount of oil. You'll be looking for a giant leak that's impossible to miss or you're burning it. If you're burning it, that's valve stem seals. Could be rings, but doubt it. Worn valve stem seals are the absolute best way to get oil into combustion chambers short of piping it directly in. Not a terrible job if you know what you're doing. Expensive if you don't.

Check and change out your PCV Valve. If it's clogged or stuck, oil gets blown past the rings and you can lose lots of oil that way.

[George_Jetson]

That's an incredible amount of oil. You'll be looking for a giant leak that's impossible to miss or you're burning it. If you're burning it, that's valve stem seals. Could be rings, but doubt it. Worn valve stem seals are the absolute best way to get oil into combustion chambers short of piping it directly in. Not a terrible job if you know what you're doing. Expensive if you don't.

Check and change out your PCV Valve. If it's clogged or stuck, oil gets blown past the rings and you can lose lots of oil that way.

I would definatly recomend checking the PCV valve, and make sure that the rubber grommet that holds the PCV valve into the valve cover is in good shape. The gromet on my car had dried out and cracked, which allowed the oil to be drawn into the intake maniflod. The shop that replaced our valve cover gaskets should have caught this one, but then again if the valve cover gaskets were leaking that bad you would have noticed a real mess under the car and you would have smelled the oil burning on the headers.

[Wudaye]

If you're losing a quart every two hundred miles and it's coming out the rear main seal, you'd have one heck of a mess on your hands as well as under the vehicle. The rear main seals rarely ever really leak to the point they drip... usually they just weep as they get old and one can see trace residues of the leakage... definitely doesn't account to a quart/200 miles. I wouldn't replace the rear main seal unless you had the vehicle apart for something else (like tranny work or something).

It sounds like you are burning the oil, if it matches up with miles driven. Leaks don't match mileage, unless you drive the same amount within the same driving time. Leaks just... well, 'leak' and dribble out the lost oil whether driving or not, especially if they are below the oil reservoir level.

If you're getting blue smoke on start-up (black smoke usually means you're running rich), that's burnt oil. You could have worn valve guides and/or leaky valve seals, or you could be getting blow by from your rings (a sticky oil ring if it's not a compression ring). You can probably put in a bottle of no-smoke and see if that helps your problem. If you consume less oil with the No-Smoke and the smoke goes away, then more than likely you're burning the oil. Here's the link for the product: http://www.bardahl-ap.com/oil-additives.php ...by the way, this is just a temporary fix. If you do have worn guides/seals/rings, then only an overhaul will help, the No-Smoke will band-aid it for some time, but never fix it.

Also, check your engine for signs of sludge... smoke is often a side-effect of a sludging engine, which these engines have been known for.

Yes, it matches up with miles driven, not related to the time going by.

One question is that, before I took my car to the shop for Valve Cover Gasket changing, my car can run 600 miles/quarter oil for about 1 year. But right after they did their job, it came into 200 miles/quarter. Did they do something bad to my car? I don't think it can change so fast for no reason.

Now I am 90 percent sure it is burning oil. The thing is I have not done any mechanic job myself yet. it is that possible for me to check worn valve guides or leaking valve seals?

Thanks a lot for you guys' help. I really learnt a lot.