Ecotec burns oil, no smoke

[greenacc]

My ecotec has always burned oil since i got it. The usage is slowly going up and now uses about 500ml a month. engine has done 236,000 k's. Doesn't blow smoke that i can see. Some of the plugs are black when i change em, and 1 or 2 grow a lump on the side of the bent electrode.
Is there any way i can tell if it is the stem seals or somethig else, rings?
if its the seals what are the best ones to use ? thanks for any help.

[hako]

My opinion only but I wouldn't worry. Look at it as extra lubrication for the rings. Oil is cheap - 500ml costs about $4 for top quality oil whilst a set of seals will cost about $50 plus the hassle of installing them....and if you get a mechanic to do it for you figure on about $400.
Valve stem seals will cause smoke after being parked for some time or prolonged idling but only for 3 or 4 seconds whilst rings will blow smoke if you bring the revs up to about 1500 and hold it there for a minute or so and will continue to blow smoke till you drop the revs.
Another test for worn rings or a worn bore is to remove the oil filler cap whilst the engine is hot and idling and if air is pumped out of the hole it indicates that there is excessive 'blow-by' from worn rings.

[vshilux]

mine uses more than that ! but it is in a 4x4 hilux Surf
an gets hammerd every weekend!
around 200 000 kls its done

[GTP 85]

use thicker oil? could have an oil leak somewhere? mine loses a fraction between services, but i know its from the back of the sump

[ScoHar]

use thicker oil? could have an oil leak somewhere? mine loses a fraction between services, but i know its from the back of the sump

I'd prob say you've got an oil leak somewhere, the underneath of holdens seem to have many areas it fills before it starts leaking over your drive, especially if you drive down dusty roads

[DannyboyDS]

Hako that information is gold, cheers.

[greenacc]

Dam thread digger ... at least its my own thread tho lol, haha.

just got home from a 3 hour drive and took the filler cap off to check for hot air. There was almost no hot air at all coming out the hole. At most there was a babies breath.
Does that mean its definately, or at least most likely to be the valve stem seals ? I have renewed interest in solving this problem since i checked the oil level recently and had to add 1.5 litres to bring it back up to full. Thats a bit too much consumption for my liking ...

[Jase_81]

if your doing excessive kms you will use oil. motors are meant to burn oil if your giving it a hard time it will use more.

[greenacc]

I wish you were right Jase but i don't really give it a hard time and think 1.5L in 2000 k's is a bit much.

Has anyone with an oil thirsty ecotec replaced the Valve stem seals and noticed reduced oil consumption ?

[HARVZ-6]

if its burning that much, it would be noticable with exhaust smoke/smell

[Scooter79]

if its burning that much, it would be noticable with exhaust smoke/smell

Not necessarily. My first VS with nearly 400,000kms on the clock was using about a litre every 1500kms but never blew a puff of smoke. Valve stem seals needed replacing but sold the car before I could even be bothered

if your doing excessive kms you will use oil. motors are meant to burn oil if your giving it a hard time it will use more.

Engines are not meant to burn oil. If they are then something must be seriously wrong with mine as it stays full all the time. I'd better take it to a mechanic tomorrow and ask whats wrong with it

[NVE_069]

Mine used oil. but it does have a little leak so yeh. dont drip tho.

[chrisdoesitbetter]

try changing your PCV valve... a mechanic told me that can sometimes reduce it if is an old vavle. i got one for my VR from repco for $8.50 put it in yesterday so i havnt really noticed anything but pm me and ill let you know how it goes. ask hako he is a genious at this sort of stuff.

[hako]

An engine must use oil - how else will it lubricate the bore or coat the valve stem with oil. If an engine does not appear to use oil it may be diluting the oil with unburnt petrol due to short runs when the oil does not reach operating temperature and burns lighter fractions off.
My opinion only, but anything over 1 litre every 2000km means the engine is "burning oil". Legally if the engine drops oil to the road within 5 minutes of switching off then engine it is "unroadworthy"....same with if the engine blows smoke for a certain period (can't remember exact time).
Greenacc - I'd pull the plugs again and check if there is a buildup of carbon on the nose of the plug(s)...if it's really bad, and you notice a puff of smoke for a few seconds on startup then the valve stem seals may be really bad...usually they harden, crack then fall off. If there is a bit of valve stem wear the oil just slides down valve stem.
If that's the only problem, and it's not dropping it on the road or continually blowing smoke then it's a toss-up whether to bother about it. I might add that a few years ago on my Wife's KB Laser, the engine started running rough and after much checking of everthing mechanical and electrical I removed the rocker cover and checked valve clearances - the exhaust valve clearance was supposed to be about 11 thou but was up to 150 thou on some plus when I manually pushed down a valve it would sometimes stick. Anyway I pulled the head and found the valves, especially exhaust has massive buildups of carbon on the valve stem - this was so large that was stopping the valve returning. I'd imagine it would have also been glowing etc. The stem seals had hardened and cracked...basically non-existent.
So I replaced them, re-ground the valves with the Black and Decker and all was good. This was just a town car I should add so only did low miles.
Do a GOOGLE on replacing valve stem seals and see the different methods used. I've used string in the plug hole and bent rod in the plug hole.
Have Fun.

[scr33ch08]

its a holden oil leaks come standard from factory

[delcowizzid]

Dam thread digger ... at least its my own thread tho lol, haha.

just got home from a 3 hour drive and took the filler cap off to check for hot air. There was almost no hot air at all coming out the hole. At most there was a babies breath.
Does that mean its definately, or at least most likely to be the valve stem seals ? I have renewed interest in solving this problem since i checked the oil level recently and had to add 1.5 litres to bring it back up to full. Thats a bit too much consumption for my liking ...

the pcv valve will suck a lot of blowback away so its hard to tell if compression is leaking past the rings in the later engines,a good way to check is there should be enough suction on the filler cap hole to suck a piece of paper to it