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massive oil use mystery.


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So I have a 1988 Coupe EA82 Fuel injected that I recently put on the road.  Was sitting for the last year, and has about 122,000 miles.  Does not smoke, or leak oil at all.......But it uses 1 qrt of oil every 100 miles????WTF

 

The engine runs great asides from the disappearing oil?  

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hmmm... i ordered and installed the oil recall that subaru had in the early 90's on the pvc tubing that comes out of the valve covers to the intake, it fixed my small "oil leak" that i would loose a quart every 3,000miles for no reason, but 100miles per quart of oil is extreme, do you have a skid plate underneath? since the vehicle sat for a while it could be that your rear main seal dried up and is leaking but hides in your skid plate and only falls out when you drive, that happened to me a year ago, but not a quart every 100miles, more like a quart every 1,000. oh and if your interested, heres the recalled item,

http://m.ebay.com/itm/261697337308?txnId=1614858463016

$25 is a bit much but its new old stock, but this will not cure your massive oil dissapearance, maybe some but you have some other issue also.. best of luck!

Edited by Subasaurus
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Cat converter fitted, If so I have seen them for a short time work so well no smoke appears out the back as they consume and burn all that Oil, I would think if it has been sitting for a while the rings may well have stuck, Run some Subaru upper engine cleaner through it and that should get the rings resealing again though make sure to get the engine warm and run it through a running engine at over 2000 RPM do not spray half into the manifolds and let sit as per instructions in this case it could cause too much carbon to come loose and get stuck under a valve and then with Hydro Lifters you will lose comp on the cylinder when that happens as the lifter pumps up to take up the extra clearance.

 

That is why I suggest just feeding it in gradually at around 2000 RPM down something like a Vacuum line direct into the manifold rather than through the throttle body or Airflow Meter.

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replace PCV valve and clean out all those related PCV/valve cover hoses to streamline crackcase pressures

 

and yes - rings may have stuck and may seat/work themselves out over time. 

 

how many miles have you put on it since sitting for awhile?

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I bought it about a year and a half ago as a parts car because is has a dual range 5 speed.  The PO barely maintained it.  There is no Cat or muffler, just a straight pipe w/ a cherry bomb on the end.   I replaced the belts, oil, and power steering pump.  I'm running 10w30.  I have put around 300 miles on it since getting it back on the road.    Too bad about the oil issues because the engine runs excellent, so skips or pops.  Used it briefly to commute and it maintains 70-80mph on the highway all day long. 

 

"l'll try to take a look at the PCV.  Is there a generic product to use other than Subaru upper engine cleaner.   What about running some risoline or ATF in the crankcase to un-stick the rings.

 

Still can't wrap my head around how an engine running this good, not leaving any puddles or smoke(not even any start up smoke)  could using up so much oil.

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I had one engine that burned a lot of oil. Maybe similar amount. No smoke, ran great. Had catalytic on it, and it passed emissions, much to my surprise. Just barely. The history of that engine was that it had been overheated with low coolant at one time, worst incident of that for me. When I did a reseal, I removed the pistons, to check for wear, etc. Every thing looked ok, clearances within limits, so I put it back together. And it burned oil like crazy. So I don't know if the oil rings were fried by the overheat, or didn't seal because I didn't hone or anything . I have other engines , so I decided I didn"t care about this one. I ran all my used oil in it. Old atf. Cheap oil. Always mixed new and old though. Ran it for a few years, until one of the heads cracked for no known reason. Once in a while, the oil consumptionwould reduce, but then go right back to crazy. Side note, 10w30 is too thin unless you are in extreme cold.

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  • 1 month later...

Update:  I have been running 20w50 for the last 500 miles or so.  It's now burning about 3/4 of a quart every 100 miles.(slight improvement)  slight smoke at start up but quickly goes away.  No other smoke from the tailpipe.

 

HOWEVER

 

When I am banking  hard and fast (highway exits and entrances) It blows smoke like locomotive, massive clouds like the engine just blew up.   Once I get the car straight it stops. 

 

I guess I'm just going to keep running it and see what happens.  Other than the oil consumption issues this is one of the best EA82 motors I have run,  Runs 75-85mph on the highway all day long, with great acceleration and doesn't skip a beat.

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The james bond smoke screen on long right turns is exactly what the PCV recall was done to prevent. If you search on the boards for the proper hose (re)routing for the pcv lines, it will take care of the smoking issue, and probably take care of your oil consumption problems as well.

 

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