hello everyone, i have a quick question. also, i've exhausted the search function.

 

yesterday i changed a valve cover gasket. routine procedure, right? nothing went amiss, nothing seemed broken. later that day, the motor started burning oil. lots of it. only when i stab the acellerator or take off from a standstill/idling while hot.

could it be that when i changed the valve cover i could have messed something up on the valves/rocker/springs etc? or is it just a strange coincidence that i fried a ring on the same day that i had the valve cover off? could the oil be coming in thru the intake or the intake valve, maybe a bad valve guide seal or something? pcv system works and the valve is relatively new. also no misrouted hoses and the like.

 

i think a rebuild is in my future.

 

 

the car is a 1988 subaru GL hatch, 2wd AT. ea81 motor. 180 000 kms.

Do you have an OEM PCV valve? The aftermarket ones are known for sucking oil into the intake. Valve stem seals on subaru's rarely result in large amounts of oil burning.... they can cause compression loss, but due to the design of the engine there isn't a lot of oil around them to get sucked in. That, and I've never seen one go bad either. Tought little guys.

 

Can't remeber if it applies to your model, but check the ATF fluid - could be the engine is sucking ATF into the intake.

do you smell burning oil when stopped? (with the motor warm, turn on the heater. You'll find out quickly.)

 

It is easy to overtighten and thereby compromise the seal of the gaskets. It is also easy to wiggle them out of alignment with the valve cover when reinstalling. Try changing the valve cover gaskets yet again. Clean both surfaces, then "glue" the gasket to the valve cover with some nice sticky grease. Put white lithium grease on the side to contact the engine. be careful you don't dislodge the gasket, and when you put the valve cover bolts back on, get them finger tight, then tightnen them just a little more with the ratchet. Like a full turn and a half at most.

didn't overtighten, checked for leaking on and around the valve covers....none, still clean from when i carb cleanered them up. i did the spark plugs a month ago and they all looked clean, cleaner than any other vehicle's plugs that i've ever seen actually. i think its either:

 

a)bad rings

b)bad pcv valve

 

 

i'll have a look-see at the tranny tomorrow. there's a few vacuum hoses that go from the transmission to the engine, don't really know what they're for. either way, the trans is crap (leaking from somewhere, slips, won't shift until really warm etc) so i'm swapping that out for a 4spd d/r and do the 2wd to 4wd conversion. i hope i don't have to tear the engine apart just yet, but if it has to be done, then it has to be done. there's no way i'm driving a smokey car, sube or no sube.

 

thanks for the replies.

Have a look at the PCV filter in the airbox - it's a rectangle of foam like substance near the back on the drivers side (inside where the air filter is at). If that is clogged you may be sucking oil out of the valve cover breather....

 

For the record I've never seen a soob with bad rings.... that just really doesn't happen.