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A follow up to my question on oil level

Tiny
RAV4X4
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 TOYOTA RAV4
  • 140,329 MILES
A follow up to my question on oil level.
i was asked by Roy if there were any leaks. I replied there was no oil leak, but I didn't get an answer.
I changed the oil moments ago. The quantity of oil that came out of the block wasn't as bad as I thought. In my previous post, I said the dipstick wasn't registering anything until I added about 1/2 to 3/4 of quart of oil. I checked the level when the engine was cold this morning. When doing the oil change moments ago, about 2.7 quarts came out of the block. Assuming I added 1/2 quart this morning, then over 2 quarts came out of the block. When I did the oil change a 1040 miles ago, I poured 3.9 quarts of oil, and that was immediately after replacing oil pan gasket. So after doing oil change today, some oil will remain inside the pan. Therefore the oil used up ( or unaccounted for) is roughly one quart after 1040 miles. 1 quart is a bit excessive.

I appreciate your inputs.
thanks. George.
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Sunday, February 10th, 2013 AT 9:30 PM

15 Replies

Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,797 POSTS
Hi

a quart every 900 is industry average. Try change weight of the oil to 10-40 and see if the consumption lessens

Roy
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Sunday, February 10th, 2013 AT 9:58 PM
Tiny
RAV4X4
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  • 28 POSTS
1qt/900 miles is sort of ridiculous. My previous car, Honda civic with 316000 miles when we parted ways, didn't consume a lot of oil. In fact, I never had to add oil between oil changes on the Honda. I was reading a thread on a forum about oil consumption. Someone suggested ( to the person having oil consumption issue) to use AutoRX. Another sugested Kreen, BG 109, Chemtool B12, MMO works. Yet another guy suggested Marvel Mystery Oil.
Have you had any experience with these solvents? Does any of them fix oil cunsumption?
Thank you. George.
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Sunday, February 10th, 2013 AT 11:07 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,815 POSTS
If you have an oil consumption problem, whatever oil you put in is not going to help. You are not addressing the source and putting in something to cover it up is going to produce other side effects later on.

Either you live with it or you have the problem rectified, which is mostly due to worn valve seals.
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Monday, February 11th, 2013 AT 3:57 AM
Tiny
RAV4X4
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Thank you for your advice KHLow2008.
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Monday, February 11th, 2013 AT 4:58 AM
Tiny
RAV4X4
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  • 28 POSTS
You wrote the oil consumption is mostly due to worn valve seals. Are those valve guide seals or valve stem seals?
Where should I look or what test(s) do I perform to zero-in on the problem? The other day while idling, I noticed droplets of water or watery substance from the tail pipe. Will the spark plugs indicate anything about oil consumption and the source of the consumption? Thanks for your help.
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Monday, February 11th, 2013 AT 7:07 AM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Both should be the same if I am correct about what you are refering to.

Usually the exhaust would tend to blow some grey smoke.

For oil leaks from the inlet valves into cylinders, the spark plugs would have signs of carbon deposit.

For exhaust valve seals, the exhaust would tend to smoke, especially a few minutes after the engine is started. The exhaust needs to heat up bfore residue oil in the exhaust system starts producing smoke.
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Monday, February 11th, 2013 AT 2:11 PM
Tiny
RAV4X4
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Thank you.
I read a couple of posts on a toyota forum, where guys said they replaced the valve seals on their cars without removing the head: they set the 1st cylinder at TDC, and removed plugs, valve cover, etc. They emphasized to make sure a valve (?) Does not drop into the cylinder. I'm contemplating doing this project. I took auto mechanic courses, but I've never done anything like that in school. If you can advise on this project, give me key points to watch out for, and essential tools! And how much time it takes.
Thanks.
P.S. If your instructions are clear for me to take up this project, I will make a donation. You can also email me, and send as an attachment if necessary. Email: write2georgio@gmail. Com
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Monday, February 11th, 2013 AT 5:25 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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You would need tools to compress and remove the valve springs and collets. Such tools should be available from tools suppliers and you can check out if any shops that loan out tools have them. A valve seal removing tool would be required too.

I used regulated compressed air pumped in from spark plug hole to keep the valves from falling but in this case the piston would be at BDC.

Time would depend on how fast you work.

If you know how to remove valve springs, it should not be a problem for you to handle this job.
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Tuesday, February 12th, 2013 AT 7:47 PM
Tiny
RAV4X4
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I spoke with one of my former auto mechanic teacher, who mentioned to me that there was a class being offered this summer that allows a student to work on project. I'm going to find out if I'm qualified to take the course. I prefer to do the valve seals job at school rather than at home: 1) I take too much time when I work on my truck at home. 2) the school has garages and tools. I don't want to be in a situation where I take part of the engine apart and unexpectedly get stuck.

Is this job started with a specific cylinder? Is it done one cylinder at a time? Please give me a refresher lecture: how to put the piston at BDC ( it's been a while since I opened an auo mechanic book!).

Thank you again.
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Tuesday, February 12th, 2013 AT 11:15 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Yes the work should be done with availability of tools and equipment.
At TDC for cylinder 1 means 2 and 3 are at BDC. Turning 2 or 3 to TDC woud get 1 and 4 to BDC.

The cylinders would automatically be turned to BDC when compressed air is applied to the cylinder.

Cylinders are done one at a time and in pairs as per the piston location.
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Thursday, February 14th, 2013 AT 1:06 AM
Tiny
RAV4X4
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  • 28 POSTS
Greetings KHLow2008!
I performed a compression test. (Psst. I forgot to do the WOT ! Bu someone told me it shouldn't matter)
The result:

cyl.1. 165-175 (dry)
185-190 (wet)

cyl.2. 165-175 (dry)
185-190 (wet)

cyl.3. 165-175 (dry)
185-190 (wet)

cyl.4. 165-175 (dry)
185-190 (wet)

I think I may have rings issue! What do you think?
I want to add a comment here: The first time I did the Wet compression test on cylinder No.4, I heard an explosion when I pushed the trigger on the remote starter. And the compression gauge came out. I didn't know what caused that. I put electrical tape on exposed connections in the remote starter to eliminate that possibility, and performed the wet test on cylinder No. 4 again, and the result was like the other cylinders. But i'm still wondering about what caused the explosion.
Please reply soon. Thanks.
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Friday, February 15th, 2013 AT 6:26 PM
Tiny
RAV4X4
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Dear KHLow2008,
Alldata says: compression pressure: 185 psi or more
minimum pressure: 135 psi

The readings I obtained for the dry test were justb180 psi ( maybe 170 or 175).
Do these readings indicate a fault?

I thought if the rings were bad, the readings would be extremely low (under 135 psi)!
What is your verdict?
Thank you
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Friday, February 15th, 2013 AT 10:09 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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WOT is a must for accurate reading and it matters.
Anyhow the readings indicates the engine is good and you need not worry about it. Bad piston rings would result in significant readings between wet and dry tests.
If you had performed WOT, the reading would most probably have gone up further.
The explosion was due to improper installation of the pressure gauge whereby it was forced out thus the explosion.
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Saturday, February 16th, 2013 AT 5:14 AM
Tiny
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This is the best news I've received in a long time.
I salute you. :-) Thanks.
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Saturday, February 16th, 2013 AT 5:28 AM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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You're welcome.
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Saturday, February 16th, 2013 AT 3:02 PM

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