1999 Civic losing oil

BLAVER

MEMBER
1999 HONDA CIVIC

I have a '99 Honda Civic with 195,000 km on it. I am losing almost a quart of oil every 400 km, but I can find no leaks, there are no puddles under the car and there is no smoke or smell of burning oil from the exhaust. I use 5W30 synthetic, and it has been suggested to me that I use Lucas Oil Stabilizer to help with the problem. What do you think the issue may be?

Friday, July 6th, 2007 AT 8:42 AM

1 Reply

BRUCE HUNT

MECHANIC
3,754 POSTS

Take some time and try these things. They are free? Whoopee! Put some cardboard under the car to check for a leak. Take the plugs out of the vehicle and describe what they all look like.

Another great thing is to try a leak down test.

My suspicion is that you have compression and a compression test would probably support that. However, the loss of the oil and no detectable leaks only points to one area - bad oil rings. There is a smoke but the car is burning the oil pretty well. I would venture that the plugs are a little black and slightly oily on the end and the exhaust is running black. Look at the tailpipe and feel the inside. Is it black and slightly oily?

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Monday, July 9th, 2007 AT 9:13 AM