FISH22

well, just recently i decided i would monitor the oil consumption in my 03 S. well, it was a decent amount. at my 300 mile mark, i already burned about a half quart. now, this is with very spirited driving(hard turns, numerous redlines, etc.). the motor has 45K miles on it, and i run it with mobil 1 10w-30. of course i've done my research and could not find anything similiar to this. i know honda says a qaurt every 1k miles is acceptable....but what type of driving are they talking about for that 1k miles? well, i dunno. of course i'm a little worried. not too long ago i did a trip to chicago, and one way was 900 miles, burned almost no oil. plus there was almost no redlines. well, want someone to verify this "may" be normal. thanks guys!!

pete

stitos2k

Hmm, I don't know man. When I got my s2k, it went through half a quart in 1000 miles, then it went to not burning oil at all... Now it burn half a quart in 3000 miles. I have about the same miles as you do. I do know consumption for some changes every few thousand miles.

Check your air intake for oil, and you may want to put in a catch can at the pcv to find out where its all going. A leak down test or compression test may be in order as well. Besides that I'm tapped.

01BerlinaS2K

hey pete,
im kinda having the same issue
using the same oil i get about the same oil consumption
spirited driving also
highway trips = fine
my bb6 i had before did the same thing

-rick

xviper

I think you have your answer. (And a point of reference to do another "test".)

INDYMAC

If this were my car, I'd try a different oil to see if I get the same results. I'd start with Valvoline MaxLife synthetic 10W30. Just a thought...

FISH22

this is the funny thing guys. i had my brother behind me while i was tearing through first and second, and he said there was no blue smoke...or anything indicating i was burning oil out the exhaust......WHERE THE HECK IS IT GOING??? also, i've been getting a light funky smell upon acceleration, most likely coming from the engine bay, but no noticeable leaks, i'm seriously confused. and i have heard many that have gone with a non synthetic, but i'm not sure if this will cure my problem and/or be good for the engine. also looking into the krank vents. anyways, i should probably stop worrying, its not like i'm light on the throttle. thanks guys for all your inputs!

RED MX5

[QUOTE=xviper,Sep 8 2006, 02:54 PM]I think you have your answer.

shotiable

i thought during break in, oil consumption is higher than average... and during spirited driving its also higher than average... i think skipping out on redlining and spirited driving, will bring your oil consumption down.

xviper

We're getting into a somewhat philosophical realm now. I don't really believe in Karma, although sometimes, I think that if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all. But that's just "sometimes". Most of my life, I've had it pretty good, both car wise and life's circumstances.
When it comes to cars, I'm like you in my success rate. I've owned a total of some 33 new vehicles so far in my lifetime. Some have been quite troublesome and some have been gems. Insofar as oil comsumption, I would have to say that most of them have been quite good - no significant oil consumption at all. Like you, my year 2000 S has turned out to be a very good car. I may put in 1/2 qt. over an oil change interval (same as you - 3000 miles). It went through it's stage of some 20K miles before the oil consumption finally tapered off. I never really concerned myself with this because I understood the uniqueness of this engine (exceedingly high piston speeds) and the propensity towards high oil pressure and high manifold vacuum - both of which can contribute to oil consumption under the right conditions.
Being "vintage" guys, you and I perhaps don't take such a cavalier attitude towards break-in procedure and maintenance as we sometimes see in our younger colleagues. I cite, "Drive it like you stole it." "Drive it to redline right out of the box. It'll be a much stronger engine later." "Yeah, the oil's good to way over 7500 miles. The oil analysis says so." People like you and I tend to use past experience and better judgement and sometimes go against the grain when it comes to car ownership.
I suppose we can get a bad car, just like anyone else, but we manage what we get, in as good a way as we know how. Maybe that's what makes the difference between a really bad car and a better than average car.

xviper

According to Honda, the "break in" period is the first 600 or so miles. Actually, during this time, the engine uses very little oil because the average person wouldn't rev it too high. It is after "break in", that most 2.0L engine owners experience alarming oil use. The "official" break-in may be over, but the real break-in may take many, many thousands of miles.
Of course, there are always exceptions to this. Some owners have reported never using any oil at all.