oil consumption confusion

[super8simon]

Hello all. Been having to top up the oil with a glug or two every couple of weeks to get to the full mark for quite a while now and I'm trying to diagnose the problem. After doing quite a bit of searching through previous posts I'm a little confused. I don't reckon it's the turbo, I've been told there would be a lot more smoke, and I would definitely know if it was the turbo. There is evidence of oil in the pipes that run across the top of the engine, but not loads, and from reading other posts that's quite normal. The breather pipe from the rocker cover seems clean, and if removed there is a little pressure evident but again, seems normal compared to others. Could my oil be escaping up here?

The Surf runs really well, great to drive, and average mpg. Occasionally hesitant to start on cold mornings but always makes it on the first turn of the key if I wait for the beep, and I've put that one down to the glow plugs. There can be quite a lot of greyish smoke some mornings too, especially after sitting for a couple of days, again I'm putting that down to the glow plugs.

Valve guides and piston rings. From my reading of other posts this seems a possible culprit, but I need a little more info. If there is a problem here, why is the Surf running so well? This has been going on for some time now, but I have been keeping an eye and topping the oil up. I read a post that said that after a de-coke when the head is replaced, you can expect to loose some oil until the coke builds up again. I had the head replaced a year ago now, but I do regularly use a fuel additive so could that be preventing the coke from building up again?

Most of my driving is short journeys, across town in stop start traffic. The oil pressure never gets much above half, but again the same story for many on here. There is no evidence of an oil leak, and no sign of oil in the coolant. Like I said it's been a year since the head was replaced so I figure a warped block or bad gasket would have given me more problems by now. Just how worried do I need to be? I can cope with checking and topping up, but I would like to get it sorted.

Thanks for making it through this essay, and any advice, suggestions or opinions will be gratefully received. By the way, I'm cutting out the fuel additive for a while to see if that helps, and I have tried a can of Wynn's engine stop leak last oil change, and I'm using Castrol GTD 15W40.

Cheers, Simon

[kevb]

ok how much oil is the engine using per 1000km?all engines use a certain amount of oil!are you getting any blue smoke from the exhaust when you are driving?

[super8simon]

Hi. Could be using up to half a litre per 1000km I suppose. As for blue smoke, well there is only really smoke on start up and that's quite a thick grey that I'm pretty sure is due to a duff glow plug or two. Once the engine is up to temp there is hardly any smoke, if indeed any at all. Should I expect to be seeing lots of smoke if it is a worn valve guide or piston ring?

Cheers

Simon

[Smurf]

Hi
Worn valve guides letting through the amount you are losing wouldnt give noticeable blue smoke so could be caused by that, have you checked to see if you have excessive crankcase pressure which could be caused by weakened rings?? Just reread your 1st post and head is only 1yr old so probably not valve guides. Does it only lose oil from max level i.e if you let it fall to 1/2 way between does it still lose oil if you dont top it up????

[super8simon]

Hi
Worn valve guides letting through the amount you are losing wouldnt give noticeable blue smoke so could be caused by that, have you checked to see if you have excessive crankcase pressure which could be caused by weakened rings?? Just reread your 1st post and head is only 1yr old so probably not valve guides. Does it only lose oil from max level i.e if you let it fall to 1/2 way between does it still lose oil if you dont top it up????

Hi Smurf.

Thanks for your input. I have always been topping up to full, I guess the lowest I have ever let it get was to just above half, so I suppose I could see if it settles if I leave it alone. How can I check for excessive crankcase pressure? I have read some posts on excessive pressure with people experiencing the dip stick being forced up allowing oil to escape. Fortunately I don't share this problem, but If I remove the dipstick with the engine running I can see occasional very fine drops of oil deposited on the top of the engine, so there is some sort of escaping gas due to pressure, but it dosen't seem like much.

Simon

[Smurf]

To get an idea of crankcase pressure problems remove the oil filler cap whilst at idle, if your engine bay suddenly transforms into ivor the engine then you could have a problem(you will get strong puffs of smoke out of rocker cover).
My oil level has slowly dropped to 1/2 way but seems to stay there, still top up occasionaly but not as often as you seem to have to.