I have 2001 accord coupe ex 5 speed that is burning tons of oil. There is no smoke upon start up but every 500 miles i'm down a quart of oil. I see big clouds of whitish smoke over 3-4k rpm but nothing at idle. Seems strange because the engine only has 105000 miles on it. Someone told me it could be a spark plug gasket or worn piston rings. Any info as far as possible causes would be great. Thanks

 

If it blows smoke continuously under heavy throttle, it's likely rings bypassing oil.

If it only blows smoke after a prolonged idle and begins to puff-puff-puff smoke clouds after an extended idle, the valve stem seals are likely source of oil leakage.

Usual indirect reason for oil consumption is lack of oil servicing. Stuck oil control rings (carbon varnish buildup) and possibly overheating can be direct causes.

good luck

 

If you have never replaced the PCV, they are cheap and easy to replace.

 

How does the PCV valve affect oil consumption? I'm also noticing oil consumption (1 qt/1500 miles) however, I see no outside evidence of it. No smoke at any engine speed or load, no unusual residue on the rear bumper and no leakage. Of course, my 2001 has 235K miles on it so I kinda figured it was expected.

 

If it is not closing off all the way it will allow too much to be pulled thru into the intake.

Trust me, I was about to shoot my 89 LX. No leaks, but was going thru a quart or more in ~500 miles. No smoke from the exhaust at start up or idle, compression good. What the heck is wrong with this thing.

Finally one day, I decided to pull the PCV and look at it. In my case, the entire inside of the pcv was gone....just a straight tube. I hope the "guts" of it came out in an oil change. Put a new PCV in it, oil consumption went away....magic

EDIT: How are you enjoying the green/yellow dust in NC right now.

 

Regardless of brand or engine model, a bad PCV can lead to high oil consumption. On worn engines with higher than optimal ring leakage causing excess blow-by, many folks have added a "catch can" arrangement in the PCV plumbing (typically upstream of the PCV); and just dump the caught oil back into the crank case. This doesn't always work as some engines have cylinder walls which are scored or otherwise worn in such a way that a visible film of oil is left behind on the wall each time the piston goes down, and much of said oil is then effectively collected by the top compression ring as the piston comes back up and is burned in the combustion chamber.