My 99 accord with 130K miles is using about a qt of oil every 500-750 miles. I assume that it is valve seals and my question is whether or not the so called "high mileage oil" will help any. I am not inclined to spend the money required to replace the valve seals as work is very slow here on the coast of Maine.
Thanks, Larry

 

You may want to try an oil stabilizer such as lucas, sometimes it can help cover these problems for a while, I say cover because its not a permanent fix, but should stop the oil from burning for a while. I doubt that just a "high miles" oil would help with this problem.

Is the car an automatic or manual? I ask because if you were considering fixing this problem(replacing the valve seals, if that is the issue) and the car is an automatic, its starting to get in the miles where the automatic transmissions fail.

 

"Is the car an automatic or manual? I ask because if you were considering fixing this problem(replacing the valve seals, if that is the issue) and the car is an automatic, its starting to get in the miles where the automatic transmissions fail. "
It is Auto and you hit the dilemma right on the head. I could spend thousands of $ doing the valve seals and have another huge repair become necessary soon after. It actually runs well and gets 28 mpg +or- so and oil is still relatively cheap, though I am sure I am polluting more than I would like.
Larry

 

Have you investigated all other possible causes for oil consumption besides leaking valve stem seals and oil bypassing oil control rings?

I would suggest first repairing any leaks and investigating the PCV system to be sure oil is not being pushed into the air intake by blocked PCV or PCV hose.

If those are OK, valve stem seals may be source of oil consumption. My own personal experience w/ valve stem seals was on a 3.0L Mitsubishi V6 in a Plymouth Voyager minivan. At about 100k miles, the car began to smoke (small puff-puff-puff of smoke) after stopping to idle w/ engine fully warmed. When accelerating from a prolonged idle, there would be a brief large cloud of oil smoke. At steady speed no smoke. Oil consumption was about a qt/500 miles.

good luck

 

"I would suggest first repairing any leaks and investigating the PCV system to be sure oil is not being pushed into the air intake by blocked PCV or PCV hose."

If the pcv valve was blocked wouldn't that prevent oil from going onto the intake? The valve is between the valve cover and the intake manifold with air flowing toward the manifold.
Larry

 

Right. The PCV valve is between the valve cover & the manifold, flowing towards the manifold. But the vent line (from VCto intake duct upstream of throttle) draws air from the intake to make up for what goes thru the PCV valve.

If the PCV valve is blocked, the vent line will reverse flow. Theres baffles under the VC to stop oil from the PCV valve, but not so much for that vent line.

 

"Right. The PCV valve is between the valve cover & the manifold, flowing towards the manifold. But the vent line (from VC to intake duct upstream of throttle) draws air from the intake to make up for what goes thru the PCV valve. If the PCV valve is blocked, the vent line will reverse flow. Theres baffles under the VC to stop oil from the PCV valve, but not so much for that vent line."

Thanks, I appreciate the detailed answer.
Larry

 

I know cars ok (rebuilt a backfired '65 VW engine from crankshaft up when I was like 16), but I'm not familiar with all of the (seemingly) 16 vacuum feedback lines feeding into my 2004 V6 intake. As well, I'd say if your oil is going down and it's not on your driveway, you have to be burning it or tossing it out on the freeway. It has to go somewhere.

I have the same problem, only much less so. About a quart every 1,000 miles. I don't like that at all as the car has about 45,000 miles on it and the last checkup was at like 30,000. I change the oil semi-regularly but I'm switching to synthetic and then re-using the oil after running it through a custom filter (sounds fancy but it isn't) to avoid oil breakdown, which is horrible in my engine, and to help out the poor, tiny little filter Honda gives you. Keep one filtering (gravity-fed: it's free) while you run a clean 4.5 qts, then drain, flush with a third, redrain, and pop in the filtered 4.5 you took out about 1,000 miles or a month or two ago. My grandfather used to do this (he was a master mechanic) but didn't have the use of synthetic oil. I got a second on this on a few forums that is, it's not the oil breakdown that kills your rings, etc., but the nano (gotta use that word these days, even if it's BS) bits of dirt, metal, etc. that etch your cylinder wall and mess up your valves, ("and so on and so forth" as he'd say).

Anyway, just started it. We'll see how it goes. Was looking at the Brembo brake kits. Ouch! The 2004 V6, especially A/T (wish I'd paid extra for the manual!), eats up front brakes and tires like they were chewing gum and still brakes like @#$@#. Nose dives horribly too. Also (so I've been told) need front and back sway bars, or upgrades (hell if I know what Honda put on the car) to take care of the 2 second delay between sharp front turn to back end response (think slalom). It's freakish.

It's a heck of a nice car, and for once Honda actually made a quiet car too quiet because if you add a cold-air intake with a high-end stainless exhaust (catback), you're getting a ticket far too often for going 80 when you though you'd just hit 50. Doesn't help that the whimpy-soft (but nice shifting) A/T is so smooth you only notice a change, not the shift.

Anyway. A cheaper option would be appreciated, like grabbing a set off of some 16"' Acura wheels on a totalled car and getting my brother to install them. I'm the guy that makes diagrams and does fine work, he can install/fix anything by just looking at it and occassionally a service manual.

Good luck!

Sparkinark / Shawn