engine health??

[wego5]

Hey everybody, my 01 type r seems to be burning a little bit of oil. I am not sure exactly how much but I do know that when I put it up into vtec it does smoke a little out the back. I am not sure if it may be the valve seals or the piston rings worn. The car has 69k miles and it seems to run strong. It only seems to burn oil at high rpm's after vtec has engaged.

I know this is probably fairly common for type r's. My question is, How much were repairs? Just valve seals? Rebuild(piston rings)?

I plan on using oem acura parts and having acura dealer fix the problem.

Thanks for any input you may have.

[Dave_B]

Price of repair can vary A LOT depending on who does the work and parts used.

I HIGHLY recommend only OEM parts when doing internal work (if you want to remain stock)

I would first perform a compression test and leakdown. Post results here and we can tell you where the issue is coming from.

[wego5]

I had acura do a compression and leakdown test done this morning.

Cylinder #1, 5% 165psi
Cylinder #2, 5% 160psi
Cylinder #3, 8% 160psi
Cylinder #4, 8% 165psi

I was told these #'s are good and engine is very healthy.


How do these #'s compare to any of you out there?

Thanks

[Dave_B]

You can't compare numbers with others. Different guages, read differently. It's the consistancy between the cylinders that is the good part.

[audiko4]

From personal experience it cost roughly around $150 to install new valve seals, only issue if the rings are on their way out depending on how bad they are sometimes they scratch the cylinder walls up pretty badly and they need to be bored out but thats worst case scenerio. But most people who do a bottom end overhaul also do the bearings, main bolts, oil pump, water pump and all that fun stuff. It sounds to me like your valve seals have started to leak a little, if your rings were on their way out your car would smoke constantly not only at high rps and consume a 1/2 to s full quart a week.

[wego5]

Thanks for the input. Had the car dyno'd and it put down 163whp and 115lt lbs torque. Car has aem intake with stock exhaust manifold and exhaust. It does have skunk2 stage one cams but is untuned. Hp #'s seem on par with a stock car, Acura thinks it might be oil rings??? Seems to me if oil rings would be bad that my leakdown #'s would reflect that.
Leakdown test only shows 5-8% in all four cylinders.

[Dave_B]

Sounds like the car is healthy to me. Can't solely go on Dyno numbers and compare to other cars. Elevation, humidity, type of dyno... things like that affect the #'s put down.

Given your posted leakdown and compression numbers, I wouldn't be too concerned at the moment.

[BlueR]

your leakdown and compression #s indicate a healthy motor...

change your oil to a different brand or weight grade and see if anything changes

either try a 10W-30 or a different brand of 5w-30

amsoil is pretty good

[wego5]

I just change out synthetic(not sure what kind, just bought car about 2 months ago). I put castrol gtx 5w30 in and replaced pcv valve. I will see if that changes anything.

[BlueR]

i don't know your location but i use castrol GTX 10W-30 in my own car

its a bit thicker and might help with the oil burning issue

[wego5]

Thanks BlueR, I will try that if the 5w30 doesn't help.