I'm burnning some oil. I know i've got a seal leak, but for what it will cost to fix. can anyone tell me what grade of oil i should use and is their any aditive i could use to slow it down until i can get the engine replaced.
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I'm burnning some oil. I know i've got a seal leak, but for what it will cost to fix. can anyone tell me what grade of oil i should use and is their any aditive i could use to slow it down until i can get the engine replaced.
no additives, really...not any cheap ones, anyway. Just start using valvoline higher mileage engine oil, if you're planning on using it for only a short period of time, probably in a 10W-30 weight. Just remember, if you start using this stuff, you need to use it until you replace the seals, or you will have even worse oil burning problems than before. This is because the oil has additives in it that soak into your valve seals and "bloat" them up, making them seal tighter around the valve guide stem. If you stop giving the seals these additives, they shrink back up and harden, making your leak worse than before.
When you get to a point where you can do something about it, if you are SURE you are BURNING oil (not leaking somewhere) there are really only a couple places you can look...and two of them would be very noticeable.
1. Piston rings-also causes dipstick to blow out sometimes. Causes very bad oil loss, and a sometimes noticeable drop in power.
2.Headgasket-look in your coolant catch tank for brown or black swirls mixed in. If this is the case, you have blown your headgasket, and are leaking oil into the water jackets in your block.
3. Valve seals- generally not such a big deal, you just have to keep putting oil in your car. Won't cause any major problems, unless of course you go low on oil and melt your engine together. Can be replaced, but you most likely have to take the head apart to get to them. Also can get expensive...at the honda dealer, my valve seals are $10 a piece...$160 for all 16.