01formula6

iTrader: (7)

First off, I'm well aware these cars use oil and I've done my research on the typical causes. I wanted to see if this issue sounds like bad rings to you guys.

Car burns 1qt every 500-700 miles. I've tried GC, dino oil, Super Tech and am now using Mobil1 10W-40...same exact consumption with all the above.

No smoke coming out of the exhaust at idle or part throttle, ocassionally full throttle spews out grey smoke. Minimal oil in the intake and no oil leaking anywhere. I'm stumped because even if it were the rings I'd think there would be visible smoke out of the exhaust at all times and not just WOT.

2000Hawk

iTrader: (5)

Why dont you try adding a catch can and see how it looks after 500 miles? If it has a good amount of oil in there then that could be your problem. If it barely has anything and its still a quart low then maybe your rings are on their way out. How many miles does your car have?
-Joel

01formula6

iTrader: (7)

The motor has 92K on it and has been going through oil at this rate for the last 30K miles, before that it didn't burn a drop. I've been thinking about trying out a catch can but didn't think THIS much oil would be getting sucked into the intake.

1987firechicken

Do a compression test on it to rule the rings in or out. Easiest way to tell. It could be a combo of slightly worn rings and your PCV valve. May want to take a peak at your main seals too.

01formula6

iTrader: (7)

I did a compression test a few months ago on just 3 cylinders and they all tested the exact same, 185psi I believe it was. That seemed fine to me so I didn't check the others since all the plugs looked fine. Car isn't leaking any fluids so I think the main seals are ok. I may just add a catch can and see how much oil I'm getting in there, but I'd be shocked if it was a full quart after 700 miles.

Formula413

iTrader: (1)

So would I. I have a catch can on my car and it doesn't catch anywhere near that much oil. I would say maybe an ounce or two over 700 miles. Does the engine run smooth? If you had bad compression and it was bad enough to cause that much oil consumption I would think it would run rough, but that may not be the case. Plus you said you checked three cylinders and they were all ok. My car has a similar problem though not quite as bad, I use a quart every 1,000-1,300 miles. I'm thinking it is valve seals, since it has no major leaks, doesn't collect much in the catch can, and it runs smooth.

Snowman2K1

iTrader: (1)

im going through the same problem right now ... my camaro has 74k miles, never had any problems.. than couple days ago my "low oil" light came on... i check my oil and sure enough it was below the minimum.... i bought 2 quarts of penzoil platinum... might add another one tomorrow....

im worried this might happen again and if it does than i guess i have a serious problem... my oil change isnt due for another 500-600 miles so we'll see

01formula6

iTrader: (7)

Yes the car runs smooth and I've noticed no loss in power. Occasionally when going WOT I can hear what I believe to be some knock when I get near 6K rpm. This most likely confirms I'm burning oil...which I already know.

So really at this point I'd think it has to be either the rings or valve seals. I don't get smoke out of the exhaust at idle or even moderate acceleration, just once in awhile at WOT. I thought bad valve seals would cause smoking at all times???

Now that I think about it, the problem started around the time when I swapped the stock cam back in. Maybe something happened to the valve seals at that time??? Since the pcv isn't responsible for this much oil, and the rings seem to be ok based off testing 3 cylinders, I'm thinking it might be best to just spend a few hours replacing the valve seals and see if that was the cause.

bjamick

iTrader: (31)

Well at WOT all cars are going to blow some smoke out. If it was valve seals it would be smoking at all times.

If your compression is good, then I would have to say its the crappy PCV system.

01formula6

iTrader: (7)

The times it's blown smoke at WOT it's been a lot more than "some" smoke. Last time was a fairly big cloud on the highway...but that always doesn't happen. I'm just confused because it's not showing all the symptoms of one particular cause. I would think it's the PCV, but I've never heard of anyone's consuming that much oil.

Formula413

iTrader: (1)

I have read that bad valve seals would cause a puff of smoke when you get on it, as well as some smoke at startup. Bad rings I think would pretty much smoke all the time.

bjamick

iTrader: (31)

Is there any oil leaking around your main seals? Also you can change your valve seal pretty easily. Its not hard at all to remove all that stuff as long as you have a good valve spring compressor and an air compressor.

Formula413

iTrader: (1)

The only thing that concerns me about doing the valve seal change is getting the lash set correctly afterwards. Did you have any trouble with that?

Also, I read that instead of an air compressor you can prevents the valves from dropping by turning the crank so the cylinder you are working on is at TDC, any thoughts on that?

01formula6

iTrader: (7)

This isn't that hard to do yourself if you wanted to give it a shot. You basically just torque the rockers down to the correct specs, which I believe is 22ft/lbs. There is a good writeup at ls1howto.com in their cam swap directions. Yes you can use the TDC method instead of compressed air and just work on the 2 cylinders that are at TDC every 1/4 turn of the crank. This is how I've done it and it works fine.

Formula413

iTrader: (1)

Hmmm, I think an LT1 is different, it has stamped rockers and as I understand it zero lash will have to be reset when re-installing them after changing the valve seals.

01formula6

iTrader: (7)

Yes it's different, just realized you have an LT1. Still not hard to set them to zero lash. I'm sure there are plenty of writeups out there.

As for my problem, I'm going to start by adding a catch can since it's the easiest, then move on to valve seals if that doesn't help. I'll eventually figure it out by process of elimination.

dragonrage

This won't completely fix anything but try replacing your PCV valve with P/N 12572717, Rockauto has them. It may help some at least.

01formula6

iTrader: (7)

Thanks for the p/n, I'll give it a try.