Why am I burning so much oil???

There are a few threads on here about the same topic, but i still have questions and i was hoping someone might be able to help.

I have noticed since i had the car, its a standard EG5 hatch with a D16Z6, had it about 4 months, and its been burning a fair bit of oil, about 0.5L every 2000miles, but since its 60,000mile sevice its been worse, probably up to 1L over the same distance. At the same time I advanced the timing to 18° BTDC as i run on 98.5 RON over here. I only noticed how bad it was when i got it on a RR, wasnt to bad at low RPM but above 5k when it switched to VTEC it was pumping out a lot of smoke, still made 126bhp, but i smoked the place out.

I dont know if it is worse when cold as i dont take it above 5k till its warm. I have noticed the oil (standard 10W-40 semi synth) went dark within 1k of the oil change, but it isnt cloudy, neither is the rad water



Anyone know what it might be?

I am thinking either head gasket, piston rings or valves, is there any way to tell which one it is?

I would have said rings, as it got worse with the advanced timing (increased cylinder pressure?), but the engine is only just past 65k, and had 2 lady owners before me, i thought hondas were meant to be better than that!

I should be borrowing a compression tester this weekend, but people keep going on about leakdown tests, can anyone give a quick instruction of what this involves?

Also can anyone suggest a short term solution, oil type or additive that can stem the flow, or stop me doing further damage to the engine till i find the problem and the cash to sort it.

If anyone can help please let me know, as i am a bit pissed with it at the moment, its cost me a fortune since i bought it, changed cambelt, clutch, wheels and tyres since i bought it, plus 60k service and a few other bits. Bought a honda so i didnt have to keep shelling out to keep it running, and I paid more for a low miler for the same reason, and i want to get it sorted.

cheers

Eddy

compression test wont tell you much unless you have a catastrophic leak from a destroyed or missing ring, severly scarred cylinders, a hole in a piston, or a seriously bent valve. and even then a compression test wont tell which of the above apply in your case.

due to this, leakdown checks are much more telling. by using compressed air regulated to 100psi, you can figure out where the motor is leaking at. essentially, you inject 100psi of air into the cylinder at TDC. by examining possible air outlets like the oil fill cap, oil dipstick, radiator fill cap, and other cylinders, you can determine where the leak is.... for instance:

air leaking to dipstick hole: blowby from piston, rings, or cylinder walls
air leaking from dipstick and oil fill cap: blowby from headgasket or valve.
air leaking/bubbles in radiator fill cap: blowby in headgasket
air from other cylinder: valve or headgasket (cylinder to cylinder if no bubbling in radiator present)

cheers for that,

I did think it wouldnt be simple, and since i dont have a compressor, i guess its going to be garage time, probably a Honda one, so that means $$$, and thats without finding a problem!!

Any ideas on the short term solution, ie good oil or addative to reduce the losses, kind of what i need to know.

u can steam clean the engine, then drive it a little bit, then check for oil. Keep looking for oil for about a week. It might be valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, or oil filter needs a better gasket or needs to be tighten more. If that doesnt help go with the leak down test.

Im pretty sure its not leaking, i have been checking for the last month and there is no sign of oil anywhere on the engine or drive, think its just leaving via the exhaust.

guess its goingto have to go into the shop then, when i can scrap up some cash, gilfriends birthday this month so credit card is already taking a bashing:(

an extremly good additive you can add to your troubled engine is Marvel Mystery Oil, if this doenst fix your problem, then you have some serious leak somewhere, i swear by this product. cost is about $5.99 for 1 quart, that should be all you need.

as for the compression test, if done correctly you can tell quite easily where and how your engine is eating oil.