very very wierd situation

mlody

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Perhaps someone can help me because I do not know what to do. I have 99 EX coupe with almost 71500 miles on it. At about 68000 I did an oil change. I put a new oil filter and filled up 3.5 qt of 5w-30. During memorial weekend I did almost 1200 miles on it. Most of the driving was a hard driving (accelerating and breaking on a highway at around 100 mph) Also I tough my g-friend how to drive a stick, so she stalled the car like 20-25 times.- well you can imagine the rest. The point is, that I just did an oil change (I was at about 71500) and I only drained about 2 qt of the oil instead of about 3.5. I know that because I put the old oil in original boxes from the new oil and I barely filled the second bottle (each one is 1 qt). Does anyone one know what could happen? Is it possible for my car to take almost 1.5 qt of oil. I have not noticed any smog from an exhaust, or anything unusual. Also when I changed the oil, I have not noticed any signs of oil leaking and etc. Should I be concern about my engine longevity? Has anyone run into something like that?

Thanks for any info
 

caddy

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You might want to try replacing your PCV valve. (positive crankcase ventilation) if you haven't replaced it in the past few oil changes. It's only a few dollars and it prevents lots of headaches. While you're doing that, take off the hose to your intake and make sure you intake manifold and throttle body butterfly valve is not coated with oil and carbon. If it is, spray some intake cleaner (Intake Medic is a good brand but any will do) into your throttle body, and clean what you can with a toothbrush. Then run the engine and spray some more intake cleaner down the intake a few times. (you car will sputter a bit thats normal)

This is pretty common on Hondas and not serious. Just make sure you change you PCV valve every 10,000 miles or so. And try and get a genuine honda one and not an aftermarket one, they tend to clog prematurely. If none of this helps, theres another trick you can try.

If you've replaced your PCV valve already you might want to try another trick. Small deposits might be collecting on the rings of your pistons. Oil can get by yet still not be noticable by the exhaust. A good trick is a day or two before you change your oil, add some automatic transmission fluid (not more than a quart will do). Drive like that for a day and make sure you give the car some high rev driving. The tranny fluid acts as a detergent and may losen some particles and gunk stuck on the rings.

Hope this helps! We've come across this situation often on hondas at the shop.
 


mlody

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caddy,

Thanks a lot for lots of useful information. I have looked for a PCV valve and I found some information. Could you confirm if this is a part that I need?

Please click on the link below

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5&catcgry1=Civic&catcgry2=1999&catcgry3=2DR+EX&catcgry4=KA5MT&catcgry5=BREATHER+CHAMBER+(2)

I can see couple other things related to PVC. Should I replace them all (they are not that expensive) or not?

I am not that technical, but from that picture above, the installation process does not seem to be that difficult. Should I be concern about anything when doing it by myself?

Thank you again
 


Team 4R

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10w-30 is fine........ honda recommends 5w-30, which should definitely be used if outside temps ever get below zero in your area
 

mlody

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I have been using 5w-30 on my car since day one. Just recently one of my friends has recommended to use 10w-30 during summer only. Any thoughts on that? It looks like 10w-30 is good from about -10 degree Celsius (~ 20 degree Fahrenheit) which should be ok for summer whereas 5w-30 is ok from -30 degree C. BTW does anyone have any information about different types of engine oils? Also, I just wanted to add that 2003 Civic manual recommends 5w-20. What is a difference between 5w-30 and 10w-30?

Thanks
 

caddy

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Basically, the first number is the standard viscosity rating and the second number is the viscosity rating when it arrives at engine tempurature. I personally use 15w-40 for the fact that my vehicle is a higher milage engine, and a thicker oil is harder to blow by rings and older seals. I would stick to the main brands of oil like penzoil/quaker state which don't have additives in them. If you opt for oil like Slick 50 or other exotics oils they have solids in them like teflon which can clog up your filter and other additives that can coat the inside of your engine.

If you want to play it safe, just stick to what oil your manual asks you to use (probably 10w30). If your milage is starting to get high, move a step up in viscosity.

As for installing it yourself, yes it is pretty straight forward. You can basically just pull off the PCV valve itself. You'll have to use pliers to take off the hose clamps of course. Take off the hose and make sure that there's no obstructions in it. You can spray the intake cleaner inside it and blow it out with compressed air (if you have access to air, if not thats ok). Just make sure you put the hoses back the way they were and make sure they're back in place.

Next step as I explained before is to clean the throttle body and intake, as you dont want all that gunk plugging up your PCV valve again. So take off your intake tube and just spray intake cleaner inside the throttle body and on the back of the butterfly valve. Scrub what you can with a tooth brush and spray some more until it starts dripping out the throttle body. Then start up the engine. (your car will probably sputter and stall, that's normal) rev the engine a little bit until it blows some stuff out your exhaust and runs smooth again. While its running, open the throttle body a teeny bit and spray some more cleaner inside. And just do that until it looks pretty clean inside the intake. Oh and by the way, cleaning the throttle body is NOT something i would recommend EVERY time you change the PCV valve, as it can do damage to your catalytic converter if you do it too much. Just once is fine and wont hurt. and keep on top of replacing that PCV.
If you need anymore help, let me know.

In that diagram, #3 is what you wanna replace, and make sure pipe #4 and #6 are nice and clean.
 

PWRDByAdobo

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about adding ATF to the engine a few days prior the oil change, is there any precautions that I should take before trying this technique? And what exactly is it supposed to do and to what parts will it do it to? Thanks caddy!
 

caddy

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Don't need more than a litre/quart. Not really any precautions, just make sure its not in there more than a couple days. It can work wonders though, weve been able to restore compression in cylinders before by using ATF. Just make sure you get some good revs in the engine so that the ATF has the chance to get in all the nooks and crannies. It will help get the gummies and deposits in most of the engine (crankcase, piston rings, valve train).
 


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