Why is my car eating oil????

My car is eating oil, about a quart per 200-300 miles, and no I'm not red lining every chance I get or anything like that. I just replaced my PCV valve, and it still ate oil after doing that. WTF is going on?
[/b]

Click to expand...

If you stick your finger in the exhaust tip (after it has cooled dowm lol ) is it sooty and black :nono:

Any leaks? Do you smell burning oil when the engine is hot? Any smoke coming out the tailpipe? Have you verified that the new PCV valve is in fact working? I would take it to the dealer anyway and have them look it over.

It's not leaking at all, I park in the same place every day and there isn't any oil on the ground, nor is there any that I could see when I changed my oil. I can't smell any oil burning and can't see it smoking at idle, but then again I don't follow me any since I'm the only person who ever drives the car. I have to assume it's burning off though since it isn't leaking. My car ran out of warranty almost 6000 miles ago. I don't know exactly how I am to tell if my new PCV valve works or not.

Shake it, if it rattles its working.

Shake it, if it rattles its working.
[/b]

Click to expand...

well, it was rattling when i put it in a week ago, so should i pull it back out and probably ruin the two tabs to shake it and see if it still rattles?

Here is what I would do if I were you: Make sure oil level is at max, tow it into the dealer, and have them diagnose it. After going through what I have already, I wish I would have done that at the first symptom of anything going wrong...and now I'm getting a new engine out of pocket.

when i just took my pcv valve hose off, the hose dripped several drops of oil out of it. I just replaced the pcv valve, how can I check to make sure the new one isn't bad?

You didnt switch to Mobil1 recently, did you?

You didnt switch to Mobil1 recently, did you?
[/b]

Click to expand...

no, i'm using regular havoline 5w20

I have a Jetta which is doing the same thing. I would suggest to you that moisture is getting into your engine somewhere and your oil is sludging up. That makes oil "disappear". The Jetta is going to need some work to get it cleaned up.

I suggest checking the seal on the oil filler cap. Look at the bottom of the filler cap and into the filler neck for signs of sludge.

a leak down test would check for excessive blow by.

could securely plug hose to intake manifold, and run temporary extension hose from pcv to an open catch can in engine bay (old oil container). proceed with caution. See if excessive oil was coming from pcv .... consumption stops or jug full of oil = bad pcv.

note vw 1.8L thing is another story.

So is the PCV valve only for emissions like it says in the sticky? If so, could I just plug the hose permanently and resolve my issues or would it blow the hose off or what?

It also purges the crankcase of nasty vapors, moisture, etc, esp in slow traffic/winter. draws in fesh air through front bank valve cover, then back out rear bank vis pcv valve. best to keep it if possible.

I recall you had the add on pcv too ... this was installed backward if done per mazdatech writeup, so no flow while it was in (thus rust on bottom of it).

It also purges the crankcase of nasty vapors, moisture, etc, esp in slow traffic/winter. draws in fesh air through front bank valve cover, then back out rear bank vis pcv valve. best to keep it if possible.

I recall you had the add on pcv too ... this was installed backward if done per mazdatech writeup, so no flow while it was in (thus rust on bottom of it).
[/b]

Click to expand...

i just took the 2nd pcv valve out, so it's back to stock. We'll see what happens.

mine eats up oil pretty fast too. I told the dealer that and they said that for them to do anything I would have to have them change the oil and I would come back every 1000km for them to check the levels and if in fact levels where low they can go back to Mazda Canada and they would be able to warrant the labour to go into my engine and see if there's problems. That might be an option but like you said you ran out of warranty so I guess it doesn't help you much.

It also purges the crankcase of nasty vapors, moisture, etc, esp in slow traffic/winter. draws in fesh air through front bank valve cover, then back out rear bank vis pcv valve. best to keep it if possible.

I recall you had the add on pcv too ... this was installed backward if done per mazdatech writeup, so no flow while it was in (thus rust on bottom of it).
[/b]

Click to expand...

Has this been confirmed that the write up has it in backwards?? That would suck....

i talked to mazdausa, they want me to take the car in to a dealer and get it "diagnosed", then they'll decide if they want to cover it. Dealership says diagnoses is gonna be $78 and take an hour, so I assume they will just plug it up to their computer and probably not see anything other than my pending CEL code for my Injen intake. I guess I'll go ahead and do that, then talk to mazda again and go from there.