So as some of you know i've been having some issues where i'm losing oil in my 03 OZ, no leaks and no smoke...sometimes i lose alot and sometimes i don't lose any. Someone on the board had the same situation and said they were having a blowback issue, i was informed it was possibly from changing the oil to full synthetic after 1500 miles and that the rings didn't seat properly. So i called one shop and they quoted me.... $3000 to take care of the issue...i dropped my jaw in awe... i think i'm going to just get rid of the car now, either that or upgrade to a new OZ or Ralliart...

 

Wow what do they need to do replace the engine? If all they need to do is replace the pistons 1000$ tops in terms of labor.

 

Try switching back to regular oil and see what happens. While there's been debate about whether synth is bad (and I think we concluded that the main problem was improper DIY turbo installs) no one recommends breaking in with synthetic oil. You gotta wait until at least 5K. Run some B12 chemtool in the oil per the direction on the can (I think it's half a bottle in the oil) then drain it and start over again with regular dinosaur juice. Keep an eye on consumption and DO NOT BE AFRAID TO RUN THE ENGINE!! Heat in the engine will help the rings expand and seal better. It's my opinion that synth lubricates too well so you don't build up the friction/heat to make the rings seat.

Good luck!!

 

i feel a bit odd about what he said, but they said about 30 hrs of labor, that wasn't even to replace the pistons, that was just labor...i didn't think they'd need to replace the pistons, i figured just the seals...but i could be wrong

 

i did switch back to reg. oil and added 1/3 a can of SeaFoam, after 3 weeks, i lost about half a quart..i mean, i'm sure i could keep the car and just add oil here and there, but that would get nuts after awhile..imma give it some more time to hopefully fix itself..

 

Drive hard! What viscosity are you using?

All the shop will do is replace the rings. $3k is freaking retarded. Highschool kids can do this and for that kind of money you can fully build the engine (higher compression pistons, cam, valves, ported head, intake manifold, TB, etc). Shop around and check the import places near you.

 

what kind of synthetic did you use? I am running Castrol synthetic and this thread has got me worried.

 

i was running royal purple 10w30 and then i switched to mobil 1 full syn.

 

i think i'm going to call around and see what can be done, i think if it comes down to it, i might get a couple buddies together and see what i can do to get it fixed.

 

how can that be the cause when evos and sti come with fully synthethic oil from the factory

 

it's a different engine

 

How much oil are you loosing and how fast?


EDIT: How many miles = how much oil lost?

 

It's all about the heat; heat is required to make rings swell and "seat" in the cylinders. Your turbo engine produces much more heat than our NA engines do so your rings will seat properly, even when synth is used during the break in period, and synth will also help protect the engine from that heat in the long term.

 

It is not so much heat but a tendency to wash out the rings. Regardless. Try to resolve it for now. IF now contact us. I have a good 20,000 mile motor for sale for $900. Shipping to AZ should be reasonable.

ROAD/RACE

 

So is it RRMs position that we should not use synthetic in our engines, regardless if it's NA or FI? I figure you guys have maaaaaybe seen an engine or two torn apart and might have a "real world", educated opinion on the subject