03 OZ slowly burning oil, what to do?
 

MY OZ is slowly burning oil. So slowly that it doesn't exhaust blue smoke and I forget it's burning oil until my engine starts making noises and I put oil in it (I know thats bad, please don't hate on me! I'm new to this!). I don't have the money right now to put it in the shop, I was hoping somebody would have some things for me to check. What are some common reasons I might be burning oil? Other than that, the engine runs great, quiet, low idle, blah blah.

What are some things you would check if your car was burning oil very slowly? I

I'm also pretty certain it's not a leak, there is no oil in my driveway.

EDIT: I should also mention that aside from a K&N intake, the engine is stock.

Unless your rings are bad and giving you blow by then the oil would be getting in through your valve seals which either way to know for sure would be to pull the head and look at the buildup on the pistons themselves. The actual changing of valve seals isnt hard its just getting to them lol.

I assume you mean piston rings?

I had my valves completely redone less than 50K miles ago. If I tore down the head, what kind of buildup would I be looking out for?

Yes piston rings, You could pull off the exhaust manifold and look for buildup in the exhaust ports if its rings. Carbon buildup is common of course but im talking you can take a screwdriver and scrape it out and there is depth which isnt good.

So I pull the valves, if there is too much build-up, replace valve seals? If not build-up consider the piston rings?

What do you mean by blow by?

Upon closer inspection of my engine, I've noticed a black dust buildup on the outside of the left half of the valve cover, it's like a thick brake dust. It covered my strut bar (only on that one side) and as well as the bottom of my hood (again, only the part that is above the left side). Key indicator of burning oil?

Sorry thought I responded to your last post must not have hit send. By blow by I mean if the oil ring is bad it could be allowing oil to pass into your combustion chamber and out the exhaust. As far as your valve cover is concerned have you changed your pcv valve in awhile? Its the thing right on top of your valve cover with the hose that runs to your intake manifold. Its possible the pcv valve could be bad and that hose is damaged .

No worries.

No, I've never changed the PCV, think that's the culprit? I was getting all prepared to tear apart the heads.

pcv valve/ pcv seal!!! this will always be the culprit before any of the above mentioned suspects. these mofo's go bad a lot on the evo VIII/ IX's even, especially now that they're all getting older.

Are these one in the same? I'm curious too, does quality matter on one of these? I found conflicting reports on the various internets that I've been cruising, some say you need an OEM from the dealer or else it will leak and be loud and blah blah and others say it doesn't matter. The argument boils down to if you get an aftermarket one, it is made to fit many vehicles and not just mine, so it won't work as well as one made specifically for my car. Can I just go to AutoZone and get any old?

Pcv valves are different for different cars I cant imagine much of a universal pcv valve. Just go aftermarket and get the mid range priced one from oreilys or autozone etc. for our lancer . You always want to start with inexpensive parts first anyways and its good to periodically change that valve. If youve never done it then it is good to change so just think of it as routine maintenence and if it just so happens to fix your problem thats a bonus {thumbup}

I love the way you think. I'll order one today and put it on. Like you said, worst case scenario, I learn how to replace my pcv valve. :beer:

I just ordered a new one for my VIII (OEM) valve and seal totaled $40. I can't imagine the OZ's being anymore expensive than that.

$5 at Autozone sits right with me. I didn't get a new seal, just the valve, but it'll probably only be a few dollars more.

Changed the PCV valve. New development, still burning oil. Do I really need to pull the head and replace valve seals and piston rings? Or is there something else I can do instead, narrow things down, and maybe get lucky that I don't need to do some bulls**t?