Hey guys, have had a problem these last few weeks, and it has me stumped.

for 2 months, my engine oil hasnt even faltered on the dipstick, then all of a sudden between 2 weeks of not checking the oil, it has gone down to half, top it up week later its down to 3/4. Now its not leaving puddles on the ground, its not blowing smoke and ive done a compression test and everything seems a-ok (180psi across all cylinders), no oil in the water and no water in the oil and i have no difference in power. Occasionally when i boot it, i can smell a faint oil burning smell, but no smoke so im wondering if it could possibly be the pcv valve? or has anyone else had a similar problem and have any ideas?

cheers

chrisc

Check for oil leaks at the front of the motor, from where the timing cover meets the head both sides. Check around the crankshaft pulley and check around the timing chain tensioner. Of course you have checked out the oil filter and oil pressure switch or sender haven't you.

yea ive checked all the sus places, rear main is fine, timing case is fine, oil filter/pressure switch are fine

like i said its not leaving puddles, and there are no trails down the block, or the sump for that matter so it has me stuffed

it could be burning it....

do a compression test when the engine has been left overnight ie not been run in 8hrs
called a "dry" comp test

then squirt some oil down the cylinders and retest
"wet" test

if the results are the same not rings but if there is a difference by more than 10% somthing is up

Brother had the same problem in his AU,ended up being the head, he still had good compression also,was done under warranty for him though.

a compressio test will not show up if the oil rings are worn out. it only shows up the condition of the compression rings.

more then likely it's burning it. they don't always smoke when they burn oil.

how many kms since the oil has been changed??

the oil has done about 3000km, has just started to turn dirty, its getting a oil change this week wich im hoping will clean it up a bit, ill try the wet compression test and see how she goes, the reason i asked about the pcv is that i think the ball bearing has stopped moving, ie it doesnt rattle when i shake it so im wondering if its stuck in the open mode and ramming oil through it, i noticed a bit of oil in the bottom of the intake manifold thats all

Fit new PCV and retard timing 1 or 2 degrees???