Anyway to fix burning oil?, Besides getting a rebuild? Options

[Stambo]

After realizing i gotta put a couple quarts in between oil changes. I figured i might start saving for a engine rebuild. I'm only at 170,000m though but i burn oil like no other... Is there any other way to fix that or am i just stupid trying to believe there is a other way.

This post has been edited by Stambo: Jun 29, 2008 - 12:15 PM

[Euphoria]

shouldn't be burning oil that early on, I know I have a different motor but I have 185 000km and it doesn't burn oil at all, I could go way over 5000km for an oil change but I don't because I want my engine to last longer.

[pipes]

replace the valve seals they can be done in a day and with the engine in the car

[Jdog1385]

replace the valve seals they can be done in a day and with the engine in the car

you'll know its the seals if you see a puff of smoke when you start up the car

[Stambo]

i know i dont see a puff of smoke when the car starts. I can smell lthe oil burning. I guess i'll live with it for now. What you guys think save for just a rebuild and maybe get it bored out a bit or save for a 3s swap?

[hurley97]

My 7A started burning oil around 165k. I dealt with it for a long time until it started getting really bad around 190k. I was going through about 3qts of oil every 3-4 days and it smoked so bad out the back, found out later it was also leaking from almost all the oil seals too.

If you don't see that puff of smoke on startup it's most likely your piston rings more so than the valve seals. I figured if I was going to go so far as to change the piston rings I might as well do a full rebuild, so I got a second motor and rebuilt it. Swapped it in at 196k miles.

You could just remove the oil pans and pull the crank and pistons out from the bottom. Problem is that you still have to get the timing belt off to get the front oil pump off the block and the transmission off to get the rear main seal housing off the block before you can pull the crank out. It's so much easier to just pull the whole engine out, rebuild it, then put it back in.


old oil control rings


vs new oil control rings

[richee3]

So that puff of smoke when you start the car up is either the valve seals or the piston rings? My GT with 127,000 miles on it does that too. It doesn't constantly burn oil, just a puff when I start it up, and only once in a while. I don't plan on doing anything about it. I'd rather just swap it out for a 3S.

[hurley97]

So that puff of smoke when you start the car up is either the valve seals or the piston rings? My GT with 127,000 miles on it does that too. It doesn't constantly burn oil, just a puff when I start it up, and only once in a while. I don't plan on doing anything about it. I'd rather just swap it out for a 3S.

valve seals. those are much easier to change but you do have to know what you are doing or you could make a mistake that usually leads to having to take the head off.

[Stambo]

thanks for the info hurley. I just hope it doesn't get worse so i can save for a rebuild or 3s swap. One question though, when you rebuilt your engine did you get it bore'd out a bit or change the compression or did you just get quality parts so you could turbo it?

[hurley97]

I did not bore anything out, just honed the cylinder walls. Reason being that I wanted to use my existing pistons, if I was going to bore it out I'd have to put bigger pistons in and if I was going to buy bigger pistons I'd have bought Arias pistons or something extreme like that. I've already spent way too much money on the turbo setup and IMO my pistons will be just fine and the price of bigger pistons outweighs the gains. If the upgraded rods were readily available at the time I might have went with those though.

[Stambo]

alright, your full of info on the 7afe

[garin]

my celica is having the same problem. my mechanic told me to buy a product called restorer (the 4 cylinder kind) it just fills in scratches in place like the cylinder walls to prevent friction. it help a little. he said this product is hit and miss. he also said that with toyota engines the easiest thing to do is to just replace all the seals and gaskets. i may do this. but i'm looking into doing the gt4 swap next summer maybe so idk.

[97Celica]

the oil control rings seem like a safe bet. At the end of the 97's life I had replaced the valve seals,valve cover gasket,etc...it didn't help really.

[Stambo]

you think if i took it to a toyota dealership they could give me a estimate on new seals and oil control rings, maybe a entire rebuild?

[hurley97]

It's going to be at least a couple thousand dollars in labor alone from the dealership, and I wouldn't have it done anywhere else.

I am lucky enough to work at a Toyota dealership so I was able to do it myself with the help of one of the master techs for only the cost of parts.

I personally think, if you are mechanically inclined, you should get another engine and try to rebuild it yourself. If you have any questions I can probably answer them and if I can't I know a bunch of people who can. If you haven't already, you should check out my 7AFE rebuild thread, it'll give you an idea of what you'd be up against and if you think you could handle it.