ZTT mega oil consumption post rebuild
Discussion
A mystery this....
I accidently cooked the engine in my ZTT 190 in March last year. (my fault, I had a coolant leak and let it get very low) Anyways, the engine never actually gave up, and the leak was fixed without apparent further damage. In fact it ran flawlessly, aside from a very slight missfire when hot until the day of the 120k service in November, when quite literally on that very morning on the way to the garage the "check engine" light came on for the first time ever. (is the car Psychic?)
The diagnosis was that I'd popped the head gasket slightly on cylinder 6 and as such the gasket needed doing.
I decided to do both heads, and while the heads were off I had the exhaust valves relapped in on the advice of the garage. Various seals and gaskets were replaced.
The engine is now purring beautifully. More economical, and certainly more powerful.
Now, here's my problem. Prior to the rebuild the engine used almost no oil. MAybe 1 litre for every 1500 miles of high speed motorway work, and bugger all around town.
NOW it uses a litre every 280 miles, regardless of how its driven. I can see no obvious leaks, and there are no puddles. I've done 2500 miles since the rebuild and the consumption is prety consistent.
The dealer accepts that its not normal and has taken the car back in to find the fault, and aside from a tiny leak around a cam seal, which we both agree does not represent the problem, he can find nothing awry. There is no excessive oil smoke (the odd puff after a long period of engine braking) The engine breather system seems fine, although VIS performance has gone slightly erratic. Coolant level is constant and the engine runs very well, smooth quiet, no rattles or noises.
Where have my 8 litres of oil gone? Any clues, cos the dealer is mystified!
Andy
I accidently cooked the engine in my ZTT 190 in March last year. (my fault, I had a coolant leak and let it get very low) Anyways, the engine never actually gave up, and the leak was fixed without apparent further damage. In fact it ran flawlessly, aside from a very slight missfire when hot until the day of the 120k service in November, when quite literally on that very morning on the way to the garage the "check engine" light came on for the first time ever. (is the car Psychic?)
The diagnosis was that I'd popped the head gasket slightly on cylinder 6 and as such the gasket needed doing.
I decided to do both heads, and while the heads were off I had the exhaust valves relapped in on the advice of the garage. Various seals and gaskets were replaced.
The engine is now purring beautifully. More economical, and certainly more powerful.
Now, here's my problem. Prior to the rebuild the engine used almost no oil. MAybe 1 litre for every 1500 miles of high speed motorway work, and bugger all around town.
NOW it uses a litre every 280 miles, regardless of how its driven. I can see no obvious leaks, and there are no puddles. I've done 2500 miles since the rebuild and the consumption is prety consistent.
The dealer accepts that its not normal and has taken the car back in to find the fault, and aside from a tiny leak around a cam seal, which we both agree does not represent the problem, he can find nothing awry. There is no excessive oil smoke (the odd puff after a long period of engine braking) The engine breather system seems fine, although VIS performance has gone slightly erratic. Coolant level is constant and the engine runs very well, smooth quiet, no rattles or noises.
Where have my 8 litres of oil gone? Any clues, cos the dealer is mystified!
Andy
andymadmak said:
A mystery this....
I accidently cooked the engine in my ZTT 190 in March last year. (my fault, I had a coolant leak and let it get very low) Anyways, the engine never actually gave up, and the leak was fixed without apparent further damage. In fact it ran flawlessly, aside from a very slight missfire when hot until the day of the 120k service in November, when quite literally on that very morning on the way to the garage the "check engine" light came on for the first time ever. (is the car Psychic?)
The diagnosis was that I'd popped the head gasket slightly on cylinder 6 and as such the gasket needed doing.
I decided to do both heads, and while the heads were off I had the exhaust valves relapped in on the advice of the garage. Various seals and gaskets were replaced.
The engine is now purring beautifully. More economical, and certainly more powerful.
Now, here's my problem. Prior to the rebuild the engine used almost no oil. MAybe 1 litre for every 1500 miles of high speed motorway work, and bugger all around town.
NOW it uses a litre every 280 miles, regardless of how its driven. I can see no obvious leaks, and there are no puddles. I've done 2500 miles since the rebuild and the consumption is prety consistent.
The dealer accepts that its not normal and has taken the car back in to find the fault, and aside from a tiny leak around a cam seal, which we both agree does not represent the problem, he can find nothing awry. There is no excessive oil smoke (the odd puff after a long period of engine braking) The engine breather system seems fine, although VIS performance has gone slightly erratic. Coolant level is constant and the engine runs very well, smooth quiet, no rattles or noises.
Where have my 8 litres of oil gone? Any clues, cos the dealer is mystified!
Andy
No idea ~ that's a real mystery.I accidently cooked the engine in my ZTT 190 in March last year. (my fault, I had a coolant leak and let it get very low) Anyways, the engine never actually gave up, and the leak was fixed without apparent further damage. In fact it ran flawlessly, aside from a very slight missfire when hot until the day of the 120k service in November, when quite literally on that very morning on the way to the garage the "check engine" light came on for the first time ever. (is the car Psychic?)
The diagnosis was that I'd popped the head gasket slightly on cylinder 6 and as such the gasket needed doing.
I decided to do both heads, and while the heads were off I had the exhaust valves relapped in on the advice of the garage. Various seals and gaskets were replaced.
The engine is now purring beautifully. More economical, and certainly more powerful.
Now, here's my problem. Prior to the rebuild the engine used almost no oil. MAybe 1 litre for every 1500 miles of high speed motorway work, and bugger all around town.
NOW it uses a litre every 280 miles, regardless of how its driven. I can see no obvious leaks, and there are no puddles. I've done 2500 miles since the rebuild and the consumption is prety consistent.
The dealer accepts that its not normal and has taken the car back in to find the fault, and aside from a tiny leak around a cam seal, which we both agree does not represent the problem, he can find nothing awry. There is no excessive oil smoke (the odd puff after a long period of engine braking) The engine breather system seems fine, although VIS performance has gone slightly erratic. Coolant level is constant and the engine runs very well, smooth quiet, no rattles or noises.
Where have my 8 litres of oil gone? Any clues, cos the dealer is mystified!
Andy
If not already done so, post a similar enquiry on both MG-Rover.org ( R75 and ZT Forum )here :~
http://forums.mg-rover.org/forumdisplay.php?f=90
.... and for good measure here on XPower forum:~
http://forums.xpowerforums.com/
There's some experienced folks on those sites who just might have been there done that.
EDIT to Add @ 00:56
said:
... without apparent further damage ...
AND
the odd puff after a long period of engine braking ..
That could be the problem ~ possible bore/piston/ring damage if car overheated causing damage.AND
the odd puff after a long period of engine braking ..
If you have a friendly MoT tester, ask to put car on emissions test looking for excess of oil in exhaust ~ you've checked all the other possibilities so it only leaves that.
Finally, I have known a pro-repair outfit fail to fit the locating dowels properly following cylinder head gasket replacement so that some of the oil supply to the DOHC went into the combustion chamber..... remote chances I know but it 'appens and cannot simply be magic away....
Edited by MGJohn on Friday 8th January 00:56
Thanks John, but I don't think its ring or bore damge due to the overheating. There was an 8 month
gap between the overheating incident and the HG finally letting go. In this time Oil consumption was normal. Of course, something could have dropped into the bores during the rebuild...
Will see what happens
AKM
gap between the overheating incident and the HG finally letting go. In this time Oil consumption was normal. Of course, something could have dropped into the bores during the rebuild...
Will see what happens
AKM
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