Using Excessive Oil in a 2005 Mazda 3 hatchback

[thebigm]

Alright so we are all aware some of the Mazda 3s like using oil excessively with no real answer to what causes it. So this is my story on trying to fix the issue. Im alright for doing basic stuff to cars but I am no expert mechanic.

So i bout the car with 87,000km on the car.

The previous owner advised me that it would need an oil change very soon. So about a thousand km later i brought it in to get an oil change since it was becoming fall time and cold where i am i didn't want to do it myself. I brought the car in and the mechanic told me that it was bone dry on oil and that i was close to seizing my engine. The oil light never came on so i'm not too worried about that.

After having that done a few months later car wasn't being driven lots just to and from school which is very short and to work on the weekends. I had to use my car for work on the weekends and noticing the car started to idle rough. Checked the oil and it was pretty much empty!
brought it in to my regular mechanic found out the oil filter housing is cracked is not uncommon so i thought this would be the perfect time to do the spin on conversion. I did the conversion and drove my car around for a while again.
After about a month i noticed the car got really rough again checked the oil and it was almost empty! I filled the oil up and and reset my trip b to calculate my oil consumption.

I'm at roughly 1L of oil per 1000km which is brutal!!!

So i have read that you should change the pcv if you are losing oil without it pooling on the ground.

I have purchased the pcv valve and pcv valve hose. I am getting it replaced with an oil change as well on Friday.

I will update this if it gets rid of the problem and if it comes back or not i will check my dipstick after 1000km which will probably take a couple of weeks to do because i don't drive a ton since i'm in school and my job is relatively close to myself.

Next step is to do a leak down test if this doesn't resolve that and if thats good I don't know what to do next??

[r4BBiT]

Do a compression test so you can determine if the car is burning oil or not.

[thebigm]

thats my next step if the pcv valve doesn't resolve the issue.

[gabbygenier]

just a note that even if its not pooling on the ground it might still be leaking. i had an issue with leaking oil. it seemed that it was leaking when it was under pressure. kind of makes sense since the dealer told me it was the timing chain cover seal that was gone. also the oil pan seal and the valve cover seals were done. those all got replaced and then realized my oil pan has a hairline crack so that needs to be replaced. although my car has 290000kms on it.

there was never a huge puddle of oil under my car. every once in a while there would be some but not all the time and it was only small amounts. i also have no skid plate, so if you do, the little oil that is coming out when parked (if its leaking) could simply be on there.

check the engine to see if you can see oil on it anywhere that should not be there.

[thebigm]

yeah im aware of that cause we saw it dripped a drop of oil when backing up into my dads work's garage when i was changing out my headlight bulbs.

so i brought it in had the oil change done. He didn't realize it was going to be this big of a job so we are re scheduling for sometime next week.

during this oil change though i guess one of the knocked the started wire which was apparently corroded and my vehicle wouldn't start was able to jump start it though but he couldn't resolve it. Drove it to mazda dealer the mechanic found out to be the starter wire and it was corroded and we were able to get it started.
Mazda is going to repair the starter wire on Monday if they can.

PCV valve work will be done later next week sometime.

If anyone has had this oil issued and resolved it let me know because if i can't get it fix i will be selling this car.

[thebigm]

Newer update*

picked up my car from Mazda for the started wire repair

asked how much it would be to replace the pcv valve quoted me about 60$ for less than an hour of labour.

The way they do it there is they take the throttle body off to give themselves a little more room to get to it and use super long needle nose pliers to remove it and install it.

[thebigm]

Newer update*

picked up my car from Mazda for the started wire repair

asked how much it would be to replace the pcv valve quoted me about 60$ for less than an hour of labour.

The way they do it there is they take the throttle body off to give themselves a little more room to get to it and use super long needle nose pliers to remove it and install it.

The pcv is getting done next week now since i was a victim of fraud and have to wait for all my money to be retuned to me.

[thebigm]

Here is the update had the pcv valve replaced was pretty nasty when I got it but still functional. After having it done though my fuel economy has went up slightly which is a plus.
One morning the I was heading out and I started my car my dad noticed some smoke as he was approaching the rear of the car. I turned it off and started it again and was able to see the smoke it took a couple seconds for it to show and than after it would puff smoke for a few 5-10 seconds and than stop.
So im curious would it be the piston seals? or valve stem steals?

Piston seals to have replaced are about $1800 bucks from the dealer.

does anyone know how much the valve stem seals are to replace?

[midnightfxgt]

Do a compression test, or better yet, a leakdown test to pinpoint the issue.

[staax]

1000 km/L sucks but it isn't brutal.

My fathers 06 RAV4 goes through 1L in only 450 kms. Yay for faulty rings!

[Lux]

[QUOTE=thebigm;1199098does anyone know how much the valve stem seals are to replace?[/QUOTE]
Valve stem seals will not cause a high oil consumption condition.
Oil burning on cold start could also be caused by cold pistons (non-hypereutectic) so don't condemn your valve stem seals, yet, without evidence.
You will find the most likely culprit to be within the cylinders.
A wet compression test can locate really bad rings fairly quickly, but a leakdown test will identify more delicate compression issues.

[TheMAN]

switch to a thicker oil... the recommended 5W20 is piss thin.... 5W30 fixes/prevents many oil burning problems

[thebigm]

i did switch to 5w30 and it still burnt the exact same amount of oil.

[evildiesel]

Here is the update had the pcv valve replaced was pretty nasty when I got it but still functional. After having it done though my fuel economy has went up slightly which is a plus.
One morning the I was heading out and I started my car my dad noticed some smoke as he was approaching the rear of the car. I turned it off and started it again and was able to see the smoke it took a couple seconds for it to show and than after it would puff smoke for a few 5-10 seconds and than stop.
So im curious would it be the piston seals? or valve stem steals?

Piston seals to have replaced are about $1800 bucks from the dealer.

does anyone know how much the valve stem seals are to replace?

get a compression test done. have you checked the rear main seal?? id say piston rings are done maybe hard to tell with out being their really..

get that test done where they can find a leak... if your burning oil... this will plug your CAT and result in horrible fuel mileage has any service lights came on? if so did you get the codes read? my car has 136xxx on it or so and i havnt had my PCV replaced.. so who ever had the car before DIDNT maintain it. you can try an oil additive that stops/prevents leaks let me know how that works.. but id def see if the CAT is plugged.. try roding it down the highway let me know what happens.. if theirs alot of smoke smell etc..

[thebigm]

No I haven't had a compression test done yet. How do I check the rear main seal? I'm only getting about 400-450 a tank but I do mostly city driving, before I was only getting high 300's prior to doing the pcv valve change. No engine lights have came on. I have considered that as an option but i don't want to temp fix it though. I'm going away for school so I can't afford to keep putting money into it.
There isn't a lot of smoke or smell my dad drove behind me and didn't notice any smoke while driving. It only smokes for a few seconds during start up and than it goes away.

[mazdaagain]

This was a very common problem on the 2.3L engines. Mine was fine through to about 160,000 km then I started to notice low oil levels. Never ever had any oil leaking or spots under the car. I would check oil levels frequently and the levels consistently were low with mileage driven. Never saw any smoke or anything that indicated oil burning. I simply got in the habit of having a 4L jug of oil in the car and a funnel and would just fill up periodically.

Ended up getting rid of the car at approx. 240,000 km.

[thebigm]

compression test showed that it was running 180 all the way across the board. got them to check my suspension as it is squeaky...my shocks are leaking and a lot of suspension components need to be replaced :( leak down is going to get done this week sometime hopefully

[thebigm]

Well here is a current update. Got a leak down test done valve seals are sealing up fine. They have found the problem to be in cylinder 3. They do not know what is causing the issue. They have to tear apart the motor to determine what the issue is.

[silverstarmazda]

it always seems to be cyl 3. heard it might have something to do with the balancing shaft assembly thats directly under it :/ it could be possible that one of the oil galleries/ bearings in the balance shaft assembly is worn down thus dropping oil pressure. this drop in pressure causes lack of lubrication in multiple areas and cause all sorts of problems. think internal bleeding to the point where something wore down far enough to burn oil.

not sure if any of that is true but thats what some people who have the balance shaft delete says. try getting an oil pressure test if you can.

[thebigm]

hey silverstarmazda went i went in the acutla mechanic guy said it's most likely the oil ring from cylinder #3