Using a lot of oil but no smoke coming from exhaust?

Tiny
WOLVERENE
  • MEMBER
  • 2004 HONDA HRV
  • 76,000 MILES
Using a lot of oil on my 2004 Honda HR-v but no smoke coming from exhaust. However there is a lot of soot build up in tailpipe which is greasy to to touch.

using a lot of oil on my Honda hr-v but not smoking from tailpipe and no leaks. However there is a greasy build up of soot in tailpipe.
Monday, October 31st, 2011 AT 7:11 AM

10 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
How much oil is being used up and after what mileage?
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Monday, October 31st, 2011 AT 12:05 PM
Tiny
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After just 200 miles the oil level has dropped from the top mark down to about the 1/2 way mark (about a litre?). Was told to leave the car idling for 40minutes then to rev engine and unfortunately there is grey/black smoke from thev exhaust every time I blip the throttle. Could this be the PCV valve or something more serious?
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Monday, October 31st, 2011 AT 1:00 PM
Tiny
FIXITMR
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Your definately burning oil. Look in air cleaner to see if their is any hint of it in there.
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Monday, October 31st, 2011 AT 1:39 PM
Tiny
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Hi there
looked in air box and no sign of any oil - can`t see any piping from the breather system going to the concertina plastic air supply fitted into air box either so can`t see how oil would get in there unless it was blown back from inlet manifold. Been trying to work out the system on my vtec hr-v but its completely different to other cars i`ve owned. I`ve ordered up a PCV valve from Honda but its going to be 10 days before I get it over here in Cyprus, so I am a bit worried about using the car. Only had it a week and have found the oil problem and a noise from the rear that 2 mechanics can`t make their mind up on if its wheel bearing or the Differential. Noise came on on 2nd day I had it!
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Monday, October 31st, 2011 AT 3:28 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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One of the most common cause4s of oil consumption would be bad valve seals and they do not rresult in the exhaust smoking badly. The catalytic converter is able to reduce much of the smoke and one way of finding out is to check for excessive carbon deposits on the spark plug tips.
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Monday, October 31st, 2011 AT 3:48 PM
Tiny
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The exhaust only smoked if I revved the engine after it had been ticking over- there is no smoke pouring out as I drive like I have seen on some cars leaving a smoke trail. Just wondering if it could be the PCV valve malfunctioning ( it plugs into a box called a Breather Chamber where air and oil vapour are separated supposedly - just quoting what I have read - its all gibberish to me. Will check the plugs as soon as I can get a socket - recently moved over here and don`t have any tools yet, all mine are in the UK.
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Monday, October 31st, 2011 AT 4:20 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Any fault with the PCV would not incur too much oil burning, you would more likely have idling issues, a higher than normal idling speed.
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Monday, October 31st, 2011 AT 4:48 PM
Tiny
WOLVERENE
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On a Honda Forum it was suggested by many that a PCV stuck open would tend to cause a huge loss of oil - I might be grasping at straws that this is the cause of my oil consumption. If it was allowing oil to escape into the intake manifold which then gets burnt could that be the cause of the smoke because of oil hitting the Cat? All guessing on my part, just hope its not an engine strip down. Being a small island, Cyprus prices for cars is very high and so are the parts etc.
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Monday, October 31st, 2011 AT 5:22 PM
Tiny
FIXITMR
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What weight oil are you using? Since your on an island with no cold weather?
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Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 AT 12:02 AM
Tiny
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Due to the regular high temps over here I am using a semi synthetic 10W - 40
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Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 AT 6:55 AM

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