Oil Burning problem

[t . b o z]

Ok, I don't know the rules for diagnosing what is causing oil consumption, so i figured I would ask yous guys.

It just started happening recently, after my last drift event..

but when my car idles for an extended period of time, especially after a cold start up, it will puff a good sized cloud of blue smoke when I take off. Please note, that Im not taking off hard...just pulling away. BTW, this is a KA24DE...relatively low miles.

Its either rings, or valve guides, but I havnt heard of valve guides being that common of a problem on Nissans. But who am I to say..Im new to the Nissan biz.

[Teknolust72]

Valve seals! I have the same problem. If you are gonna keep your KA24, then just get your head done. Most shops charge $350-$350 to overhaul the head.

What oil are you using by the way?

[t . b o z]

Valve seals! I have the same problem. If you are gonna keep your KA24, then just get your head done. Most shops charge $350-$350 to overhaul the head.

What oil are you using by the way?

Mobil 1 10w30 synthetic. Its what the previous owner used, and I havn't done an oil change yet. I don't know what most people use, but I've had no problems running Castrol GTX in the last 2 Honda's that I've owned.

Anywho, I can replace valve seals myself. Im glad its that and not the rings.

Ill probably just find a longblock someone has laying around and build it on the side.

[Teknolust72]

I used to run synthetic oil, but since I've had two 240sx have massive oil loss because of synthetic, I just use Castrol GTX now. Synthetic wreaks havoc on the seals on a KA, since sythetic tends to clean out all that junk that oil leaves behind (but that junk is what keeps your seals in place)

You should do a compression check, just to make sure your rings are not going out.

[projectRDM]

Run a thicker oil for a while and see if it helps, but if not just swap the head with a known good one, valve seals aren't too common so most boneyard heads will be fine. And they're a lot cheaper than rebuilding one.

And for the record, synthetic oil does not do any damage to seals as long as they're still good. Switching to synth on a 150k mile engine that's seen nothing but Havoline it's whole life will cause leaks since the seals are no longer conditioned, that's true on any engine, not just KAs.

[Teknolust72]

Run a thicker oil for a while and see if it helps, but if not just swap the head with a known good one, valve seals aren't too common so most boneyard heads will be fine. And they're a lot cheaper than rebuilding one.

And for the record, synthetic oil does not do any damage to seals as long as they're still good. Switching to synth on a 150k mile engine that's seen nothing but Havoline it's whole life will cause leaks since the seals are no longer conditioned, that's true on any engine, not just KAs.

That is true, thanks for wording that ALOT better than I did...

[t . b o z]

Another thing, the car never smokes when Im accelerating hard, but it sometimes puffs a bit between shifts. I had a friend ride behind me the other night and asked if he could smell oil burning. He said he couldn't, but he could visibly see a puff when I would shift at higher RPM's. Im guessing valve-guides then.. The car still pulls good, runs like a top, and still gets great MPG.

[contranication]

Mine does the same thing, but I can see the oil burning after a hard run or long trip... with 10w-30 I burn constantly and when I switched to 20w-50 it stopped a lot... and mine are definetely the valve seals

[S14Josh]

Valve seals....not valve guides.

My valve seals went out about 6 weeks ago? Ended up getting the whole head rebuilt. Spent a lot more money then i wanted to. But at least i know it'll be good to go for quite a while.

[D1GP]

sorry to bump this. i have a stock ka and it has the symptoms mentioned above. i run 10w-40 with 1/3 of lucas but if i let it idle excessively or take it pass 5500rpms a lot, ill usually lose about a 1/4qt - 1/3qt every week. i'm not sure if it is the rings, valve seals, or pcv. ill be replacing the pcv this weekend but i'm pretty sure it might be the rings or valve seals. i have lots of blow by and roughly 130-140 compression but the motor still pulls hard, runs great, and i still get roughly 24-25mpg (highway and city). my question is, will bad valve seals cause blow by?

[daryl337]

true blow by is a ring problem unless the stem seals are TERRIBLE... but I dont think you would be losing 1/4 qt a week.

[noturS14]

I've had the same problem with my KA, after its sits for a minute idling it will let out a huge puff of white smoke. Did a compression check and got 120-115-115-105, so i guess mine is more than just valve seals, but i guess that's what happens at 217k miles

[madd ocx]

yeah mine was doing that too. when i would start the car up it would give off this big puff of white smoke.. then when ever i hit the gas it would happen every now and then. but i got the heads replaced when i changed the cams and with that the valve seals. problem was solved! it wasn't burning any oil though..

[rncs13]

this may be a stupid question but: when you burn oil and what not and go in for an emissions test or w/e....will you fail?