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I would definitely recommend posting your query to the 9-3 board. Not everyone reads every board, but the die-hard 9-3 mechanics will read the 9-3 board. I don't have a 9-3, but generally speaking, causes of oil loss can be divided into leakage and burning. Leakage is visible on the ground in your parking spot and all over your engine, and if you're losing a quart every 1K miles, it would be a mess. Burning shows up as a blue smoke from the tailpipe that lingers in the air.
Burning oil, of course, means that the oil is getting into the cylinders. So the four main routes are:
1. Turbo oil seals. In this case, oil enters the intake air, travels with the air into your intercooler, through your throttle and the intake manifold, and into the combustion chamber. Your intercooler would be full of oil, and if you open up the throttle body (just pull off the big rubber intake hose), there should be a coating of oil.
2. Valve guides - These rubber sleeves surround the valve stems. Since the oil drips from the cylinder head past the guides as the car sits, you tend to get a big puff of oil smoke at start-up. Hard to diagnose.
3. Rings - There are piston rings that are designed to hold back oil, and rings designed to maintain compression. Typically, they all go in short order, so if this is the problem, you tend to see low compression in one or more cylinders. Adding a shot of oil to the cylinder (through the spark plug hole) for a second reading shows an improved compression value on the second reading, as the oil forms a temporary seal between ring and cylinder wall. Overhaul is the only remedy. I had this problem once and decided to replace the engine with a used one (cheaper).
4. Cylinder head gasket - There are oil channels cut into the engine block which mate up exactly with corresponding channels in the cylinder head, and the cylinder head gasket maintains the integrity of this connection. If the gasket fails, then oil can seep horizontally along the gasket to the combustion chamber. Typically, you also see low compression in one or more cylinders with this, as well. A shot of oil will not improve the compression reading.
So start with the easiest thing - a visual inspection on all sides of the engine for oil. If OK, then pull the rubber hose off the throttle body and look for oil. If you see some, start pulling off hoses closer to the turbo and see if you still see oil. If this is the problem, start looking online for either turbo replacement or rebuild.
If there's no oil in the take system, do a compression check. If any of the values are low, repeat with a shot of oil. If this proves to be your problem, a shot of some other liquid may be indicated.
Typically, it will be the turbo, unless the engine has had a severe overheating episode in its past, which can warp the cylinder head and cause the gasket to give way.
Best of luck.
posted by 99.153.135...
, Fri, 26 Dec 2008 09:50:33
, Wed, 24 Dec 2008 21:00:15, Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:37:28
, Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:34:44
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