K20 oil consumption - What is normal?

[DaRKNT]

Is it normal for DC5s to burn oil if driven hard?

I spent the last two days going around the twisties at 6-8k rpm and I had to top up around 400mls this morning...

That said... I check oil first thing in the morning wothout turbing the engine on.

[SPL_K]

Don't think burning oil should be an issue driven hard or not. I had a K20 in my DC2R, never had any oil issues on twisties, hard driving or after track days but I did do an oil change every 3-5000km.

[John_K20A]

Yea, its normal for a K to burn a little oil when driven hard. No need to panic.

[plAythiNG]

Hmm, my car has never burned any oil at all!

I also change mine anywhere from 3-6k klm also....

[DaRKNT]

This is the first time I noticed it... maybe I'm just being paranoid... or I didn't check the level properly the night before. I'll check again in a few days... hope all is good.

My engine gets heaps hot too compared to cars like my camry... but my cluster temp guage says it's normal and stays at the middle.

[DaRKNT]

Btw... it's an 82k motor and is running 8100 x-cess at 5w40. Would have seen at least 30 vtec hits in the twisties over the weekend.

[plAythiNG]

Btw... it's an 82k motor and is running 8100 x-cess at 5w40. Would have seen at least 30 vtec hits in the twisties over the weekend.

Have u done your service at 80k?

[DaRKNT]

Yep. Did oil, mtf, oil filter, cleaned spark plugs at 77.5k. Valve clearances, brake fluid, ps fluid. Air filter and radiator coolant were done not too long ago too

[DaRKNT]

Okkie... so I feel very stupid. I just realised the surface I checked my oil on was not completely level...

I went for a drive came back, let it cool for 2 hours and measured my oil level again, on a level surface.

I'm a little over now... it's at the top where the kink starts at the bottom. I'd say it's over by UP TO 500 ml.

What do?

[T-BaGGeR]

It's fine

[SPL_K]

If there was already too much oil in the engine then the motor would have either seized, blown out all your seals then you would have engine oil everywhere and you would need a rebuild The pressure built up inside would have to go somewhere. Sounds like you're fine. I'm sure the people who invented the dipstick measurements would have been a little bit more pessimistic towards it since they would have figured there would be a number of people who would fill above the line intentionally or accidently

If you're worried, wait until morning when all the oil has settled and then drain the excess out.

P.S. Air Asia website is shit... found my cheapest return flight to KL for $287 then website timed out. Meh, might as well go book on Qantas or SG lol.

[fatboyz39]

If your staying in the high rev range burning 400ml isnt much. K20a are old engines now and tend to burn oil esp revving that high.

[sleepingperformance]

Why are you checking your oil level without starting the engine?

Even if you only run the car for 30sec you will get a much more accurate reading than simply pulling the dipstick out when it is cold as all the oil drains out of the cylinder head and passages overnight, giving you a slightly increased level reading

[ChargeR]

Agree with most of the folk above, 400mL isn't excessive consumption, the manual states anything up to 1L per 1000km can be considered normal, and a 500mL overfill is not excessive. I routinely overfill my car by 500mL or more for track use, as recommended by the instructions that came with my Toda sump baffle. Toda know what they're doing.

[tinkerbell]

Why are you checking your oil level without starting the engine?

i dunno about the OP, but personally i would do that as the oil level indicated on the dipstick is a 'relative', not an 'absolute' measurement? (i.e. it doesnt tell you there are 4.1L of oil - it tells you where (relative to two dots) the oil in your sump is)

e.g. if i always check my oil on the same surface, without starting the engine, i can always tell if the oil level has gone down (relative to where i remember i saw it the last time i checked)...

I like to have my cold oil level at the top dot - or above the top dot when racing.