[Domeman]

96' Trooper 3.2 6 cylinder

They have looked at the Trooper a couple of times. I drove 100 highway miles and the was down Quart and Half. The vehicle does not leak oil, leaves no puddles on the ground. Since its been an on going problem since I purcahsed it 2 months ago.

A few have made suggestions but so far they have said none of those lead anywhere. I cannot confirm they actually check any of those items.

Does anyone know why an engine would burn oil and not leak it. It appears when I drive at highway speeds it burns faster.

Thanks.

 

[JTK]

At a rate of 1.5qts/100mi, if the oil is getting into the combustion chamber, you would definately be leaving a HUGE blue smoke screen behind you. Especially upon startup & acceleration. A heavy rear-main seal leak would be coating your bellhousing/transmission & undercariage as you drive. How does your coolant look? pull the radiator cap to see if you have any oily residue in there. If you have no signs of leaks & no smoke- This is PFM... pure ****** magic!!!!
G/luck
JOel

 

[ZuzuSLX]

Can't help much as I have the 3.5 in my SLX, BUT it is in the shop for the last of its warranty work, and they're looking at mystery oil consumption as well. Not drastic, but at least a quart every 1,000 mi.

They changed the oil (guess they didn't trust my paper work) and told me to come back in 3500 mi... Heck by that time I'll be 3 1/2 low!

:wink:

I'll keep checking the board and keep you posted.

SB in DC

 

[wrenchmonster]

Hello. I might also suggest doing a cylinder leak down test. There is a specific tool to do this procedure. Any good shop will be able to do this. Also, if you have a bore scope take a look inside the cylinder for excess oil and mechanical damage. Were your plugs oil-fouled?

I'm not terribly familiar with your engine but if you have high compression and thus good sealing valves and rings, I would suspect the valve stem seals are bad if you are burning oil. Typically, when they start to go bad you will see blue smoke on startup. Sometimes if you live in a particularly warm climate or drive the vehicle constantly this can be somewhat difficult to diagnose. If there is no presence of oil in your tailpipe I would suggest taking off the exhaust manifold and seeing if there is any presence of oil before the Cat (as your cat my be dealing with this for now). And, as Joel suggested check the main seals and other mechanical items that might be leaking oil.

-Kevin

 

[Domeman]

Does it make sense to anyone that the value cover gasket could let oil leak in to the spark plugs and burn offs the oil? That's what my original mechanic told me. I have to now rely on the mechanic that sold me the vehicle and they said that the spark plug well would be full of oil or the spark plugs would be discolored.

Can anyone confirm that would happen or with dripping oil it would just burn off with the gas?

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[¡Oracle!]

A leaking valve cover gasket could leak oil into the spark plug holes in the valve cover. This would burn off but I find it extremely unlikely given the amount of oil that you are going through.

There would likely be very visible oil stains around one or several of the holes in the valve cover where the coil packs are sitting. I can't see how that amount of oil would be leaking around there without obvious signs.

Your plugs would be discolored and the cables would have oil residue all over them.

Possible, but unlikely IMO.

 

[wrenchmonster]

A valve cover gasket? No offense, but if the problem IS the valve cover gasket your mechanic should have already diagnosed and fixed this problem. With that out of the way, one can move onto other oil leak issues.

Any good shop will have a bottle of dye that they can use to put in your oil. Then you drive for a day and return to the shop. Then your mechanic will use a black light to find the oil leak (if he/she suspects exterior oil loss).

In short, if you aren't leaking externally or internally (back into your coolant), you are burning off the oil. My suggestion at this point is to find another, GOOD mechanic.

-Kevin

 

[JTK]

Oil leaking into the spark plug recesses is caused by bad O-ring seals that separate the spark plug tube from the cylinder head. Just replacing the valve cover gasket will not solve the oil leak into the spark plug tubes. You have to replace these O-rings as well. Alittle bit of oil in there is pretty typical of pre 1998 3.2 engines. It's near impossible for oil to fill the tube & short out the ignition wire- unless you have excessive crank-case pressure. Isuzu put out a "revised" spark plug boot that will stop the leak by plugging the tube. Not sure of the part # tho! www.stcharlesauto.com might know. G/luck!
Joel