Civic EG

i decide to check my oil dipstick today theres no reading. I know I filled up just a few months ago so, WTF. this happens with my dipstick a lot sometimes its the way i'm parked .....butt it didn't make a difference when i moved the car to flat ground this time. theres no signs of leak, no crack in the head, no puddles of oil in my garage just like two or three drops over a time of approx. 5 months. i just replaced the pan gasket last mid fall, made sure bolts were tighten to specs and put a lot of gasket sealant . no VC leaks either.

so i test it, i filled up oil some oil and now i get a reading.

my friend told me i'm most likely burning oil, and its the piston rings.
anyone know what else it might be???, ill check everything after i get some suggestions

+ white smoke is burning oil right?

white smoke is head gasket gone bad, the only other things besides rings would be valve guides, i had both go bad and i would lose a crankcase of oil in less than a week, best thing you can do to check for bad rings is compression test, and just keep poking around and see if you can spot a small leak anywhere. hope that helps, and if your burning lots of oil you would get bluish smoke everytime you got on the gas

White smoke is water.. Blue/black is oil.
If no leak is found it is burning it,
And if you are getting white smoke, head gasket is bad.

My d16a6 loses oil constantly. I have a very very small leak at my front and rear main seals. I discovered than when I pulled the motor and poured out about a quart of oil from my transmission where the clutch sits. On my d16y8 I lose oil as well. It has a fresh rebuild done by Honda of Mentor. I am not burning oil out of my exhaust. It is natural for a motor to burn oil internally. Expect about 1 quart every 1,500-3,000 miles depending on the mileage of the motor, the condition of the motor, the way you drive and the climate where you drive.

When you say its been a few months for a oil change how many miles is that?

rustyrex wrote:My d16a6 loses oil constantly. I have a very very small leak at my front and rear main seals. I discovered than when I pulled the motor and poured out about a quart of oil from my transmission where the clutch sits. On my d16y8 I lose oil as well. It has a fresh rebuild done by Honda of Mentor. I am not burning oil out of my exhaust. It is natural for a motor to burn oil internally. Expect about 1 quart every 1,500-3,000 miles depending on the mileage of the motor, the condition of the motor, the way you drive and the climate where you drive.

When you say its been a few months for a oil change how many miles is that?

well hmm, are you sure thats regular?? i'd like to have more input/evidence from more people. still learning about automotive mechanics.

not to many miles ago under about 5k since last oil change and i did it my self, checked the oil filter no leaking, the oil pan no leak, head no leak...the dipstick literally had NO reading. Ill take it to my mechanic + i need to smog check maybe they might find something.

Oil is a consumable. Heat and friction break down oil in anything. My bike, all of my Hondas, my truck hell even my boat all consume oil.

rustyrex wrote:Oil is a consumable. Heat and friction break down oil in anything. My bike, all of my Hondas, my truck hell even my boat all consume oil.

mehh i dont wanna keep buying oil. oh well its for the greater good,

and if its just burning and burning shouldn't i have to clean out my internals at some point because its not getting flushed out by oil changes, just burned to nothing hardened particles?


there has to be a way to get it to stop burning some much oil so fast

I'm willing to bet if you looked inside your cat it would look like the ceiling of a cave. The oil will "catch" on the core of the cat and over time basically melt it. It takes a long time for that to happen under normal circumstances.