Interesting oil consumption issue

[tom4bren]

I prolly won't try to re-use any of the oil caught by the canister. It'll contain a lot of gunk that tends to accumulate on top of the baffle inside the valve cover.

So far there's been no appreciable accumulation (just enough to 'wet' the plug on the bottom of the canister).

I'm thinking about modifying mine slightly: Add a drop tube to the inlet so that those gasses come into the canister about 1/2 way down. Add steel wool or sump'n to act as a baffle to condensate more of the liquids before going into the combustion chamber. Haven't quite convinced meself that it's needed yet. Since I've gotten so little accumulation, I think it's worth a shot.

BTW, with mine bolted to the airbox, there's little access to the drain port on the bottom of the canister. If I were accumulating enough that it needed to be emptied very often, I'd prolly relocate it so that the drain was more accessable.

[evillecutter]

any wiring on it or is it just the tubes and canister? and wouldnt we lost the same amount of oil if the canister is just accumulating and saving what would have been burnt off?i was under the assumption that it would reuse the oil so we dont lose it...

[tom4bren]

any wiring on it or is it just the tubes and canister? and wouldnt we lost the same amount of oil if the canister is just accumulating and saving what would have been burnt off?i was under the assumption that it would reuse the oil so we dont lose it...

Nope, nope, & nope. Strike 3

No wiring, the canister just replaces the PCV.

The thought was that since our PCV tends to get all wonky, the canister would serve the same purpose as the PCV without clogging. Positive pressure in the valve covers would cause all kinds of leaks (more consumption) whenever the PCV is clogged. The canister should just collect the liquid oil & still allow the gasses to get to the combustion chamber.

There's no automatic return from the canister to the valve cover. If'n you want to pour it back in yerself, I won't tell nobody.

Mebbe Ldub can splain it better'n me since he's been running his for a year or 2 now.

[evillecutter]

i thought we wanted to get rid of the gasses and keep the oil? is the oil that is accumulating in the canister oil that was in vapor form but then condensed? is that what would be going out the exhaust if it was not for the canister? if a train leaves the station at 7:45 going 90 mph headed east into a 7mph headwind and.......sorry

[tom4bren]

Yah, gasses from the valve covers need to be evacuated so that there is no positive pressure built up. There will be some oil suspended in those gasses. Before the 1960's the gasses could just be vented to the atmosphere & you can still get little filters to allow that to happen. Car manufacturers are however required by law to supply the vehicle with a means of combusting those gasses rather than venting them. Drip canisters are legal and do work but the manufacturers choose not to use them for cost & maintenance reasons.

[evillecutter]

Yah, gasses from the valve covers need to be evacuated so that there is no positive pressure built up. There will be some oil suspended in those gasses. Before the 1960's the gasses could just be vented to the atmosphere & you can still get little filters to allow that to happen. Car manufacturers are however required by law to supply the vehicle with a means of combusting those gasses rather than venting them. Drip canisters are legal and do work but the manufacturers choose not to use them for cost & maintenance reasons.

so a breather where the pvc is would in theory work better or the same as a canister system right, except its illegal?

[tom4bren]

yah, something like this should work:

http://www.pepboys.com/product/details/9291218/00031/

I wasn't sure if it would be messy though (dripping oil once the filter is saturated).

It's only illegal for the manufacturer to install. You can do it on your own vehicle.

[evillecutter]

I wasn't sure if it would be messy though (dripping oil once the filter is saturated).

was wondering the same thing - thanks again tom

[tom4bren]

After another week, I'm gonna say that my oil consumption is basically 1/2 of what it was before the mod. I'm putting in a quart every 2 weeks instead of every week (or more). That's with 500+ miles per week mostly in HEAVY traffic on the interstate - so lotsa 'rowing' thru traffic.

[blacksambo]

Good report. Keep'em coming.

[tom4bren]

Interesting read:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_it_true...ced_frequently

[VXorado]

Nice idea Tom, glad to hear about some improvement so far...

I think you should couple this idea with an oil change. Jerry Lemond on the Planet (Isuzu Tech), recommends Rotella 5-40 which is an diesel oil with more cleaning additives. I read another post where he recommended a couple very quick oil changes followed by a permanent switch to Rotella. The idea being, to clean the engine build up as much as possible for quicker results. My VX seems to be burning more and more oil so I plan to make the switch soon.

Here's a quote from him...

BC IS RIGHT , RIGHT ABOUT THE RINGS AND THE OIL DRAIN BACK HOLES IN THE PISTONS, STARTING IN98 ON THE 3.2 AND THE 3.5 ENG ISUZU WAS TRYING TO GE TTHE SLIDIGN RESISTENCE ON THE PISTON DOWN ON THE NEWER ENGS LESS RESISTENCE ,MEANS MORE POWER AND BETTER MILEAGE SO THEY MADE THE PISTONS WITH THE RINGS SPECIFICALLY THE OIL CONTROL RINGS SMALLER IN THICKNESS AND ON THE PISTONS RING LAND THEY ONLY DRILLED TWO DRAIN BACK HOLES IN EACH SIDE OF THE PISTON, IN THE LAND ITSELF, FOR THE GUYS WHO MAY NOT COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND WHY WE EVEN NEED HOLES IN THE LANDS AT ALL, PIX THIS EVERYTIME THE PISTON IS AT TDC IT IS EITHER BEING PUSHED DOWN BY THE FIRING OF THE CYL ON IT S POWER STROKE OR IT IS BEING PULLED DOWN BY THE CRANKSHAFT ON THE INTAKE STROKE , SO WHERE DOES THE OIL COME FROM ON THE CRANKSHAFT ROD JOURNAL THERE IS A HOLE DRILLED TO ALINE WITH A HOLE THAT IS DRILLED ON AN ANGLE IN THE CONNECTING ROD ITSELF THAT GOES ALLTHE WAY THRU AND EXITS RIGHT ABOUT ONE OF THE ROD BOLTS, , NOW THIS HOLE IS DRILLED AND ALINGHED IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT CAN ONLY SQUIRT OIL ON THE CYL WALLS AS THE PISTON IS COMING DOWN FROM TDC AND ONLY ON THE MAJOR THRUST SIDE OF THE PISTON, WHICH IS THE INTAKE SIDE OF THE PISTON THAT IS WHY YOU HAVE THE LISTONS WITH FRT MARKS ON THEM AMONG A COUPLE OF OTHER REASONS . NOW WITH ALL THIS OIL ON THE CYL WALLS AS THE PISTON DECENDS THE RINGS JOB IS THE SCRAPE THE OIL FROM THE CYL WALLS EXCEPT FOR A MINUT AMOUNT THAT IS USED TO LUBRICATE THE PISTON TO CYL SO THE PISTON DOESNT STICK TO THE WALL ALUMNIUM AND CAST IRON DO NOT GET ALONG VERY LONG SCRAPING AGAINST EACH OTHER , SO NOW GO PAST A COUPLE OF OIL CHANGE AT THE OIL CHANGE PLACE OR GET A LOW GRADE OF OIL THREE OR FOUR TIMES AND IN ABOUT 50 000 MILES THE CARBON AN D GUNK WILL START TO BUILD UP IN AND AROUND THE RINGS AND THE RINGS EITHER STICK OR COMPLETELY COLLASPE AND CAINT CONTROL THE OIL SO IT JUST SLIDES RIGHT PAST THE RINGS INTO THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER , ANY GOOD GRADE OF OIL CAN PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING, BUT ONCE THE CARBON HAS BUILT UP IT CONTINUALLY GETS HARDER AND HARDER UNTILL THE RINGS CAN NO LONGER WORK, ,WHAT IS THE CURE GO TO A HI DETERGENT OIL OR MAYBE AN ENG FLUSH WHICH USUALLY DOESNT WORK, AND KEEP DRIVING UNTILL THE CARBON STARTS TO BREAK DOWN, AND LET THE RINGS START DOING THEIR JOB AGAIN, THIS CANNOT AND WILL NOT HAPPEN OVERNITE OR IN ONE OR TWO OIL CHANGES IF TI DOES YOU DONT HAVE CARBON BUILD UP YOU HAVE A SLUDGED UP ENG, NOW THE ENG FLUSH WILL DISSOLVE THIS CRAP, BUT CARBON TAKES A WHILE . THE ROTELLA OIL CANNOT CREATE MIRACLES , BUT IT DOES CLEAN THE ENG, BUT IT COULD TAKE 8-10 OIL CHANGES , AND THAT IS QUITE A BIT OF DRIVING, NOW WHAT ISUZ DID ON THE LATER ENGS PRODUCED STARTING WITH THE 2002 ENGS WAS DRILL 4 HOL;ES FOR DRAIN BACK IN THE PISTONS , SO FAR THEY SEEM TO DOING THE JOB, THE PROBLEM ISUZU RAN INTO IN THE DESIGN OF THE NEW ENG WAS THEY WANTED TO KEEP THE PROFILE OF THE ENG SMALL YET MAKE IT LARGER INTERNAL, SET THE LATE 3.2 SIDE BY SID E WITH THE LATE 3.2 3.5 AND THERE IS A LOT OF DIFF IN THE HEIGTH OF THE ENGS, THEN WITH THE STROKER CRANK OF THE 3.5 THE PISTONS HAD TO BE MADE SHORT BY QUITE A BIT TO FIT IN THE SAME DECK HEIGHT THAT THE PISTON PIN HADE TO BE MOVED WAY UP IN THE PISTON AND THE SKIRT WAS SHORTENED BY ALLMOST A 1/2 INCH, TO KEEP FROM HITTING THE CRANKSHAFT , THE OLDER ENGS HAD 4 MM WIDE OIL CONTEL RINGS AND ALLSO HAD 4 VERY LARGE DRAIN BACK HOLES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE PISTON, THE LATE ENGS HAD A 3MM WIDE RING THATS NOT EVEN AN EIGHT OF AN INCH,

HOPE THIS CLEARED IT UP A BIT, BUT DONT THINK THERE ARENT OTHER VEH OUT THERE THAT HAVE GONE THRU THIS, THERE IS ONE BRAND OUT THERE THAT BUILDS SO MUCH BETTER TRUCKS THAN THE RODEOS AND TROOPERS THAT THEY EVEN DESIGNED THE ENGINES AND THE TRUCKS BEFORE ISUZU EVEN SOLD THEM THEIRS , HMMM WONDER WHO THAT COULD BE TROOPERS 92 ACURAS SLX 95 RODEOS 93 PASSPORT 94-95 WONDER IF THEY WOULD REMEMBER ALL THE CIVICS IN THE EARLY TO LATE SEVENTYS WITH THE BROKEN EXHAUST MANI, BURNED VLV, BLOWN HEAD GASKETS, SEIZED CAMSHAFTS , LEAKING ENG CORE PLUGS , I BETTER NOT MENTION THE NAME OF THOSE THEY MIGHT GET MAD AT ME HEHE JERRY

[tom4bren]

Thanks for the tip rado

I was going to go with Mobile 1 blend for high mileage engines but may look into that instead. Is the Rotella synthetic or dead dinosaur?

Never mind - found it:

http://www.shell.com/rotella/products/t6.html

The write up sounds HOKEY!!!

"continuously adapts to your driving conditions" - Really??? How does oil adapt to your driving conditions?

"UNSURPASSED SHEAR STABILITY" - Based on what? How do you even measure that?

"selected low-viscosity synthetic base oils further energizes the oil's protective capability that promotes fuel-economy performance with no compromise in durability" - energized oil ... gotta get me some right away to put in my perpetual motion machine.

"34% better wear performance" & "70% better oxidation resistance" - 72.3% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

"special molecules that resist compression to keep moving parts separated" - & it's grape flavored too!!!




Sorry, I don't mean to Poo-Poo a good product just because of lame advertising ... just a touchy subject with me.

If Jerry has had good luck with it, then at least some of the claims must be true.

[VXorado]

Sounds too good to be true. They also add some snake oil into the "proprietary blend" for an extra 50 HP!!!

I use Mobile 1 Syn Extended Miles 5W-30 thinking the extra cleaning additives would help. My engine has only increased oil consumption in the last year --- since the switch from regular Mobile 1 syn 5W-30.

I've heard mixed reviews on the planet and I believe that's why Jerry made the post about it taking a while. Worth a shot... maybe a combo PCV fix + engine cleaning=

[tom4bren]

Oil consumption is still down & I'm still not accumulating any in the catch can. I assume that with the long hose runs with my set up (slightly uphill), the oil is condensing on the inside of the feed tube & dripping back into the valve cover. That tube is opaque so I can't tell.

I'm getting some discoloration in the indicator tube on the catch can & on the clear exit tube from the catch can (to the combustion chamber) so obviously there's gasses flowing.

The bottom line though is that my oil consumption is still low so I'm on the right track. Mebbe a switch to Rotella will bring it down more.

This mod will definitely be copied over to both VX's in the near future.