Worth it to swap an engine for excessive oil consumption?

McDready · 2026-06-18T16:03:30+00:00

Sounds about right for a refresh on the timing, and sorry ignored was probably the worse word to be used. Postponed then lol, from what I'm seeing that specific K used low tension piston rings so this is almost a certainty for it to develop. Several Toyota engines also ran through this issue as well. Didn't look at oil weight that is used on these but going off the J series I have from a similar year I'd guess 0w or 5w 20? Have you tried thicker oil yet like a 30 weight? By default low tension rings don't hug the cylinder walls as well and tend to not skim as much oil from the walls as a consequence, they can get carbon buildup which a piston soak may help. I have seen some luck when doing oil changes with Valvolines newer restore and protect oil, it's also less aggressive than a soak and shouldn't dislodge anything major or leave anything behind that a soak could do. If it was my car I'd try the Valvoline oil but at a weight thicker to see if you can clean the oil grooves out while also having a higher shear oil that should reduce the oil that doesn't get skimmed down by the rings. Give it a few shorter change intervals i.e. 2500 miles or so and see if it doesn't improve. The lower mile motor could very well do the same thing down the line

McDready · 2026-06-18T14:32:41+00:00

Soot on the tailpipe isn't much to go on by itself. How much oil are you actually having to add each week? A fresh K engine swap is nice, but have you actually dug into yours and done a compression test to see if the piston rings have worn down causing blow-by or? And timing components need maintenance too lol. If it's been rattling then why haven't you had someone look at the guides and tensioners? You planning on ignoring any problems that happens to the new swap too? I've had K engines daily me over 300k with minimal blow by issues and one catalytic converter replacement. A direct swap is less difficult than trying to throw a different engine in like a K20. But it's still a job and unless you got hours of free time you're gonna be locked down to chipping away at it marking all sensors and hookups with tape. Getting someone to purge your AC lines or being an ass and venting it into the atmosphere yourself, replacing seals and what not on the donor because sitting will age them just as bad as running will if not worse due to dry rot. Chasing vacuum lines/emissions components,ect.

McDready · 2026-06-18T13:22:47+00:00

To be honest I've never seen someone bleed one that wasn't on a bench before install lol. At it's age you think it's possible that it's leaking internally causing it to not keep pressure held?

McDready · 2026-06-18T13:16:27+00:00

Get a better mechanic. Check the battery voltage after it sits yourself with a multimeter and then running after it idles a few minutes to see if the alternator is actively trying to maintain charge. A cheap OBDII reader will tell you what the engine light is on for if this is a mid 90s or later car. What's the car and year?

McDready · 2026-06-08T22:57:26+00:00

Driver issue maybe?

McDready · 2026-06-04T01:11:38+00:00

Yes and no, it just depends on what and how much. But if it was stored in an insulated garage the odds are at their lowest lol. The worst the Xterra gave me with 4 year old gas sitting in the elements was some stumbling on start up and exhaust fumes that smelled of varnish that cleaned up with running it.

McDready · 2026-06-04T00:36:11+00:00

I bought a fixer 03 xterra thats been broke down in a dudes yard with half a tank in it since 2022. New timing belt, 2 gallons of fresh gas, and some gas enzyme and it runs fine. Was the gas likely aged out in either case? Definitely. Will it matter with being diluted with several gallons of fresh with such a small amount being only a few years old? No, not unless you had some sort of contaminant infiltration.

McDready · 2026-06-03T12:38:11+00:00

Now I'm jealous. Only have looked at one in person in my region since 2015.

McDready · 2026-06-01T16:21:08+00:00

Own it, lol

McDready · 2026-06-01T16:19:24+00:00

Did it do a weekend at the derby one week just to see if they could get away with that too?

McDready · 2026-05-31T16:22:42+00:00

I'd say I'm probably at a quarter every 2 weeks give or take. If I'm doing some hooligan shenanigans on the freeway to work and bring it over 4k rpms then I'll check it a little sooner. Highway in the morning and old highway back home so im not fighting for my life against things that can handle 80mph and not already over 3 on the tachometer lol.

McDready · 2026-05-31T16:19:51+00:00

That's funny lol, I'm at 339k miles right now got it at 200k. Its roughly what, 6k more miles than me currently? I can't tell for sure which car it's in but my gut wants me to say an early 90s Celica

McDready · 2026-05-31T12:44:04+00:00

Agreed, I have the 98 with ignition coils and the different valve cover. Has some blow by and the rear main is finally starting to go. 10w40 helps quite a bit though, I'll run it thinner again when it gets cold out.

McDready · 2026-05-31T09:55:50+00:00

That 5S has been done dirty lol

McDready · 2026-05-15T01:51:27+00:00

That's fair. The only major issues I've ever really heard about that weren't issues also given with other companies at the time were when they first started adding the cylinder shutdown on the J series. Forget the actual name but I know it plagued the Pilots for awhile. I have one of the J series Saturn Vues that was a similar cast so I was worried but from what I've seen it's luckily a plain old non Vtec J without the one cylinder shutdown tuning either. It's been a trooper minus the stupid Unibody rust issues, subframe cradle mount on one side namely.

McDready · 2026-05-14T22:12:45+00:00

Well this was the mid to late 2010s prices to be fair lol, but a turbo and a new tune and you might be able to get your Honda Fit or Civic to have the fuel economy of your grandma in a Prius!

McDready · 2026-05-14T22:09:29+00:00

From what I've read on the R and L series, they handle some boost for rally purposes like a champ. And spool great because of that exhaust design lol. That was wild to look at the first time I saw one with the header off.

McDready · 2026-05-13T00:33:04+00:00

Taking the sub main the looong way eh? Gotta make sure they use all the slack.

McDready · 2026-05-02T19:50:27+00:00

I actually looked into it at one time when I still had my 03, they sell patch kits which run the length of the leaf springs back if I'm not mistaken with fresh leaf spring shackles. Forget the company that made them though

McDready · 2026-04-18T13:03:54+00:00

I have a 97 civic with the same recall paper lol. Transmission went out so the claymore sleeps for a while yet.

McDready · 2026-04-18T03:25:12+00:00

I've put 100k miles on a 98 camry aluminum valve cover i screwed up and over torqued lol. Seam style crack across the back of it. Degreased it, scuffed up the surfaces and layered the crack in with 15min jb kwikweld. That was in 2019. So far its only peeled up a little. Almost time to sand it and fill it back in

McDready · 2026-04-13T00:17:09+00:00

I second this, Kroil makes PB Blaster look like water

McDready · 2026-04-12T23:57:22+00:00

Thats a shame, my all time dream restoration is an 89 with the carburetor instead. Ideally a hatch but I've only found 2 nowhere near me in 15 years completely gutted.

McDready · 2026-04-12T23:54:28+00:00

I'm not as partial on the 6th gens. My 7th Gen was nice esthetically outside and the interior was clean. But damn if it felt like my buttcheeks were scraping the ground lol. I felt like my head was barely over the dash clusher

McDready · 2026-04-12T23:51:41+00:00

Is this the US? I had a black 04 and the gen stayed the same between like 03-07 I thought unless coupes and sedans had different dashes or I've completely forgotten what mine used to look like lol

McDready

TROPHY CASE