The main causes of burning oil and how to troubleshoot it

Burning oil is a common problem, but when it is ignored, it will damage the car engine. Many drivers reflect that the car burns oil. Therefore, we will give you the reason why the engine burns oil.

The symptom of car burning oil

The main symptom of oil burning in an engine is blue smoke from the exhaust pipes. Engine shakes when idle, and engine oil is severely lacking during a routine maintenance (oil change) cycle (no dripping). Then your car is burning oil.

The main causes of the engine oil burning

There are two reasons why the engine oil burns:

1. Positive wear and tear, that is, it is the normal symptom after driving a certain number of miles for a car. The average vehicle is above 200,000 kilometers, different cars, different people use, different regions (air dust) have a great impact on the service life of the engine. For the normal wear and tear of vehicles over a certain service life and mileage, should be overhauled.

2. Abnormal wear: the cause of abnormal wear is the early wear caused by product quality and improper use. If your car burns oil in the warranty period, please timely repair or negotiate with manufacturers to replace the engine parts.

The causes of engine early wear are:

(1) Using unqualified oil or without replacing the oil and oil filter.

(2) Cold engine start with heavy engine load.

(3) Engine operates at high temperature or less oil for a long time.

(4) Engine operation with heavy load for a long tome under high temperature (engine speed is more than four thousand RPM). 

(5) Excess air dust and without replacing air filter for a long time.

(6) Oil pump, the power of oil pump is insufficient, low oil pressure, clogged oil pipe, etc., 

The above fault can make your engine to reduce the service life and cause the early wear. If we know the causes, we can avoid the problems and extend the service life of the engine.

Which components wear aging will cause the engine burning oil

1. Wear of the cylinder gasket and pistons will enlarge the clearance of the cylinder wall and cause part of the oil to burst into the combustion chamber.

2. Wear of piston rings, elastic weakening or breaking of piston rings, several piston rings in a straight line, causing loose sealing and causing part of the oil to enter the combustion chamber for combustion.

3. Aging and damaged valve oil seals will also allow part of the oil to enter the combustion chamber for combustion, especially aging and damaged inlet valve oil seals are more likely to allow oil to enter the combustion chamber for combustion.

4. Engine exhaust pipe (oil chamber to engine intake pipe) is blocked, resulting in high oil chamber pressure, resulting in part of the oil into the combustion chamber.

5. Cylinder gasket run against the cylinder will also cause part of the oil to enter the combustion chamber and burn.

How to judge the failure point

Check from simple to complex, from easy to difficult.

1. Check whether the exhaust pipe is blocked. If it doesn't work, clean or replace it. Drive for a while to see if the engine is short of oil and blue smoke from your exhaust pipes.

2. Measure the cylinder pressure, if the cylinder pressure is normal, it should be the burning of oil caused by aging and damage of the valve oil seal, and replace the valve oil seal. It is recommended to replace all oil seals.

3. If the cylinder pressure of single cylinder or multiple cylinder is lower than normal value, then the cylinder cover should be removed to check the cylinder head gasket, the abrasion degree of cylinder diameter, the abrasion degree of piston, the elasticity of piston ring, etc. If it's just oil duct problem, just replace the cylinder head gasket. If the cylinder diameter and piston wear too much, it is recommended to replace all cylinder sleeve, piston, piston ring. If the cylinder diameter wear is not big, replace the piston, piston ring. If it is the piston ring, then just replace all the piston rings.

Above is the main causes for burning oil in the car engine and specific maintenance methods. So if you have the idea to burning oil, it will help you to troubleshoot this problem.

James Smith        November 10, 2020


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