Hey guys,

I noticed something today when I was sitting at idle in a parking lot while texting a friend. The engine was at normal operating temperature, as I had just gotten off the freeway a short time before.

After I was done texting my friend, I went to take off, and noticed a cloud of oil smoke behind me. It wasn't a billowing cloud, it didn't fog out the parking lot, but it was enough for me to notice it in the mirror.

My thoughts went straight to "rings are cooked", but that doesn't make any sense since I have never seen evidence of oil smoke before, on the road, on cold start, or at WOT.

And frankly, this car has too much power to have bad rings.

I started doing some research that led me from Volvo forums to Audi forums to Mazda forums, all with the same story: oil smoke after several minutes of idling a hot engine, but no evidence of it otherwise.

Oil consumption has been minimal, and what I would consider good with an engine that has 233k miles, maybe half a quart every 3k miles w/10w30. And that's with the oil drip I have underneath.

The suggested causes have ranged anywhere between rings, to valve seals, to a clogged/malfunctioning PCV system.

Has anyone with a high mileage 6G73 had the same problems, or do any of you techs have a suggestion?

Thanks,
Aaron

 

what suggestion are u looking for? u have 233k on the engine

 

So are you implying that these engines inherently burn oil after 230k miles?

I wonder why none of my GM motors have done that?

What I'm looking for is an explanation as to what could be causing this. The two most likely seem to be valve seals or the PCV. I have not done a compression test yet, but I have the sneaking suspicion that if this car will still turn the tires over from a dead stop, that the compression will be pretty healthy. But then again, this engine does have 233k miles.

 

valve stem guides rings blow by from worn cyl bores any number of thing

 

My search for a more concrete answer led me to a Mitsubishi forum which cited Valve Stem Seals, a common fault in Mitsubishi engines.