I just went through the engine on my 240,000 mile 95 LS 3.0, doing a valve job, timing belt, water pump, crank pulley, crank angle sensor, timing belt tensioner,...all hoses, PCV valve, etc. The truck runs better than ever and no longer smokes out the tail pipe or drips oil on the ground, but I am still consuming engine oil (but at a much slower rate) I'm guessing that the rings are probably tired.

Any thought?

Brian in Austin

You didn't do compression test after putting the heads on?

No, I figured it was what it was. I had one burned/cracked valve that I had to replace,...and, of course in the process, with new head gaskets,.....Iridium plugs, wires, valve stem seals, valve cover gaskets etc. I knew it would run better, leak less or not at all,....and,...probably burn less oil. So the compression really didnt matter to me,....it was going back together no matter what.

I've owned it since 99,....its been a great truck. Two Landrover Discoveries (2002 and 2001) have come and gone while I owned the Montero.(the Montero is just less problematic)

It could be the flux capacitor... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />









Okay seriously though, once an engine gets enough use the tolerances go farther and farther away. High mileage engines just burn more oil... May be worth a compression test just to be sure, but if it is running just fine that may not uncover a thing. After all compression is what makes these things go down the road.

A leakdown test can tell you pretty definitively if it's the rings. My guess is that, yes, it probably is. If the heads were less than tight before, you've just corrected that and in theory, increased internal cylinder pressure. It leaks past the rings, and the reverse is true during the intake stroke of the engine. More oil can be drawn into the cylinder past the rings since the engine is a little better at generating the vacuum that draws in the intake charge. This used to be a "given" on small block Chevy's after doing a head job...the rings would be the next weak link.

All that being said, oil is cheap.

John B.

Given what it takes to get to the plugs to do a comp test, I would have done it once the heads were on, and before putting all the the intake back together.

My 95 had two bad intakes, and the comp was okay on others cylinders. When I did the heads, I also cleaned off a ton of carbon. Then with the heads on, the comp was tested post-decarbon and the numbers were lower, real low on one of two. I didn't have the bandwidth to deal with the bottom half at the time, so I kept putting it back together.

I go through oil- probably a quart every 1000-1200 miles.