[Camaro1973]

Originally Posted by JSH

Yea, you guys are right. I forgot there are no moving parts in the heads and valve train such that "clearances" between the adjoining surfaces are even relevant.

I mean, my new parts such as valves, valve stem guides/seals aren't oiled so they're not relevant, and of course, CAP just did new FII SC/head spacers but there's no oil on or near them, so no worries, and then there's

.

Ummm, are you actually reading what your writing? Your talking about clearances and oil loss, then you refer to your valvetrain??? I got news for you, if your burning that much oil and your pointing to your valvetrain as clearances then that sounds silly. Your valvetrain is/was new. New seals, hopefully guides, valves etc.

If you think your burning more oil from “clearances” in your valve train……. Well I say no more…

Maybe Hennessy puts used valvetrain parts in now too.

[d15b7]

Hey guys. Interesting discussion! My ZLE only has 1900 street miles (total) on it so I can’t comment on its oil consumption (none so far). I can add a data point as per smaller displacement full road race build import engine. I road race and time trial and hill climb a ‘95 Honda Civic EG (have owned and raced it since ‘97 so it’s been a long term car, which has seen many engines, from the stock 1.5 D series, up through B series, and then K20 (all those NA), then K20 Turbo (stock long block small Greddy turbo), up to its current engine, a K24/20 Frankenstein fully built (forged) motor with a BW EFR7163 custom turbo system. Current motor makes from 450 whp up to 600 whp depending on boost level and tuneup (and ambient temps especially). I typically run it ~500ish whp.

For comparison When I had any of the factory oem naturally aspirated stock block (with bolt ons) engines in it, burned very little to zero engine oil. Nil. (But that’s Honda engineering and quality for you!). Even when I strapped the small Greddy turbo to the stock K20 (8-10 psi low boost always cause those K20 are 11:1 compression), it never burned a drop. But once I had the K24/20 forged engine built for boost (good up to 21+ lbs) it was a different story. That’s the engine that’s currently in the car right now. If I start it up on a cool morning say around 60°F, and let it warm up, there will literally be a haze of blue smoke coming out the pipes until it reaches temperature. It burns a lot of oil when it’s cold! I was told by the engine builders who are very reputable that that is normal because the engine was built very loose so that it would seal up at high temperatures such as during a road race or track event etc. this does appear to be the case. As the engine coolant gets up to about 190 and the oil temperature starts registering at 170 or 180 the blue smoke will suddenly stop. Typically on a hot day when this car is being run hard the water temperatures will be 220 to 230+ sometimes. The oil temperatures run about 250. that’s with The biggest radiator I can fit and the biggest oil cooler I can fit and the biggest intercooler I can fit. space up front for cooling is an issue with these cars when running very high power levels and it’s something that I live with. Once the engine is warmed up and up to temperature it doesn’t appear to consume any oil during the day. The main consumption is during warm-up in the morning. After it’s warmed up like that no more oil burning.

Now my case might be an extreme one. But it does lend credence to the fact that if you have a fully forged full race motor it is likely that it would consume oil when not fully up to temperature. That’s why I don’t think a full race build is appropriate for street use because every time you start it up cold it’s going to be drinking oil and also probably wearing more than normal since the clearances are out of whack. That’s just been my experience.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Gunkk

FYI...

0w40 Mobil1 is higher viscosity at low (and high) temps than their 5w30.

Since mine is garaged and never in the cold below 30F, I'm now thinking Amsoil ATM 10W-30 or 15W40.

[ZX-10R]

Originally Posted by d15b7

Even when I strapped the small Greddy turbo to the stock K20 (8-10 psi low boost always cause those K20 are 11:1 compression), it never burned a drop. But once I had the K24/20 forged engine built for boost (good up to 21+ lbs) it was a different story. That’s the engine that’s currently in the car right now. If I start it up on a cool morning say around 60°F, and let it warm up, there will literally be a haze of blue smoke coming out the pipes until it reaches temperature. It burns a lot of oil when it’s cold! I was told by the engine builders who are very reputable that that is normal because the engine was built very loose so that it would seal up at high temperatures such as during a road race or track event etc. this does appear to be the case. As the engine coolant gets up to about 190 and the oil temperature starts registering at 170 or 180 the blue smoke will suddenly stop. Typically on a hot day when this car is being run hard the water temperatures will be 220 to 230+ sometimes. The oil temperatures run about 250. that’s with The biggest radiator I can fit and the biggest oil cooler I can fit and the biggest intercooler I can fit. space up front for cooling is an issue with these cars when running very high power levels and it’s something that I live with. Once the engine is warmed up and up to temperature it doesn’t appear to consume any oil during the day. The main consumption is during warm-up in the morning. After it’s warmed up like that no more oil burning.

I do like the new Type R, it's a fun car. (and has an ingenious system for dealing with blowby)

"Race build" is fine if you're near a shop and don't mind paying to have a rebuild every 30-50k (especially at higher boost) - that is very few people. To me it's just throwing your money in a trash can. I like to go fast but I prefer to invest my money now.

One of the primary benefits of the ZL1 in my book it's such a low stress engine (relatively speaking, with only 9 psi boost) it should hold compression for 150k miles with high quality synthetic and regular oil changes (every 5k)

Compare this to the new M3 competition for example, running 22-24 psi. You have to wonder how long engines like that are going to hold compression - time will tell (obviously depends on how hard it's driven)

[Flowtie1]

Drove my car close to 1000 miles this week, no consumption. When I spank it hard I can burn a guart in 1000 miles

[LT4Greg]

Just had to add a quart to my 2017 the other day since I changed the oil back in November of 2020. I have done 8 to 10 trips on the Interstate driving mostly 80 mph in that time period and figure that adding a quart isn’t that bad considering the months and mileage since November.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by LT4Greg

figure that adding a quart isn’t that bad considering the months and mileage since November.

You're right. It isn't bad. If someone wants to eliminate oil consumption, stop driving, particularly at redline!

[libis22]

I have a new to me 2017 Camaro ZL1 6MT which used 6.5 quarts (10W40 Mobil1 Supercar) of oil for 3319 miles I drove it. Car has 17552 miles now and I bought it from Carmax and I bought maxcare as well. I took it to Carmax under their 90 day warranty and both time they were like it is normal. I really didn't calculate the amount until recently and now I know it's an issue and may why the previous owner sold it to Carmax. I drive it most of the time around 2 to 4k RPM and haven't taken it to track, drag strip etc. So a mix of city plus spirited in 50% sport 20% track and 30% Touring... Car is 100% stock what I can see.. no clue about internals but I highly doubt it is touched..

I asked a local Chevy dealer and they told me they can do an oil consumption test. The person I talked said they would document the oil levels every 1000 miles. He also said to tow it to the dealership if oil light comes on and don't add oil as they want to document every additions.

Can someone shed some lights on their oil consumption tests and how it went? If they find it is not normal, do they fix it or replace the engine?