Oil in my brother's Crapcord

My brother bought himself his first car the other week, a worn out 2000 Crapcord with a 5 speed. We just pulled it into the garage today to give it a once over before school starts and found that the oil pan was damn near empty. Went through the service history and found that the last oil that was put in it was back in March and was a measly 2 quarts.

So, my question is, how should we proceed? We're going to do a full oil change for safety, but should we run some Lucas Anti-Leak through it as well? Is there something that could be obvious to check for leaks? Also, would it be a smart idea to run Engine Flush?

I'd be inclined to change the oil and keep an eye on it. If it's lost a couple of quarts since March, that's not too bad.

If it's got a pile of mileage on it and is leaking, the high mileage oil has some stop leak in it that works on minor leaks.

It's currently at 181000 miles, so it's pretty high mile. The thing that's got me scratching my head is that the 2 quarts that were added was less than 1000 miles ago. The car has largely sat for the past 4 months and the previous owner said he thought there was a slight oil leak. We've been driving it fairly regularly and have not noticed any form of leak. No oil drips on the concrete

Dump some high mileage oil in it and keep an eye on the levels. I would also probably pressure wash the engine to see where or if it's leaking.

Honda's burn oil. That's just the way they work. Have him check the oil everytime he fills up and when it's low, top it off. I'd just change it and be done. Stay away from all the snake oils at that mileage.

Mine has 212k on it and doesnt burn oil. The head looks pretty good, and the previously broken stud on the exhaust manifold suggests the head's been off and was recently freshened up. I'd say its leaking, more than likely an oil pan gasket, front or rear main seal. Check distributor seal, as well as clean the egr ports and valve as they tend to gunk up and lead to oil consumption. Power wash engine and keep an eye on where oil leaks from. Off its never had the head rebuilt, and was driven kind of hard/not taken care of well, it more than likely burns oil due to oil getting past the valve seals and/or guides. I just have Honda change my oil every 5000 or so miles. If it was that low, the F23 has a tendency to spin bearings more easily than the F22 before it, but makes loads more power, has a VERY high flowing head, and engines are dirt cheap. Get a spare one, go through it, and drop it in. Should be less than $500 total investment. These cars tend to get neglected, but they're very stout and have strong engines.

Bobzilla wrote: Honda's burn oil. That's just the way they work. Have him check the oil everytime he fills up and when it's low, top it off. I'd just change it and be done. Stay away from all the snake oils at that mileage.

"Snake oils"? Not sure what that's referring to. And as for getting a new engine, that's not really in the books, cheap as they may be. That would be about one sixth of the price of the whole car and he's 17

He paid $3k for it?!?! sounds like a $1500 car.

DeadFocused wrote:

Bobzilla wrote: Honda's burn oil. That's just the way they work. Have him check the oil everytime he fills up and when it's low, top it off. I'd just change it and be done. Stay away from all the snake oils at that mileage.

"Snake oils"? Not sure what that's referring to. And as for getting a new engine, that's not really in the books, cheap as they may be. That would be about one sixth of the price of the whole car and he's 17

Snake oil.... "stop leaks", "high mileage" etc. I never said to change the engine. Change the OIL, and keep an eye on it.

Check (or just replace) the PCV.

Cone_Junkie wrote: Check (or just replace) the PCV.

Came here to say this.

And no snake oil please.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_oil

Beans mentioned this, check the distributor shaft o-ring, when they get old they harden and will leak a lot of oil, wont be many drips on the ground because of the location, the oil just sits on the transmission and coats the starter. Cheap buy and easy to fix. Check for valve cover gasket leaks too, the seals around the spark plug tubes will leak as well. +1 on the stay away from the snake oil stop leak stuff.

06HHR wrote: Beans mentioned this, check the distributor shaft o-ring, when they get old they harden and will leak a lot of oil, wont be many drips on the ground because of the location, the oil just sits on the transmission and coats the starter. Cheap buy and easy to fix. Check for valve cover gasket leaks too, the seals around the spark plug tubes will leak as well. +1 on the stay away from the snake oil stop leak stuff.

This. Just reminded me mine leaks into the spark plug tubes. Dammit.

I used to work as a service adviser at a Honda dealership. Honda's official position is that oil consumption up to 1 quart per 1000 miles is "normal." Try having that conversation with a customer who just bought a new car.

I wouldn't be overly concerned at the moment as long as the motor runs good. Obviously do an oil change, use a quality conventional oil, and then recheck the oil level every 500 miles to keep an eye on things until you get to know this motor. New spark plugs probably wouldn't hurt either.

And check for any obvious oil leaks.