Thanks, I will do that in the morning and also see if any has seeped down at all. They were completely full so I'll be able to tell if it's soaking down at all.Originally Posted by Burntboot
Thanks, I will do that in the morning and also see if any has seeped down at all. They were completely full so I'll be able to tell if it's soaking down at all.
Those are E3 spark plugs. It's one of the latest and greatest designs in spark plugs. I've never used them so I don't know whether they work or are just a gimmick. I'm with the others though, give it some factory spec #P16R Denso's.
Ok, I let a bunch of MMO soak the cylinders for a few days and changed the plugs. None of the parts stores had or could get the stock plugs, either Denso or ngk, the closest I could get was the cheapest ngk's or iridium, no Denso at all. Since the stocks are platinum I figured upgrade to iridium rather than down to the cheapest ones. Cleaned up everything, changed the oil and started it up and man did it smoke! Glad I live where I do! I let most of it run out at home then took it for a drive until it seemed to clear up fully. It runs great, sounds great and now only time will tell if this did anything.
Oil disappears like magic
Hi all you ToyoVan lovers. I've had this van for a decade, she has been mostly just used a bit here and there for 50km trips round town. As far as we can tell, the van is not leaking oil but all the oil is gone within a few hundred miles.
Where could it all be going? It's not on the ground so I am guessing it's going up in smoke. It has been this way for many months. Along the way, we changed hoses and seals and washed the engine. Still no idea how or why all the oil disappears.
Any pointers or other posts that could lead to a disagnosis would be most appreciated. Where to start?
cheers,
Little Bear Van
1987 2WD
Last edited by silverscoot; 07-09-2016 at 01:38 AM.
I may not have the correct diagnosis but is it possible it's mixing in with your coolant and then coming out of the exhaust?
if it's not leaking on the pavement and you've steam cleaned the motor and there no signs of leaks then it's going into somewhere internally? Just my guess?
The rabbit in the hat is drinking it.
LG.
"perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." A. de St Exupery.
Re: Oil disappears like magic
Yes, I didn't clean the part of the engine by the distributor for I was worried that water might damage something but I should find a way to cover it perhaps?.. then pressure wash that side of the engine to get a better look.I may not have the correct diagnosis but is it possible it's mixing in with your coolant and then coming out of the exhaust?
if it's not leaking on the pavement and you've steam cleaned the motor and there no signs of leaks then it's going into somewhere internally? Just my guess?
I doesn't smell good during the ride (windows open always) and even after when parked, some kind of fumes come into the cabin by way of the older engine rubber seal.
Could the oil be all burning up internally? Sounds like something major is off.
Please, do keep those educated guesses coming.
That rabbit won't live long with so much oil in its diet.The rabbit in the hat is drinking it.
Someone suggested I take it to Toyota for an estimate on the repair and maybe that might shed light on the cause.
Try this thread: MOD EDIT now-circular link removed
There's some discussion ABOVE about oil viscosity that isn't particularly relevant but there's also some info on possible causes of oil consumption.
MOD EDIT threads merged
Re: Oil disappears like magic
Interesting thread, reminded me that when I bought the van from a mechanic in Vancouver he told me to only use synthetic oil.
So, for the first 7 years I did stay synthetic then I switched to regular oil. I saved a bundle in oil costs but here we are. I really wonder... could it be that simple.
Looking for Clues . May it be so elementary Dear Watson.
I'll go film my exhaust at when I startup the van tomorrow.
The game is afoot
So here's a link to a 30 second video of the Toyovan's morning startup exhaust.
I'm a little colour blind... what's it look like is burning? I thought oil would have more of a blue tint to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3o6...m-upload_owner
Little Bear
LOL I too am chromatically challenged so I feel your pain. As mentioned in the thread I previously linked you to, the catalytic converter can burn off a fair amount of oil making it appear that you aren't blowing much out the tailpipe. At least until it starts to plug up from it. That said, that's a good amount of smoke. If it's not leaking and it's not showing up in the coolant, there really isn't any other place for it to go but out the tailpipe.
Sure is mysterious. Still drives nice if you don't mind the smell, driving with the windows open and filling up the oil every time you fill the gas...
Love to get this fixed but not sure where to start looking
I'm inclined to fly Dr. Tim up here to the north to make a definitive diagnosis so we can repair this sweet van.
This is precisely what I had been doing for 2 1/2 years until I came upon a deal too good to pass up in April on another van. Actually, I drove with the windows up whenever possible and the front heater fan cranked up. This caused a positive pressure in the cabin and for the most part helped keep the smoke and odor out. The smoky beast now sits awaiting it's turn in the garage.
Hope its okay to add my story to this thread:
My van burns oil. I am no professional mech, but like many others here, I enjoy learning as I go. In that spirit, I performed 3 compression tests in the following order:
1) Dry test: Tested compression on cylinders #1-#4, in that order, on a cold engine with outside air temperature around 50 deg F.
2) Wet test: Added approximately 1-2 TABLEspoons of oil each cylinder, testing compression immediately after adding the oil to each cylinder. (Only later did I learn that 1 TEAspoon is recommended).
3) Post-wet test: For good measure, tested compression again, starting at cylinder #1 and moving to #4. No new oil added.
Results for cylinder #1-#4.
1) Dry test: 170, 165, 160, 170
2) Wet test: 200, 210, 245-250, 280
3) Post-wet test: 210, 230, 235-240, 270
A couple questions:
1) The FSM says to do compression tests on a warm engine, but I did it on a cold engine. Could that have influenced my results substantially?
2) Dry test results are within spec (185 +/- 14). Everything I have read says that a wet test is not necessary, but I did one anyway. Are the results meaningful? Wet test results seem VERY high, and the increase progressively from cylinder #1 - #4. Could this be due to testing bias, such as increased skill at pouring oil down the spark plug hole (e.g., a bit more oil poured into each cylinder, from 1-4)? Or, could the engine temperature have increased with each crank, resulting in cylinder 4 being warmer than cylinder 1?
Last edited by fuquan; 11-20-2017 at 10:54 AM.
The wet test is usually done as a troubleshooting measure if/when there's a problem with the dry test. Since oil will temporarily help seal leaking piston rings, if pressure improves significantly, then you'd know the problem to be with the rings. Since oil has little to no effect on a leaky valve, if there's no change, then you'd know the problem was with a bad valve.
To my knowledge, there's no exact science to this (lots of variables). So I usually don't bother with compression tests unless I'm chasing a miss. FYI, in the past, I've seen engines with no spark fail compression tests miserably, but then come back to normal after spark was restored (and engine had been running again). This is particularly true on old/worn engines. When an engine becomes disabled, most people will crank & crank until the battery goes dead. With no spark, the raw gasoline builds in the cylinders and washes away residual oil from the rings & cylinder walls. Since oil helps to seal rings, you could lose huge amounts of compression simply due to that............thus the reason for only doing the test on a warm engine (warm engines have just been running and the cylinder walls are still wet with "normal amounts" of residual oil). Doing the test on a warm engine also insures changes due to expansion are closer to their normal running conditions.
And yes, compression can be influenced by how much oil actually entered the cylinder. If there's a lot of oil in there, since fluids don't compress, the volume can increase the compression ratio significantly (until it clears), so unless you had an exact way to keep uniform volume, then there's little merit to how drastic the change was. FYI, when I do the wet test, I use an old school hand-pump oil gun with a long nozzle. 3 squirts = about 1 tsp. I will stick the nozzle right into the cylinder via the spark plug hole (insures equal distribution per cylinder).
When you say "post wet test", did you start and run the van after the wet test? The oil will stay in there until the engine has been run. I'd recommend a trip around the block with jack rabbit starts to completely remove it. Tim
The post-wet test was done immediately after the wet test. I did not start the van between tests. Basically, the wet-test pressures seemed so high to me that I wanted to do the test over. After the post-wet test I ran the van and it smoked like heck. Reminded me of the time I used seafoam.
I've used Bardahls no smoke, on a motor with bad rings and had good results. Added 8mos to its life.
I like marvel mystery oil better than ATF in the crankcase. Seaform has also done its job.
No Band-Aids are gonna repair a worn part.
Couple squirts of oil on a second compression test will ID rings as the issue. Leak test for the valve seals, HG or?
Any that increase significantly over the first are suspect.
Why burn more expensive(synthetic) oil until fixed???
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