Hello, guys & gals. Time for maintenance. 2000 ITR, 77,000 miles that has an issue of consuming oil (yes, yes, "they all do"...)

I'm at work so I don't have my Shop Manual and whatnot in front of me, but does anyone know what compression test numbers should look like for an ITR? And would those numbers be "wet", "dry", engine cold or hot...

The reasoning is because my back bumper is sooty as hell [it's been doing this for about 8,000 miles now - it's garaged most of the time so it's not being run much] and I don't mind spending the time/money to put her back in shape.

All stock; Mobil 5W30 or 10W30 every 5,000 miles; no check engine lights; no perceivable loss in power (not that this means much).

I did take it to the dealership late last Fall, but the service guys were not much of a help. They conducted a compression check and all were within 5% and I recall 165 being about average. I wish to do a wet vs dry compression test this weekend or next to see if I need to simply remove the cylinder head (and hopefully only replace the valve stem seals) or a complete teardown (hopefully not).

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

 

On the B18C1/B18C5, the cylinder pressure must not exceed 270psi or be any lower than 135psi.
There must not be any variation greater than 28psi between any cylinders.

You can perform the test on a cold or warm engine, but a cold engine will yield lower results.

An average of 165 sounds a little low to me; my GSR was in the 180's at 160k miles.

How-to's:

Compression Test

Leak-Down Test

 

Good info, Jesus.

Oil burning is a pretty common symptom but at 77k on a stock motor (I presume) is highly unusual. A healthy B18C5 motor will have compression of around 220-250 psi.

Give us your compression numbers when you get them and we can help you from there.

 

Update: Went to the Acura Dealership and we went around and around for a bit. The tech who ran the compression check wasn't in. I informed them that to be down 100 psi was far and away from being normal. I showed him my oil change records (Type & Weight, # of qts, Type of Filter, Miles and Comments). He questioned the 270 psi number so he called the Tech Line. I waited. They exclaimed that the "issue" is a scored bore and is due to neglect. Now intelligent persons will question how in Hades would they know that that's the issue with THIS car. Oh, so you're intelligent, too. Good.

I informed them that I've been involved in several ITR/B18C5 engine builds and the issue was the oil rings being covered in carbon and I'd bet him a dollar to a doughnut this may be the issue if it's the bottom end.

We agreed that they'd drop the oil pan and inspect the cylinder bores as a first step.

HOWEVER, I spoke to a race engine builder who asked me a few questions:

• Are you consuming oil? Yes.
• Have you wet and dry compression numbers? I don't know.
• What are your cylinder leakage numbers? 3%
• Are you suffering a huge decrease in power? No.
• When was the last time you changed your PCV system? Never
• How old and how many miles on your vehicle, is it bone stock? 8 years old; 80k miles; yes

His suggestion was that the numbers "cannot" be correct and he'd bet that the throttle was not held open during the compression check as it's not making "only 110 bhp or so." I agreed.

He felt that PCV valves should probably be changed every year and the PCV SYSTEM should be looked at with a careful eye as the car is not appreciably slower than when new. If the PCV system is replaced and it still burns oil then he'd suspect the valvetrain: guides and seals but usually it's one guide and not all of them so check the spark plugs and borescope each combustion chamber.

He also stated that if the bores are scuffed to bring in the block and give him the information as to whose pistons and rings I'd like to have in the vehicle & he'd also take care of the cylinder heads (obviously).

As for the wet vs. cold test a simpler way is to place a vacuum gage on the dipstick tube and start the car. It should show a slight vacuum. If it goes positive you have significant blowby and either pull the engine and either:

• Do it yourself
• Bring it in
• Drive it to Acura
• Drive the vehicle to him

Price from the dealer was 15 hours labor ($1,500) plus parts.
He's investigating the cost of the parts to see if he can assist me.

Thanks for your assistance; I'll keep everyone posted. Looks like we've turned a corner and heading in the proper direction

 

Pulling all the spark plugs creates the same (but better) effect of doing the comp test with WOT.