Oil consumption?

[mindaugas]

Thanks guy, this is great info. vxkat, THANK YOU for fixing the links. I saw those in several posts but they never worked. I have read most of them, but will look through them again. This is great advice guys. I think I'll change the oil early just so I know it's done right and with mobil1, along with the pcv.

What is EGR?

[Mile High VX]

What is EGR?

It's the Exhaust Gas Recirculation valve.

Here is a good thread including a picture of where it's located on our VX's.

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...&highlight=EGR

[IndianaVX]

I dont want to thread jack, but......
You might want to look up "seafoam" in the search. I and others use the spray to clan the egr stuff, and the regular seafoam added to oil to clean things up before going synthetic.
The search function is your friend.

[mindaugas]

Sorry, I have been doing a lot of searching, and saw the mention of seafoam once. I'm archiving these as well so I can go back to them later. Maybe I'll try and collected everything and make a "new to VX" thread for people like me.

[89Vette]

I don't know if this is posted in any of the links provided earlier in this thread. I got an answer on this problem/topic from Jerry, the Isuzu Guru. IIRC, he has been dealing with Isuzu Service and Training for 23yrs. And, he's been the recipient/trainer of Isuzu personnel at the Atlanta facility for a good portion of those years.

That said, his reply has to do with the ring construction. Because the original 3.2L engine was stroked to create the 3.5L motor used in the VX (and other Isuzus), it created a design problem. The wrist pin (which connects the rods to the pistons) was moved up very close to the bottom ring. 4 holes were drilling in the bottom (oil-scraper) ring for drain back. Depending on the driver's environment, oil-weight used, change-intervals, and PCV value operation, it can be easier to clog the holes on at least one of the cylinders. If that happens, oil does not drain back into the pan correctly which leads to oil starvation and engine failure.

I did not ask Jerry this but that makes me wonder if it's beneficial to run oil cleaner (carbon-tetra-chloride) thru the engine every 10-12k miles. Basically, this thins the oil and cleans deposits. You put in the crankcase and run it (at idle) for 5 mins before a change. The result should be a purging of any excess deposits/sludge in your motor.

OTOH, if you're like me, you don't go over 3k miles and drive off-road, you shouldn't have an issue. OTOH, if you don't know the history of the motor, cleaning it as described one paragraph up is somthing that can't hurt.

Seafoam is also something I've heard good things about that I'm considering trying. (OTOH, I've also heard (from good mechanics) that water injected into an intake will accomplish the same thing.) But, you should know that neither would do anything to clean the oiling-side of the motor. These types of products are designed to clean valves (aka topside).

[Ldub]

FWIW, I've used seafoam in my crank case every 3 - 4 oil changes for the last 2 - 3 yrs, & totally eliminated the pcv valve with an oil catch can system that breathers into the air box.

Not much decrease in oil consumption that I can see, maybe slightly during highway only driving.
Will know more when I get to Moab in the spring.

My guess is poorly designed oil return passages in the rings/pistons.

Just some stuff I read somewhere...

[VX KAT]

I don't know if this is posted in any of the links provided earlier in this thread. I got an answer on this problem/topic from Jerry, the Isuzu Guru. IIRC, he has been dealing with Isuzu Service and Training for 23yrs. And, he's been the recipient/trainer of Isuzu personnel at the Atlanta facility for a good portion of those years.

That said, his reply has to do with the ring construction. Because the original 3.2L engine was stroked to create the 3.5L motor used in the VX (and other Isuzus), it created a design problem. The wrist pin (which connects the rods to the pistons) was moved up very close to the bottom ring. 4 holes were drilling in the bottom (oil-scraper) ring for drain back. Depending on the driver's environment, oil-weight used, change-intervals, and PCV value operation, it can be easier to clog the holes on at least one of the cylinders. If that happens, oil does not drain back into the pan correctly which leads to oil starvation and engine failure.

I did not ask Jerry this but that makes me wonder if it's beneficial to run oil cleaner (carbon-tetra-chloride) thru the engine every 10-12k miles. Basically, this thins the oil and cleans deposits. You put in the crankcase and run it (at idle) for 5 mins before a change. The result should be a purging of any excess deposits/sludge in your motor.

OTOH, if you're like me, you don't go over 3k miles and drive off-road, you shouldn't have an issue. OTOH, if you don't know the history of the motor, cleaning it as described one paragraph up is somthing that can't hurt.

Seafoam is also something I've heard good things about that I'm considering trying. (OTOH, I've also heard (from good mechanics) that water injected into an intake will accomplish the same thing.) But, you should know that neither would do anything to clean the oiling-side of the motor. These types of products are designed to clean valves (aka topside).

The last link in post #7 references Steve speaking to Jerry about it. See posts 22, 24 and 34.

[mindaugas]

thx 89Vette. I'll try those when the oil change comes around. At least from the dipstick the oil looks very clean. From vehicle history the car was on a lease, bought from auction by Elway's, then sold to a guy that lived in Henderson CO. He had it until I bought it. Judging by the condition, I think he took very good care of it. Or she for that matter.

[Buffy]

I'll chime in here with my experience. When I tore my motor down all the oil rings were collapsed inside the piston groove. Jerry Lemond and I spoke at great lengths concerning the issue. He advised me to check the new pistons and count how many oiling holes were in the oil ring groove. There were only four. This meant the pistons were the old design and not the newer modified design. The difference is the newer design has four additional holes drilled in them as close to the wrist pins as possible where the metal is thin. I had the machine shop do this modification. The next step in the process, per Jerry, was to break in the engine and start running 5W 40 synthetic diesel oil I think he suggested Rotella. I only have about 450 miles on my build at the moment so it is too early to tell how it will work out and (unfortunately) the skill level of the machine shop to build an Isuzu motor is becoming questionable. Jerry tells me that new crate motors from Isuzu have the modified pistons in the. If I had to doi it over again I would have Jerry get me a crate engine. The other thing to not is Isuzu does not sell oversized pistons and rings. I had to go with the aftermarket to get pistons which was one of the few non-OEM parts I had to purchase.

And FWIW, I have had issues with other vehicles sucking oil into the intake. I had a Z06 that would do that if you got the RPMs up (though I would NEVER do that ). Several companies created oil catch can systems that would prevent the oil from getting into the intake. The more often you did (ahem) spirited driving the more often you had to empty the catch can.

Just my 2 cents worth to the discussion.

[DogBoneVX]

I'll chime in here with my experience. When I tore my motor down all the oil rings were collapsed inside the piston groove. Jerry Lemond and I spoke at great lengths concerning the issue. He advised me to check the new pistons and count how many oiling holes were in the oil ring groove. There were only four. This meant the pistons were the old design and not the newer modified design. The difference is the newer design has four additional holes drilled in them as close to the wrist pins as possible where the metal is thin. I had the machine shop do this modification. The next step in the process, per Jerry, was to break in the engine and start running 5W 40 synthetic diesel oil I think he suggested Rotella. I only have about 450 miles on my build at the moment so it is too early to tell how it will work out and (unfortunately) the skill level of the machine shop to build an Isuzu motor is becoming questionable. Jerry tells me that new crate motors from Isuzu have the modified pistons in the. If I had to doi it over again I would have Jerry get me a crate engine. The other thing to not is Isuzu does not sell oversized pistons and rings. I had to go with the aftermarket to get pistons which was one of the few non-OEM parts I had to purchase.

And FWIW, I have had issues with other vehicles sucking oil into the intake. I had a Z06 that would do that if you got the RPMs up (though I would NEVER do that ). Several companies created oil catch can systems that would prevent the oil from getting into the intake. The more often you did (ahem) spirited driving the more often you had to empty the catch can.

Just my 2 cents worth to the discussion.

That makes a lot of sense.

[Mile High VX]

And FWIW, I have had issues with other vehicles sucking oil into the intake. I had a Z06 that would do that if you got the RPMs up (though I would NEVER do that ). Several companies created oil catch can systems that would prevent the oil from getting into the intake. The more often you did (ahem) spirited driving the more often you had to empty the catch can.

Just my 2 cents worth to the discussion.

And so how many hours of you life has gone to performing this task...

[Buffy]

And so how many hours of you life has gone to performing this task...

A couple.... or so.... maybe.....