E 36 oil consumption

[Jandre]

Some of you might remember me mentioning something about my wife's E 36 318i with an appetite for oil.

The initial stats read like this: 1000km= 1 liter oil.

Now, after an engine flush and oil change, the oil consumption is down.. significantly down. On 700 km's the dipstick is still on full.

Might sound insignificant, but I am happy. Did change my brand of oil though.

Hold thumbs please guys.

 

[freerider]

I find that my 320 uses more oil toward service time.

 

[Nic_s]

I have never noticed whether my E30 318i uses oil. I check it every now and then, but it's always full. Same with water. This is actually kind of interesting... I expected that my car would, but it doesn't. Guess I'm lucky... for now.

If your car is chowing oil I think I'm right in saying that you'll need to have the piston rings checked first??

 

[Jandre]

Something interesting:

Again I noticed the oil consumption going through the roof.

Started investigating the possibility of a 2nd hand motor vs rebuild.
Second hand motor purchased and fitted = R 10 000,00 ( 4 days)
Recon my engine= R 15 000,00 (3 odd weeks).

Spoke to the guys from Motorem and Zeemax, and they suggested the PCV Valve is faulty. Did a quick check last night, and it seems like this might be the culprit. Let the car idle, and take the oil filler cap off. If the engine goes ballastic, it is the PCV. Mine went crazy bananas.

Jacques from Motorem is gonna hook me up with a PCV valve for R 300,00 and I will do the installation myself.

I will keep you posted.

 

[Major]

Spoke to the guys from Motorem and Zeemax, and they suggested the PCV Valve is faulty. Did a quick check last night, and it seems like this might be the culprit. Let the car idle, and take the oil filler cap off. If the engine goes ballastic, it is the PCV. Mine went crazy bananas.

Can someone explain that to me?

Let me see if I've got this right. The PCV valve sits between your intake and your valve cover, and, basically, under zero load (full vacuum in intake) it's closed, and under full load (almost zero vacuum) it's open. So the spring in the PCV valve is trying to keep the PCV valve open, but when exposed to the intake's vacuum (at idle), it's closed.

Removing the oil filler cap would allow air to travel through the PCV valve from the cap if the valve didn't offer any restriction, allowing the engine to increase RPM. Normally, the PCV valve should be closed at idle, not creating a vacuum in the crankcase, and not allowing air to flow from the oil cap. The vacuum in the intake, as I said above, should 'suck' the valve closed (compressing the spring). If the PCV valve is open at idle, then either the spring is stuck open, or the restrictor can't move into the 'closed' position, which allows air to get past. Therefore, PCV is stuffed - stuck open.

That about right?

 

[Jandre]

Eish, I don't know. i just drive the thing. But hey, it's a cheap start to problem solving, so if it works, who am I to argue.

 

[Major]

I just found it interesting when the mechanics told you that, my first reaction was to say 'no way'. But yeah, if your PCV valve is stuck open, then your engine has been sucking oil straight out of your valve-train. :shocked:

Let us know if it solves your problem!

 

[Jandre]

Thats what they said happened Major.

 

[freerider]

Probably the best explanation of how the PCV valve works that I have seen

Spoke to the guys from Motorem and Zeemax, and they suggested the PCV Valve is faulty. Did a quick check last night, and it seems like this might be the culprit. Let the car idle, and take the oil filler cap off. If the engine goes ballastic, it is the PCV. Mine went crazy bananas.

Can someone explain that to me?

Let me see if I've got this right. The PCV valve sits between your intake and your valve cover, and, basically, under zero load (full vacuum in intake) it's closed, and under full load (almost zero vacuum) it's open. So the spring in the PCV valve is trying to keep the PCV valve open, but when exposed to the intake's vacuum (at idle), it's closed.

Removing the oil filler cap would allow air to travel through the PCV valve from the cap if the valve didn't offer any restriction, allowing the engine to increase RPM. Normally, the PCV valve should be closed at idle, not creating a vacuum in the crankcase, and not allowing air to flow from the oil cap. The vacuum in the intake, as I said above, should 'suck' the valve closed (compressing the spring). If the PCV valve is open at idle, then either the spring is stuck open, or the restrictor can't move into the 'closed' position, which allows air to get past. Therefore, PCV is stuffed - stuck open.

That about right?

 

[calypso]

Mine e36 also uses more towards service time, but still wont use more then 1 liter between services.

 

[wynandd]

My diesel uses NO oil between services! I'm not sure if that's a good thing!?:mmm:

 

[Farmer]

my 2003 e46 also use 1l oil/1000km... so i must check that PCV if its shot:mmm:

 

[Fuzzy]

No oil consumption or water on my e36 m3!

 

[Farmer]

No oil consumption or water on my e36 m3!

becouse its a ///M

 

[Jandre]

I was at my local BMW stealer, picking up a relay for my foglight installation, and posed them my question about my car's oil consumption, PCV valve etc.
According to the workshop foreman, a normal BMW multivalve motor can use 750ml oil per 1000 km, and M cars can use double that. Thats 1,5l of oil for every 1000km travelled.

Damn, find that hard to believe, but he says it's gospel.

Fuzzy your car's low oil consumption is probably because you drive to Bellville and back every day. Stop start, in town driving is the killer.

 

[Fuzzy]

I sit in traffic in the mornings and evenings, not as bad as town though, but I have my fair share of stop go. I also moer my car, there's no driving miss daisy either.

None of my Beemers have ever been heavy on oil or water and I've had quite a few! 528i, 535i, 320i, 325i, 327iT...

 

[Jandre]

This is Beemer #6 for me, and the others used no oil as well. Included in the mix was a 325is Evo 2 and a 91 M5.

My dad's E 90 likes to use some oil when he plutters around in town (maybe a litre on 10 000km). On the open road, it's a different story.

 

[Nic_s]

I live about 2km's from work and I go home for lunch everyday. Everytime I drive I try and keep it under 2000rpm... saving fuel for when I'm on the open road. I've never had to top up on oil... touch wood... never say never. Up until now it's been no oil use at all and I'm just over 260 000km's on the clock.

 

[Hellas]

I've done 239000km on the 1.4 polo now and still no oil consumption.

And the same as Wynand on the 320diesel: no oil top-ups needed

 

[Jandre]

I fitted the new PCV last night. (Had to struggle in the dark with a flashlight. Leadlight died on me last night).

It took me longer to get the two bolts loose than re-fitting and tightening the new PCV.
Topped up, the oil, recorded the mileage, so let the monitoring begin.

Anyone for a home DIY mechanic? Cheep cheep.

After fitting my fogs, the PCV, servicing and the new steering wheel myself, I feel pretty chuffed about my skills.