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I skipped an oil change once on my Jeep which uses a similar system to vtec and it was down a quart but that was at 7000 miles.
I have a 2004 Acura RSX with 74K miles on the clock. It has always used a little oil. I think I add a third quart at 2K miles. The VTEC system doesn’t use any oil. Some high performance engines are designed to use some oil past the valve guides for cooling purposes, as much as 1 qt. per 1K miles. The Honda K 4 cyl. shares a number of features with engines from years past that were designed to use a little oil. I’m not sure, but I think high RPM especially in racing, would use more oil.
I think VTEC could not be said to resemble anyone else’s variable valve timing. VTEC is far more sophisticated and effective than older systems. Alfa Romeo had variable valve timing in 1980. It added overlap at higher RPM. It was centrifugally controlled and worked just fine. Today, we have E controlled devices that do the same thing as the 1980 Alfa, but adjust timing when the ECU says to do so.
BMW has variable valve timing that accomplishes more than VTEC, and the new Fiat MultiAir system accomplishes what Honda and BMW would have if they had the ability when they designed their systems. Nissan also has a VTEC competitor, but I don’t know what it does or how it works. It looks “Rube Goldberg” to me.All engines use oil in some fashion. There are places in the engine where oil will get where it will simply not make it back to the oil pan. For example, it has to run down the valve stems, at least in miniscule quantities, or else they would stick inside the head and you’d start breaking things. 1 quart per 1000 miles is the maximum consumption allowed by industry standards.
If you think that your car doesn’t use any oil because the oil level on the dipstick is always right in the center (on cold oil) or at the full mark (at operationg temperature), that’s actually an illusion. What you’re seeing is the oil level “propped up” with fuel that’s gotten past the piston rings, as well as water collecting inside the crankcase as the engine cools. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m talking about absolutely tiny amounts of that stuff, but it is there.
Oil comsumption should always bother you, and it’s time to sell that vehicle and make it somebody else’s headache. I don’t care what anybody anywhere says to you, oil consumption is BAD news for you, but GREAT news to the shop that gets to charge you through the nose to install a new motor
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