Remy's '81 Mirada CMX

[SuperBuickGuy]

sightings did go down while he was in Arizona.

[BangShift McT]

Both of y'all can bite me.

[JOES66FURY]

He's a bigfoot Guss...I took him fishin' he stuck his head in the water and came up with a fish...you know what he said...gooneygoogoo...lmao...

[BangShift McT]

Where the hell is my oil going?!

I commute the Mirada around the Puget Sound. It does pretty well, and it's taking to the drives nicely. It cruises about 70mph/2300rpm, front end is awesome (back suspension: not so much), and going through the I-5 express lane tunnels WFO is a riot.

Having my oil pressure gauge pancake to zero ain't.

Driving back from Tukwila, the car seemed nice and happy. Once I got to Mukilteo and off highway traffic, at the first traffic light the gauge flatlines and I proceed to pass masonry supplies by the palletload. I dive into the first parking space I can and check the engine. There is JUST enough oil to get the tip of the stick wet. I dump in a quart and roll up to a Jiffy Lube and convince the staff there that letting me use their garage for my personal use is a good idea. I found a trans oil leak coming from one of the radiator lines at a coupling (nothing a good tightening couldn't fix) but not a single trace of oil worth mentioning. Just a little seep from the oil pressure gauge line fitting, like I expected. So I filled it up and went home, nervous.

Today I drove it around locally. I stopped back in Jiffy Lube, and sure enough, I'm about a quart low, but there's no oil anywhere. It's not coming out of the pipes, I sat right behind them holding paper towels up to see if there was residue or smoke coming out. Nothing. Where else can it possibly go that it doesn't make a mess?

[SuperBuickGuy]

let's see. Where have I found oil - beside the obvious places.
mufflers, floorboard, trunk, carpet.... but I doubt that's it.... here's my bet and how I know about it.

My Buick would only blow oil when I was at WOT on the freeway - just sitting and idling, it'd drop nothing; driving around town, rarely because the oil pressure was too low. Only way you could tell it was blowing out was from the spots on the bumper.

With that said, do you have that nice oil, speckled look on your rear bumper and decklid? If so, it's probably the rear main seal leaking but only when driving above 2k rpms... I suspect it won't do it just idling or even racing the engine - it takes a load before it pushes the oil past the rear seal

[STINEY]

The 500 in the Malibu did that too. Once upon a time the PCV was, umm, non-functional allowing pressure to push out the lip of the seal somehow. Low speed = fine, but anything fun make a big old mess.

But Remy has no such mess. Hmmm....

Faulty intake gaskets allowing oil to be sucked into air/fuel mix? No leaks that way, oil consumption for sure, but no smoke? Doesn't sound right either....

What for a PCV are you running? Any close up pictures of the engine bay or bottom side of engine bay?

[milner351]

I'm going with oil burning but only when at high load / speed. Intake gaskets are a good possibility - heads or block milled so clamping on bottom of gasket is not as good as at the top? How about leaking past the rings or valves but only at high cylinder pressure?

I agree - there should be some sign of oil mist on the back of the car. how about have someone follow you when going WOT and have them keep an eye on the pipes for oil smoke?

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm going with oil burning but only when at high load / speed. Intake gaskets are a good possibility - heads or block milled so clamping on bottom of gasket is not as good as at the top? How about leaking past the rings or valves but only at high cylinder pressure?

I agree - there should be some sign of oil mist on the back of the car. how about have someone follow you when going WOT and have them keep an eye on the pipes for oil smoke?

how do I say this delicately? Sasquatch doesn't wash his car too often (ever?) - so he'll first have to wash the car to get the original spew off the car; then do a bit of driving.

[BBR]

Pull plugs and check for signs of oil consumption.

[Scott Liggett]

how do I say this delicately? Sasquatch doesn't wash his car too often (ever?) - so he'll first have to wash the car to get the original spew off the car; then do a bit of driving.

I refuse to take responsibility for the new nick name.

Start by checking the plugs. Will tell if its blow by, or poor intake manifold sealing.

[BangShift McT]

how do I say this delicately? Sasquatch doesn't wash his car too often (ever?) - so he'll first have to wash the car to get the original spew off the car; then do a bit of driving.

Actually, I wash the car pretty often. It just LOOKS like I didn't due to rain and the lovely drive up I-5. And it's beat that much.

Having someone follow behind me is a pretty good idea, but no friends. Might get stepdad to do that and see. There is no mess at all, not even an oil film, just where the trans was leaking underneath.

Was suggested that there is a way the brake booster is sucking in the oil? Any truth to that? I'll be pulling the line off later to see if there's residue, and I'll check a couple of plugs too.

[BBR]

I've heard of the engine sucking brake fluid, but not the other way around.

[STINEY]

Brake boosters can use/make disappear brake fluid, but not oil.... the booster is sucked on, it does not do the sucking.

That was weird to type....

[milner351]

oh good lord - this is a family chanel.....

Brake boosters can cause engine vacuum leaks due to a hole in the booster diaphram.

Brake boosters can hold brake fluid if the master cylinder leaks by the pushrod and back into the booster - then the engine could suck it in.

Does this thing have a mechanical fuel pump? If there's a hole in the fuel pump diaphram it can push oil out .... but I'd think you'd see some sort of leakage - or residue left in the engine compartment around the pump

[BangShift McT]

Me? Family channel?! HA!