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Posted by D Sherman [72.47.9.228] on Friday, April 29, 2011 at 19:33:28 :
I just got back from a 3000 mile trip in my '91 Civic. The rings are shot and it sucks a lot of oil into the cylinders during steep downgrades under compression, and then burns it in a big cloud of smoke when I start up the next hill. It's probably using 3-4 quarts per 1000 miles. On the return leg of my trip I started noticing the tranny was getting pretty noisy. It growls loudly idling in neutral with the clutch engaged. It makes too much noise in most every gear except 5th (overdrive). The 4th gear synchro is starting to go out.
I've never checked the transmission oil level on this car, and I was pretty sure it had run out of oil and that's why it was chewing itself up and making noise. Today I pulled the fill plug to add oil, and about 2 quarts ran out. The Honda tranny uses motor oil for its lube, but this stuff looked just like the oil on the dipstick in terms of color. There is no oil leaking out of the clutch housing so it seems unlikely the "rear" main seal is bad. It's possible the previous owner put way too much oil in, but I can't figure how he could do that since the fill plug is where it is. And if the whole thing is just filled to the gills with oil, why is everything wearing out and making a lot of noise?
At this point, I'm wishing I hadn't just spent $350 plus parts to get the head done (burned valve) and also just bought a new set of tires for it. It's looking like I'm probably in the market for another rice wagon.
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