Daihatsu cuore engine advice needed!

xiovoxivmm (xiovoxivmm) 2014-09-07 06:31:10 +0500 #1

Hi there. I need help with an issue.
I own a cuore. A few months back at an Odo reading of 99000kms, the oil levels between changes started getting low, esp after long trips. I needed at least 1 liter of oil between the changes.
There was no sign of blue smoke coming out of the exhaust, also the car was giving a perfect mileage, and no problems with the plugs (which were clean without a trace of oil).
I did notice some oil in the air filter after those trips and some oil on the tappet cover seeping through the cap but that was not significant, more like a smudge.
I took it to a mechanic who said engine blow is common in cultus and cuore on high speeds but he seemed a little concerned about the seep from the cap.
I had him change the rings of engine as i thought that engine blow was responsible for this whole thing. Problem was solved. I switched from using toyota oil to caltex havoline 10/30. For a while it worked well for me. But not the Odo reading is 114000 and the same problem has come up. Now it needs at lease 1/2 liter between oil changes i.e @3000 km.
Please help me with this issue. haan one more thing. I have still not changed the oil cap. it still smudges and there is still some oil smudges on the air filter as well, but like i said, that does not look like 1/2 oil loss (so I'd rather call it insignificant). Plugs are still clean and no smoke from the tail pipe.
P.S; the car only eats up oil on highways though i keep speed below 100km/hr. In city drive, the oil level stays normal.

abc01 (abc01) 2014-09-07 11:28:44 +0500 #2

I think its normal

Proverbial_Slang (Proverbial_Slang) 2014-09-07 11:51:23 +0500 #3

No it is not normal. Check the tappet gaps and valve seals for wear.

msabbasi (msabbasi) 2014-09-07 12:28:32 +0500 #4

I would tend to agree with @abc01. On highway speeds the engine may be turning 3000 PRM for sustained periods of time. Thus oil consumption goes up. That is normal for older engines. However you are saying that there is oil in the air filter and oil around the oil filler cap. That indicates that the crank chamber is getting pressurized pushing oil vapour out. I think the Coure does not have a PVC valve. The PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) valve connects the crankcase to the inlet manifold. The inlet manifold is in a vacuum condition when the car is not accelerating. In this way any pressure in the crank case is routed into the inlet manifold where it goes into the pistons and out the tail pipe. I would have advised you to replace the rings but you have already done that. If you are still not happy with the situation the only way forward is to get the engine rebored. However that is a drastic step at this point it time of your car's life. I would say if the plugs are clean and there is no smoke you have nothing to worry about. Just keep an eye on the oil level.

msabbasi (msabbasi) 2014-09-07 12:42:41 +0500 #5

Tight tappets are indicated by poor engine power and higher fuel consumption because the valves are not closing fully. Loose tappets are noisy. Bad valve seals are characterised by blue smoke on start up in the mornings and on the after run. Bad oil seals allow oil to ooze past over night and gather in the combustion chambers. When the engine is started in the morning, the small pool of oil collected over night burns with a blue puff for a short time until it is all burnt. The other phenomenon is smoke on the after run. That can be seen by revving the car repeatedly and quickly to 4000 - 5000 RPM while looking at the back of the car. After two or three times of this revving blue smoke is seen. When the engine is taken to 4000-5000 RPM and the throttle is quickly closed, the combustion chambers is under vacuum, Since the valve seals are weak, oil is sucked into the combustion chambers, next time the throttle is opened the oil that has entered the chamber burns and can be seen in the form of blue smoke.

Since the @OP has not mentioned any of these symptoms we can say that tappets and valve seals are OK.

xiovoxivmm (xiovoxivmm) 2014-09-07 19:28:34 +0500 #6

@msabbasi,
Thanks for the info. I will be sure to check this out!! When i tune up my car, i usually have the tappets looked at. I did that on the last tune up.
Please also specify, can this oil also accumilate due to poor seals in an older engine? considering that i had the rings replaced about 6 months back. Ill attach the pic of engine block and pistons i took back then. I didnt see any significant wear....
Please comment.

xiovoxivmm (xiovoxivmm) 2014-09-07 19:35:11 +0500 #7

msabbasi;4519417:

I would tend to agree with @abc01. On highway speeds the engine may be turning 3000 PRM for sustained periods of time. Thus oil consumption goes up. That is normal for older engines. However you are saying that there is oil in the air filter and oil around the oil filler cap. That indicates that the crank chamber is getting pressurized pushing oil vapour out. I think the Coure does not have a PVC valve. The PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) valve connects the crankcase to the inlet manifold. The inlet manifold is in a vacuum condition when the car is not accelerating. In this way any pressure in the crank case is routed into the inlet manifold where it goes into the pistons and out the tail pipe. I would have advised you to replace the rings but you have already done that. If you are still not happy with the situation the only way forward is to get the engine rebored. However that is a drastic step at this point it time of your car's life. I would say if the plugs are clean and there is no smoke you have nothing to worry about. Just keep an eye on the oil level.

Similar problem discussed here: https://www.pakwheels.com/forums/engine-transmission-powertrain/180555-engine-blow-cuore-07-a-2

@msabbasi i am sure cuore has no pcv valve. I had that checked before replacing the rings. Also i need to specify that i own an automatic cuore with just 3 gears. I doubt it has an overdrive gear in it... lol. I am sure the RPM at 100km/hr is way above 3000.
Ill keep an eye on oil levels. I hope it lasts for an year before i think about a complete overhaul.
Also i forgot to mention earlier, when i switched to havoline 10/30 oil, it wasnt eating up as much oil as it is doing now. I recently switched to zic A 10/40 synthetic formula oil. Since i changed the brand, it is using up more oil. Please recommend some good oil. But i dont want to switch to 20/50 as yet....
Regards,

msabbasi (msabbasi) 2014-09-08 04:50:37 +0500 #8

You are most welcome. Happy to be of assistance. Oil doesn't "accumulate" in the combustion chambers in the form of liquid oil due to weak seals. Rather it burns along with the petrol and is characterised by the tell tale blue smoke. However, what does happen is that there is accelerated carbon build up on the piston crown and on the exhaust valve. Don't get me wrong here that carbon formation is only in engines burning oil. It happens in all cars but the RATE of carbon formation is accelerated in an engine burning oil. I hope that is clear.

Wear in the engine is not visible to the naked eye. To estimate wear one needs to check the bores by using a bore gauge. We have to look for ovality in the bore and taper. Ideally one should not find any taper or ovality but as a rule of thumb up to 0.002" per inch of diameter is acceptable. The only thing that you MAY be able to see in an engine by the naked eye or feel with your finger after very, very high mileage is the formation of a ridge on the top of the cylinders. The piston is measured using a micrometer at the skirt of the piston. Based on the results of all these measurements we can say the engine is worn or not. You can google all this and find more facts.

msabbasi (msabbasi) 2014-09-08 05:10:14 +0500 #9

I had a luxury car in the past where it was mentioned in the owner’s manual that some oil burning after a high speed run is to be expected and it is normal. Anyway, getting back to your car, I do not think I can say a particular brand of oil is good or bad until I have personally had a bad experience to substantiate any claims. However, what I am in a position to say is that you need to look at your car's owner’s manual to see what grade of oil is recommended for our ambient temperatures (up to 45 deg C - peak summers). My Spectra manual says to use 20W-50 for our range of temperatures.

If you think you had a better experience with Havoline 10W-30, switch back. If you stick to regular oil changes there is no reason why you should not get a good long life from the engine. Important thing is to follow what your instruction manual says.

mwm749 (Mohsin Wazir Malik) 2014-09-08 05:51:46 +0500 #10

I think you are using thinner oil; you should be using 20~50; see this chart.

imrananr (imrananr) 2014-09-09 12:39:03 +0500 #11

xiovoxivmm;4519025:

Hi there. I need help with an issue.
I own a cuore. A few months back at an Odo reading of 99000kms, the oil levels between changes started getting low, esp after long trips. I needed at least 1 liter of oil between the changes.
There was no sign of blue smoke coming out of the exhaust, also the car was giving a perfect mileage, and no problems with the plugs (which were clean without a trace of oil).
I did notice some oil in the air filter after those trips and some oil on the tappet cover seeping through the cap but that was not significant, more like a smudge.
I took it to a mechanic who said engine blow is common in cultus and cuore on high speeds but he seemed a little concerned about the seep from the cap.
I had him change the rings of engine as i thought that engine blow was responsible for this whole thing. Problem was solved. I switched from using toyota oil to caltex havoline 10/30. For a while it worked well for me. But not the Odo reading is 114000 and the same problem has come up. Now it needs at lease 1/2 liter between oil changes i.e @3000 km.
Please help me with this issue. haan one more thing. I have still not changed the oil cap. it still smudges and there is still some oil smudges on the air filter as well, but like i said, that does not look like 1/2 oil loss (so I'd rather call it insignificant). Plugs are still clean and no smoke from the tail pipe.
P.S; the car only eats up oil on highways though i keep speed below 100km/hr. In city drive, the oil level stays normal.

It's seems normal. With 114000 on odometer, its time u shift to 5w40 grade engine oil.

inam303 (inam) 2018-01-30 12:39:05 +0500 #12

Dear Pakwheels members,
Your kind suggestions are required. My brief story is.......
I have purchased Coure automatic 2010 model with the odo reading of 63000kms (i guess its genuine,as i know the owner). Everything is working perfectly fine but the engine oil. I do not know which oil type was been used by the previous owner. But I am using caltex havoline 10W-40 API SJ. A total of 2.6 ltr(as mentioned in Coure manual),after covering 1500km, the oil level gets low about liter. while having checkup from toyota motors Gujranwala,mechanic say apparently engine is in perfect condition, no black/blue smoke. fuel average is about 16km/l on GT road+city. whenever I ignite the engine in morning, water drops out of the silencer.

Kindly help me in diagnosing the issue. Thanks in advance for your valuable suggestions.