Hey Scotty, my car has been losing a lot of oil, my car is a Mazda 3 2005 1.6 Diesel, manual with 152.000 kms (95000 miles). Back in september i filled it up to de max and after 2-3 months it went under the minimum. With basic inspection i can see that the cylinder head cover gasket is damaged, and it has a lot of oil in it´s surroundings. Also there is a hose that goes from the intake hose to the cylinder head which is slightly loose, that is being fixed with zip ties. Is there anything else i should check to be sure? What tests or tricks should I do?
the cylinder head cover gasket is damaged
fix it
a hose that goes from the intake hose to the cylinder head which is slightly loose
fix it.
there that was easy
FWIW, I helped a friend change a PCV valve on his Prius, and it stopped burning oil. It burned like a quart every 1-2 weeks initially, now burning barely anything at all.
I fixed the cylinder head gasket and the hose and its still burning a lot of oil. I´ve looked at forums and some say it may be the pcv valve, a friend of mine said it could be the turbo burning oil... I can´t find any other leaks so I assume it´s burning it.
Back in september i filled it up to de max and after 2-3 months it went under the minimum.
How long did you drive it before you noticed it was below the minimum level? If it was really any appreciable distance, you may have worn out your engine.
Below minimum means you're risking engine damage if you run the engine and drive. Even even a just a quarter mile's drive, you can damage something. There's not enough oil to minimally lubricate all of the parts of the engine, and those parts furthest away from the oil pump are most at risk -your turbo, piston rings, cams and valves.
The engine's life hangs in the balance of your oil's upkeep and maintenance. Do a compression test and see what the health of the engine is. You will probably need to remove injectors, not spark plugs (diesels don't have them) and thread the pressure gauge in its place, or pull your glow plugs and try that way. I've never done a compression test on a diesel myself.
Replace the PCV valve. If that doesn't do it, and you fixed the obvious leaks, then your engine has some internal issue.
