Why am i losing oil?

dmjddm9999

Member
:
2001 mazda protege mp3
Hey guys. About a month and a half ago i had a shop install sr motor soprt cam gears and jdm camshafts in my mp3. When i went to pick up the car they told me to change my oil immediately, so i did that same day. While i was driving today i noticed my oil light on. I checked my oil and saw nothing on the dip stick. I then drained the oil and noticed that there was only one quart of oil left in the car. I can't figure out how my car could have lost so much oil in only one and a half months. I only put about 1000 miles on my car since they installed the cam gears and camshfts. What could be the problem?
 
lit can be a multiple of things.

first, look under the car and look for leaks, thats the first thing you should do.

if everything seems ok, then your most likely burning oil. burning oil can simply mean just the way you drive, but you lost alot so thats prob not the problem. burning oil usually means bad compressions in your cylinders. check the compression, and if its bad, may be one of the followings :

*worn down cylinder walls
*bad valve seals/guides
*breathing system can be bad (intake system and pcv valve)
*bad head gasket(but would also loose antifreeze too)
*bad pistion rings
*bad compression (due to everything listed above)

all of these are very expensive jobs. so do the minor things first. small things like,

*checking compression in every cylinder
*check your intake system and pcv valve
*buy a can of restore, that fills up the cylinder walls and should help.
*flushing the engine

let us know what the outcome is. if all these seem to be ok, take it back to the shop and be like wtf.
 
it could also be torn seals/gaskets... possible since they ****** with the cams... also lack of sealant used on the cam caps closest to the pullies could do it too
 
I checked under the car and it seems pretty clean. There is never any oil on the floor. I did notice that i would smell smoke wen i down shift to slow myself down. But no i dont really race or beat on my car. The car never burnt oil prior to the camshaft installation.
 
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