Switched to full synthetic @ 134k, now burns 1 quart/1k miles - help!
 

Hi. Long time Honda owner here.

I bought a 97 Civic EX (with leather!) last summer in Denver. Garaged, single owner, and she was a female. It's my commuter car. I have all of the maintenance history, and 1st owner changed oil every 3 months faithfully at the dealership. Service notes say "semi-synthetic" oil was used, which I take to mean a nicer conventional oil.

I've always used full synthetic in my cars, changed oil every 6 months/ 6k miles, and never had a problem.

Before switching this Civic to full synthetic, all seemed fine. Since switching I'm burning a quart of full synthetic Valvoline oil every 1,000 miles!

I highly suspect this problem came about when I switched to synthetic. The car was NOT low on oil (after 4 months / 4,000 miles) when I did the first oil change under my ownership.

Exhaust looks normal.
No leaks in the garage or driveway.
Drives great.

SO WHAT DO I DO? Should I try Valvoline "Max Life" Full Synthetic instead? I've been googling this issue for far too long -- no one seems to have an answer, but there are others out there that experienced the same thing ... oil consumption increase after switching to Synthetic at higher mileage.


HISTORY:
0 months .... Oil was changed at dealership right before I bought it. "Semi-synthetic" was used the Civic's whole life.
4 months .... I gave it its first full synthetic oil at 134,000, at Valvoline. It was NOT low on oil at that time.
8 months .... Oil light flickered on. 2 quarts low. I did 2 full synthetic "drain and fills" (including changing the oil filter) over the next 2 weeks to clear out any buildup.
9 months .... 1 quart low.
10 months .... 1 quart low.


I appreciate your help.
Scott, Denver

do a compression test sounds like could be a piston problem untill you do try running thicker oil it will help not burn so quick. also if all cylinders on compression test are not within 10psi its the piston or burnt valve in most cases. you should not be burning oil like that def something wrong in block if you not finding leaks check to see if any comming out tailpipe.

It'
s usually not a good idea to switch to synthetic on higher mileage cars. Synthetic is a much thinner oil (particle wise) and will find any little area to flow through the old oil might not have. Try going to a high mileage oil and see if the problem slows down.