98 civic losin some oil

98 civic with 229997 kms on it... 5 spd a/c etc located in Winterpeg
(harsh cold winters)

The only time I managed to make this thing push oil was a good boot at about
180kph between Oklahoma City and Albequerque. It was fun. I lost a liter of
oil, but I guess in that heat and pushing it that hard, its to be expected.

I drive her pretty good most of the time, but sometimes I feel she needs her
legs stretched out, so some hot doggin in the city was in order the other
night. After some very aggressive hard driving, I could smell some oil. Not
so much to make me worry, but enough to make me back off the throttle and
take it easy. Checked the oil the next morning, and I was down to the lower
mark on the dipstick. Added about 1/2 a liter or so, and will monitor.

My question is: where is the best place to look for a leak based on the above
info? Valve cover seal? Its pretty new, and not siliconed. However, the
middle bolt is busted, the threads have failed, I used some silicone to keep
the bolt in place so that oil doesn't leak. There is no apparent oil leak
around the valve cover, at least not in the volume I am looking for.

My thoughts:
1. Yes I should fix the bolt on the valve cover, and silicone the proper
areas as stated in the shop manual.
2. Oil Pan seal is seaping, maybe its finally blown.
3. Hoping and praying its not the cam or crank seal.
4. PCV is new, replaced about 10000kms ago, the old one was in top shape, no
blockages in the tube.

I know some of you will mention the 'acceptable amount of oil loss'. I don't
think I am willing to accept this. My girlfriends 87 prelude still doesn't
lose a drop, though it did develop a leak on the valve cover (now fixed).
Basically, in my experience, there is always a reason for oil loss, its just
a question of whether the owner is too lazy to fix it. Is that about right?
OK, lets call it a cost/benefits analysis. In this case, my peace of mind
would outweigh the cost involved, especially if its just the oil pan seal or
something else retarded.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Terry in Winnipeg

 

to help us help you, you need to look about a bit more to see if a leak
loaction is visible.

also, because i used to have a leak problem which has now gone away,
what brand oil are you using?

 

Thanks for the response Jim. I will be degreasing the engine so I can have a
better idea of where the problem is, but was just wondering if I am missing
any of the major culprits.

I am using Mobil 1 synthetic, have been since about 60000kms. 5W30

Regards,
t