Oil consumption on the track, is it normal?

[SF Final 286]

I ran at Laguna Seca last week and noticed alot of black smoke from the exhast upon hard acceleration (after a hard braking zone). When I came into the pits after each 30 min session, I noticed that the car had consumed about 1.25 quarts of oil! I had to refil oil after every session! I have not noticed any oil consumption on the street and the car does not leak oil. I haven't really noticed any black smoke on the street either. Of course i don't drive it too ******* the street. It's 2002 GTS FE.
What should I do about this?
I am really worried.

 

[ViperRay]

It's common under hard braking to "regurgitate" oil into the air box from the valve covers although that sounds a bit excessive.

Did you notice oil on the floor under the airbox after this?

 

[KenH]

Under hard braking (negative G) conditions, the valve cover vent tubes tend to dump oil back into the air intake. On the street, I have only seen this once or twice on my car and it scared the crap out of me until I found out what it was.

I haven't road raced, so I am not sure if that can equate to 1.25qts in a 30 minute session though. That seems like a lot to me. Also smoke from the oil being ingested through the intake tends to be white not black in my experience.

If this is your problem, you can provide alternative venting or an oil catch can. You might pull the intake tubes off and see if you see oil puddling in the intake manifold. That would be a sure sign this is at least part of the oil consumption problem.

Hopefully one of the road racers will chime in with some real experience.

 

[Jerry Scott[CO]]

Here's a picture of a puke can that will fix the problem for agressive track driving. KenH is right about hard braking causing oil from the valve covers to flow forward and into the air filter. This can will catch the oil and vent the covers to atmosphere. You will have to drain the oil out of the drain plug once in a while, but that is easily done. The can is made by Kip Partridge in Denver: 303-697-5821.
Jerry

 

[Tomcat]

Normal. Depending on how much tracking you will be doing will depend on the extent of the fix. Archer Racing Acc. has a fix with breather and catch can that has been effective for me. I had exactly the same issue as you.

The fix Jerry has will work as well.

 

[Eric H]

i noticed the same thing this past weekend at VIR. AFter day1 i had to add over a quart...........looks like i need to add a catch can as well.

 

[Bugeater]

Eric,
How did the GTS compare to your ex-track 350? Did you get the hang of it by Sunday?

 

[Eric H]

the GTS did well, the 350Z had MUCH superior braking power, and the Z was much more nuetral in the corners, but the VIper has by far more raw power.

I was able to get more corner speed i think than my 350Z but it was definetly more work and required alot more throttle modulation than the 350Z(obviously more power to modulate now)

The Viper was fun, but definetly needs some work to make it more reliable. Had to worry about my power steering cap vibrating loose, oil starvation in the engine, gas cap was leaking fuel...........but overall it was a total blast.

I think the VIper needs some stiffer springs, at high speeds it seemed "sloshy" were my 350z was stable and rock hard.....but like i said with a little work I think the viper will be a much faster car overall.

 

[SF Final 286]

Thanks guys.
For those of you that say this is a normal event at the race track, is 1.25 quarts per 30 min sesssion, normal?
Seems like alot to me. I did not see any oil on the ground at all.

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

I was told to track the car 1/2 quart low to remedy that problem. I've been doing that and never had a problem.

 

[Vic]

1.25 quarts is too much in my opinion, assuming its not being regurgitated. Are your plugs oily? Is there oil oozing out of the tailpipes?

If it is going from the valve covers back into the airbox, all bets are off, and there is no use wondering if your engine is using the oil due to abnormal condition or wear. You have to isolate the root cause first, by installing the catch can as shown above. If you still consume oil a lot of oil after doing that, then maybe your engine is burning the oil due to bad rings, or valves. You might try a compression test, in that case.

My catch can is made by "Mr Gasket", and it looks identical to the one shown, except mine has one extra fitting on the side, designed to accept input from the power steering breather. This keeps p.s. fluid residue off the headers.

 

[SF Final 286]

anyone else?