# Acceleration Hesitation, Oil Loss



## jwstric2 (Jul 8, 2011)

Car: Nissan Sentra
Year: 98
Engine: 1.6L
Miles: 170,000 miles

3 months ago I noticed oil leaking out value cover near front right side. It wasn't bad so I decided to hold off fixing until last weekend, which consisted of replacing the gasket and torquing the bolts to their proper specs (they were somewhat loose). Since I fixed the issue I've had some problems describe below:

1. On heavy loads (uphill) or higher speeds car hesitates in acceleration
2. Burns oil during this hesitation, large visible cloud noticed
3. Losing almost 0.5 - 1 quart oil a day with a 50-60 miles of total driving.
4. No indications of monitored system failure from OBD



I did the following since the problem started:

1. Went ahead and paid the $5 to replace PCV
2. Had wife crank the car up cold after sitting for 12 hours+ to check for smoke; incidations of value seal failures
3. Ran car for 20 minutes to allow to warm up in driveway. Had wife rev engine up and keep constant at this speed. She let off then revved the 4 cylinder as if she was driving my parent's 71 chevelle. Was checking to see if smoke produced from exaust, none occured
4. Todo: Diagnose the breather and pcv hose pressures, if possible with my tools



Starting to wonder if I have back pressure forming from worn compression rings; that if the value cover gasket failure I fixed is revealing another issue. The one thing I have thought of course is loosing up the right side of the cover again to see if this "one" problem goes away, even to just mask it for now.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

A good way to test for oil burning is to first fully warm up the motor. Stand behind the car. Have someone rev the motor to 4,000 RPM and hold at that RPM for about 15 seconds. If you see a lot of blue smoke come out of the tailpipe, the motor is burning excessive oil; time for new rings. If it's black smoke, then it may be leaking fuel injectors.


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## jwstric2 (Jul 8, 2011)

*Issue fixed*

Secondary rocker gasket (small square) had a manufacturing defect (did not line up at all with the primary valve gasket). It was not sealing crank vent and value cover. large amounts of oil was making its way into and past the pcv. 

Picked up a cheap one at autozone and it worked fine, returning defect to dealer. No oil burning, hope to get another 170000 out of the car


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