Oil loss mystery

[mgold]

A buddy of mine picked up a 318is as a daily driver and the car runs great except for a slight problem...he's losing a quart of oil every 150 miles or so. Yes you heard me right. And I thought my loss of a quart every 3000 was excessive. The funny thing is he's not seeing any drips on the ground and it has good compression. Any thoughts as to what could be happening to the missing oil?

[FL318is]

Mine was losing oil, visible, where the oil filter cannister mounts to the engine. I replaced the o ring and gasket. As soon as my replacement hoses arrive I will let you know if that worked.

[D. Clay]

Start it and let it run 2-3 minutes and then shut it off. Start and let it run for 20-30 minutes. Look at it from the bottom. It could leak only under pressure and not spew onto the car or motor. Rear main seal will sometimes leak into the area behind the oil pan and front of lower bell housing.

[mgold]

Thanks, I'll pass that along.

[Miracle]

The oil must be going somewhere. Take the oil cap off and look at the bottom. If it's a white/milky colour then the oil is mixing with the water somewhere.

[mgold]

Well I passed along what D. Clay suggested and here's what he had to say...
Unfortunately the bottom of the car is bone dry... I did drive the car at night.. with headlights behind me I could see that the car was smoking quite a bit.... IMO it is probably really bad valve guides since the compression was good. Good find though! I think i am going to pull the head and take a peak... if it is the bottom end I will remove the rest of the engine. I am probably going to pull the pan this week as the 318's oil light is coming on when I have the proper amount of oil. It maybe the inner pan bolts coming off and blocking the oil pickup....