I have noticed minimal oil burning in my 04 mazda 3 (2.3L) ever since i bought it. Im sure it isnt a leak, and the tail pipe looks dirty. Up until a few weeks ago, you could never actually see blue in the exhaust. It burns about 1L every 1200km, on average. I noticed a while ago, after the car sat for 2 days without being started that it burnt blue smoke at first, ran a little sloppy, then cleaned up within 30 seconds and hasn't done it since. This is the first time i have ever seen any blue out of the tailpipe, and i watch it like a hawk.(4 weeks ago) I was thinking that maybe it was bad valve guide seals, and since it had sat, oil had leaked down and then burnt off. The car also dirties oil very quickly. (black within 3000km) Not sure where i should go with this, as the car runs and drives very nicely. No power loss, hesitation etc. Is it really worth the expensive repair? any long term effects? advice?

cheers

 

how many miles on the car? & what mileage did you buy it at?

some have complained about blowing engines & it seems to be a sudden loss of oil (due to burning probably).

if you keep on top of the oil changes / fluid level you should be ok, may want to try thicker oil to see if it helps at all though a rebuild or repair probably won't pay off.