I am dropping the headliner to have it renewed and thought that while I was at it, I would replace the "useless" fat rails with the more practical pre-2004 ones, which seem to be readily available and cheap.

Does anyone know whether the mounting holes between the 2004 and pre-04 rails are compatible?

Thanks.

Otherwise, the motor my son and I rebuilt with flanged sleeves is running well, with 3,000 miles on it, though it seems to still be consuming some oil: about 1.5-2.0 quarts over that 3,000 miles. Would this be typical for a new break-in? BTW, we used break-in motor oil for the first 500 miles, then replaced it with regular 10-40W.

 

Firstly, what brand 10w40 are you running? Does it have enough zinc for the flat tapped cam?

For the roof rails, yes. There will be no trouble running a '99-'03 set on an '04. Actually, I've got a set for sale. If you're interested just PM me.

 

You can sell your 04 rails, for more than you will pay for the thin ones. I did just the opposite, and purchased my "fat" rails for 80.00 and listed my thin ones on eBay and did not even get one bid(no reserve). They are still under the guest bed,

 

There is something wrong with your new engine for sure ,
A new rebuild with fresh liners, & new rings, isn't suppose to consume oil,
Unlike what motor oil companies want you to believe and buy their break-in oil, if a new engine has right tolerance's , you don't need to use break in oil , it will only wear out new components very rapidly. & will cause unnecessary wear, (Thats why it's called break-in oil. & it will wear parts very quickly.)
I have build many high performance engines with very wild, high lift & overlap cam's , With very precise tolerances , never used break-in oil's , Just runned it with conventional oil , for first 20min, Then changed to synthetic & new filter, never had any break in problem's, Never lost a cam lobe, in any cam, never had a piston ring & cylinder wall seal problem.
If engine is build correctly, it doesn't need to wear down to work properly.
Precise machining, tolerances , and correct piston ring gapping is what will make or break an engine.

 

Embarrassingly, not sure what oil brand is in it right now.

But when we re-built the engine, the cam and crank were polished, we coated all new bearing surfaces with redline break-in grease, then oiled it up with GM EOS (engine oil supplement). All tolerances were well within spec: we used plastigauge when trial fitting all bearings (with the old stretch bolts), checked ring gaps for each cylinder and filed as needed as well.

For break-in, we ran the engine for three 15 minute cycles (frankly, we were caught a little off-guard when the engine started on the very first crank), varied engine speed between 1,000 and 2,500 rpm on each cycle, then changed oil, then ran 50-75 miles of city driving to vary the speed, then ran for 500 miles (Austin-Dallas and back), then changed oil again (current oil). Pressure measured at the sensor was 55-60psi during the 15 min break-in cycles.

No leaks anywhere visible on engine (even checked rear main seal thru the bell housing observation port and a video inspection camera), no blue smoke so not sure where the oil is going after 3,000 miles. Used the really expensive gasket sealant that the RAV(?) manual spec'ed -- $20+ for a tube -- as well as spec'ed grease for the main seals.

Checked the plugs and all are tan and dry: no sign of oil leakage past the rings.

Otherwise, the thing runs great: 18-20mpg on the highway at 65-70 (hard to keep it much below that on Texas interstates). Of course, what do they say in NASCAR: an engine always runs its best right before it blows up?

Keep trying to get my son to swap the D2 for my Gen1 Honda Insight: he's not biting, says the Insight is social suicide, especially when compared to the D2.

What else could I check to diagnose the oil consumption?

I've heard different stories about using synthetic in these motors (I use Mobil1 in all my other cars -- all 8 of them that are running right now). Some say synthetic doesn't have enough zinc, others say synth is best.

Re. the rack rails, why would anyone want the fat rails, save for aesthetics? Am I missing something here?

 

I am in Austin, if you want thin rails. On your rebuild, did you replace the valve seals?
Thick rails for me, strictly aesthetics, as I will never have anything up there.

 

If your new build engine is all good, and no signs of burning oil , it could be simply that existing oil that you don't know what it is , just simply evaporating trough pvc valve, check pvc valve to see if it's too oil'y, if it is clean it , if it clogges , will put extra pressure on new seals , specially crosefix seals on back , and make them leak prematurely !!
As far as oil, I too use only Mobil1 on my cars, (my daily 07 manual corolla 255k miles still feels & drives like day I bought it)
The only other oil I use is (valvoline maxlife 5w30) on old Camry ,
For D2 every one in forum recommends Rotella , because of high detergent & zinc/phos (zddp) content,,
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I personally won't use diesel oil in gas engine,
Diesel oils do have high detergent & ZDDP contents ,, but they are designed for big displacement slow reeving engines, ( if you look at shell site , they test it on CAT engine)
Most of engine builders in GM, after research about low zink oils that came with API-SM rated oils , , concluded that a good oil with min of 800ppm zinc/ phos, is good for flat tappet pushrods engines, But a oil that starts with that amount , by the time you drive it for 5k miles drops down to 650-680ppm zinc/phos, so maybe not best choice!!
Mobil1 produces few gasoline engine oils that have higher ZDDP levels , mostly because they are w40 oils or higher even in. API-SN Grade they can pass (API -SN, says max 800ppm ZDDP, but only for oils up to w30)
All Mobil1 high mileage oils (API-SL rated) have higher zinc level. & w40 & w50 oils also have higher levels,,,
Synthetic oils all have inharant detergent properties ,, so they keep engines from building sludge,,,,
If you have a good oil that starts over 1000ppm zinc /phos By 5k miles you will loose some but,, you will have 850-880ppm ZDDP still available,,, which is more than enough,,,
If you chanege oil in a D2 every 3k miles (what I do) you will have more than 910-920ppm ZDDP left which is more than adequate , to keep flat tappets working perfect,

Old Rotella,15w40= aproximately... Zinc-1200ppm. Phos-1250ppm
New Rotella,15w40=aproximately ... Zinc-1450ppm. Phos-1100ppm
Rotella T6 syn, 5w40=aproximately .. Zinc-1280ppm. Phos-1150ppm
Mobil1 HM, 10w40= aproximately .... Zinc-1100ppm. Phos-1000ppm
Mobil1 0w40 = aproximately ......... Zinc-1100ppm. Phos-1000ppm

I wouldn't use high mileage oil in new build engine, because it has seal sweal ,, that new seals don't need,,!
But I have used, and currently using , Mobil1 0w40 in new build 4.6 D2 engine, with great results, and will keep on using it , and change it 3k miles, Doesn't cost anything compared to 210 to 240 gallons of premium it burns on average between oil changes,

If other members , don't agree with me , and they like their Rotella Better , good for them, anybody can do it his/her own way,,,
Everyone has different opinion, specially when it comes to,, motor oil subject..

 

Neato, never actually seen the zinc numbers.

I'd like to throw out one more oil option, which is the one I use. Royal Purple 10w40 or 15w40, which are diesel/High performance gas engine oils. I'm getting about 9k per change with that and a Mobil 1 filter, so even though it costs twice as much it is paying for itself simply by not changing it as often.

 

The 04 roof rails are the bomb and look the best. The older ones look wimpy.

 

'04 rails should fit without any problems, they were fitted to all D2s from '99 on. Much more practical than the fat ones as the cross bars are more easily found and cheaper.

Never could see the point of the fat bars myself.