My 2002 Protege 5 is burning oil, about a quart every 800 miles or so. It still has power, the gas mileage is normal and it's never overheated or run low on oil. I've replaced the PVC valve twice, checked compression (it's good) and had the valve cover off to make sure the oil drain ports were all clear (they were). I can't figure out what's going on. I'm guessing that the valve guide seals might be bad, but that's just a guess. The only time I notice smoke in the exhaust is first start in the morning when it's cold, and after a long downhill "coast" (with foot off the gas) when I get back on the gas pedal.

Anybody else having this problem with their 2.0 L Proteges? Any known fixes?

 

What you have described is very symptomatic of worn valve guides.

 

if your still blowing smoke when its not cold you cracked your head gasket. make sure your oil drain plug is on tight and not cross threaded and check your filter to see if that on tight and not cross threaded. i don't let oil changing places touch my cars anymore because of that reason i had that happen to a car before. now i do 100% of my own work.