2004 Rodeo, 103,000 miles. no oil leaks so I guess its burning oil. Oil is maybe a qt. low after 1000 since change. Engine still sounds fine but I don't know what a new engine sounds like since I bought this used.

There can be alot of causes, such as valve covers leaking, oil pan gasket leaking, oil filter leaking, rear main seal leaking, front timing chain cover seal or gasket leaking even bad rings. Does it smoke out of the back? Your valve seals could be leaking. Best way to find out if you have a leak is to inspect the valve covers manually, or take newspapers and lay them under the entire engine on the ground, and it will leave the tell tale stain of a leak. Hope this helps.

Is it really burning it, or just losing it? If you have blue smoke coming out your tail pipe, and oily black spark plugs, there's really not a whole lot you can do about it short of a rebuild of your engine. It really sounds like a rear main seal leak, or a faulty oil filter.

A good engine shouldn't burn more than a quart every 1000 mi. So, 400 mi. is kind of bad as far as engines go. Probably the oil is blowing by the rings and/or there is a seal leak somewhere. The oil has got to go somewhere whether it leaks out or burns in the combustion chamber.

Maybe you could try a high mileage oil that burns off less easily.

If you have no visible signs of oil leaking out of the engine then the oil is being burnt. By visible leaking I mean a small puddle of oil under the car after having been left overnight. This can be cured by replacing shaft seals and gaskets. Burning oil is visible as smoke under deceleration (no throttle) and under full power(flooring it). This is due to worn/old valve stem seals(smoke under deceleration) and worn oil rings(smoke under acceleration) This can only be cured by a major engine overhaul or engine replacement. Bear in mind that losing a pint of oil in 1000 miles is acceptable.

How many miles do you go before you have to add oil. GM actually states that one quart of oil every 2000 miles is considered normal. I personally think that one quart every 3000 miles is normal esp at higher miles. As an engine wears things such as valve seals and rings get worn and allow oil to seep past and will burn, this can be in such small amounts that you will not notice the smoke and is normal engine wear. The life cycle of an engine is considered 100k miles by the designers, even though we all know they will go far beyond that. If your car has the 3.1 or the 3.4 liter engine you may want to check in the engine coolant for signs of oil, it is a common problem for the oil to seep into the cooling system but is not usually enough to make a noticable drop in oil level. If you are only using about one qt every 3k miles or so i would not worry about it if you have had it checked for leaks already.

this could be a serious problem as you stated oil residue in exhaust pipe. You can remove spark plugs and check for oil fouling, this is a sign of bad rings, valve guides or seals. A cylinder leak down test would be your best check at this point to see if there is piston ring damage. If the rings are bad, oil would be burned at higher r.p.m. and may not be noticed at idle. I strongly suggest returning to dealer if under warranty or qualified mechanic as potential for engine failure may be present.

you may want to upgrade your oil to a thicker oil that helps alot more than people think its normal anywhere from 1qt to 1/2 a qt every 3000 miles that sounds pretty good and a healthy engine upgrade on brands and viscosity that should take care of that but it will burn more oil if the engine is being broken into for the first time if its brand new

The problem with the 3.2 ticking noise is the worn rocker rod on the intake side. These rods support the rockers and the slave rockers for the exhaust. The slave rockers wear a groove in the rocker shafts that create extra clearance. The extra clearance is too much for the lifters to cover and then you get the tapping noise. The only cure is to replace the intake rocker shafts. When you get into the valve train, it is obvious what the problem is.

After checking out alot of Honda/Acura forums I'm finding that many owners experience the same problem you are having. The best explanation I found was at 2carpros:
http://www.2carpros.com/forum/94-acura-legend-burning-oil-vt7734.html
From what I'm reading, only way to stop the oil loss is a new engine. If your car is running fine, I'd hesitate to change anything with the engine and stock up on oil.

5w30 is comon, sounds like its got a few km`s on it , chech tailpipe for oil deposits, it may burn but you dont see it that easy