I have a 98 Honda Civic with ~ 140K miles.  This year, the oil has drained from
the cylinders three times, leading to the car not starting.  I've taken it to a
local mechanic who discovered the dry cylinders by removing the spark plugs.  He
poured transmission fluid into the cylinders to get the car to start.  He does
not know what's causing this, said he's only seen it in cars that sit for
extended periods or that needed fuel injector adjustments.  He said he ruled out
fuel injectors overspraying and washing the oil out because there was no gas in
the oil.  Said no codes were present on the computer board.  The car is driven
daily, so sitting isn't the problem.

One thing I've always done was change the oil every 5K miles. Have also had
serpentine belt, timing chain, and water pump replaced early this year.
Mechanic has double checked the timing and says it's good.  Been doing research
on the valve train, since mechanic thought perhaps something was wrong with the
valves but doesn't do that kind of work.

I've also noticed that the car practically drinks gas now and the dry cylinder
problem seems to be happening at shorter intervals over time.  Anybody know what
might be the problem?