Oil Consumption on 4BW

[SladeX]

Way too much consumption. I swapped my break in oil at 2350 miles and got back around 6.8 quarts. Dip stick pretty close to the level I measured prior to draining the oil. That oil is going somewhere, if its the exhaust, it should show up on the tips as wet oil. I had oil seeping into the cylinders via bad valve guides and my tail pipe soot was oily. Oil consumption was severe at that point before I got replacement heads. I lost a catalytic converter as well from oil contamination.

Check the coolant if it's mixed in there. Check if there's drips on the driveway. That much oil consumption doesn't just burn off cleanly.

 

[matt6060]

Check for soot on your exhaust tailpipes. My Shelby did not make any actual smoke but it seems the piston rings never seated and oil was in the combustion chamber and got burned up and turned into soot. I think Ford lost lots of money on it, as lots of people had engines replaced. But the second one was fine. The 992 GT3 are having valve lash caps coming off, and the valve shim gets into the oil pump…. locks it up and boom goes the engine on a 300k car…

Now that I'm thinking about it, there is quite a bit of black soot on the tail pipes. I'm at the dealer now so I'll let them know.

 

[The Satch]

Now that I'm thinking about it, there is quite a bit of black soot on the tail pipes. I'm at the dealer now so I'll let them know.

That's where it's likely going then. You'll want them to verify health of the catalytic converters too; just because they work now doesn't mean that catching this much oil, burnt or otherwise, isn't taking life out of them

 

[matt6060]

I brought the BW in for a second oil consumption test today. They think that there is an issue with the turbo or turbo hose. I should get a better answer on Monday.

 

[The Satch]

Did they get you a root cause?

 

[matt6060]

They said there was a pin hole in a tube that comes from the pcv valve and/or turbo. They changed the tube and tested and found no more leaks. I'm still going to check the oil weekly. I don't believe that was the issue. I would have seen the evidence on my driveway I think.

 

[ngoni]

They said there was a pin hole in a tube that comes from the pcv valve and/or turbo. They changed the tube and tested and found no more leaks. I'm still going to check the oil weekly. I don't believe that was the issue. I would have seen the evidence on my driveway I think.

Yeah the inside of your engine bay would have been a mess and you'd have seen some evidence on the driveway as well.

 

[The Satch]

Yep, agree with ngoni, that would have been everywhere, including all over the back of the car as whatever got dropped while driving would have gotten caught by the airflow under the car and coated everything

 

[DCV]

a pin hole would not make you lose that much oil

 

[matt6060]

Oil consumption still an issue. My dealer has elevated it to GM engineering.

 

[The Satch]

At least they finally roped in GM

 

[wfdeacon88]

Is there an internal oil level sensor or warning if oil gets low?

 

[ngoni]

Yes there's a low oil level warning, but you should hopefully catch the problem before then. The manual recommendation is physically checking every 400 mi and before long trips.

 

[wfdeacon88]

Yes there's a low oil level warning, but you should hopefully catch the problem before then. The manual recommendation is physically checking every 400 mi and before long trips.

Well damn that's something I guess I need to start doing, thanks for the info.

My old e90 M3 was digital oil level and that was so convenient...

 

[Melon]

We have a dipstick and grit.

 

[ngoni]

And just to add, during the 1500 mi break in period the manual says to check the oil at every gas fill up. Consumption may be higher during break in and also if you do HPDE.

 

[davidlarkin59]

I have a similar situation
1500 miles I do the break in oil change.
2500 miles says low oil and dipstick is dry, put 2 quarts in myself and brought to dealer next day and they said they put another 2 in. Wrote it off to Chevy not properly topping it off. At 2500 miles here I am again with a dry dipstick and low engine oil light. Soot covering the tailpipe. Chevy looks at it says there’s no leak and submit a ticket to GM to see what they should do. Next day they call me and tell me they got a response and I need to bring the car in for a few weeks as they will tear down the engine and try to find the issue.
Curious to know what happened with you.

 

[matt6060]

Ok so last week I elevated to GM customer service. They referenced me to another GM dealer (Chevy). Doing another oil consumption test with them. They are also saying 1 qt per 1000 miles is normal. I hated to do this but I contacted a lemon law atty. I really love this car but I cant take a gamble on such an expensive purchase.

 

[davidlarkin59]

Ok so last week I elevated to GM customer service. They referenced me to another GM dealer (Chevy). Doing another oil consumption test with them. They are also saying 1 qt per 1000 miles is normal. I hated to do this but I contacted a lemon law atty. I really love this car but I cant take a gamble on such an expensive purchase.

Guess I’ve had better luck with my dealer. They looked at the engine. Found the cylinder walls were scorched. They submitted for a new engine under warranty. But I called Cadillac services and put a request in for them to buy the car back and they will get back to me in 5 days. I doubt this works. But I don’t want a new car on its second engine. Guess worse case I get new engine or best case lemon buy back