2023 CT5 V Blackwing oil issue

[Artgluck99]

12 days ago I bought a 2023 CT5 V blackwing manual from a Cadillac dealership. I understand a used car is a used car, and a new car is a new car. I didn't want to spend 30k or more on a new car and this seemed like a fair deal for what should be a pretty reliable car. This car was being sold as a CPO car, but they ended up crediting the CPO additional price, and applied it to a 5 year extended warranty. The car is currently under the original OEM warranty until next may (it currently has 21,000 miles on it) then the additional warranty would go until 2031. I have the service records on the car, the dealership performed an oil change/filter service approx 1088 miles ago (I have driven the car about 1080 since I picked it up) as well as other repairs to meet the CPO requirements. The car has never been in an accident and the service records show the original owner serviced the car every 5k miles. While driving yesterday a Low Oil warning appeared on the screen. This was all on a basically flat highway, no track or mountain driving. I pulled over, let the car cool for about 15 mins and checked the oil. It didn't register on the dipstick at all. Due to my location it took a little while to find a car parts place that carries the correct oil. I put a quart in, obviously let it sit and it still didn't register on the dipstick. I put another quart in and it showed a light sheen on the absolute bottom of the dipstick. I started a third quart and it was finally reading 1/3 to 1/2 on the dipstick . I had to drive the car back home, on the drive I monitored the oil and engine temps and drove in the right lane. I stopped every 30 mins, let the car cool and checked the oil. The level doesn't seem to have moved since I added the oil. I tried calling the dealership and was told service was closed and all of the sales staff were with customers. I contacted my salesman directly; he called me about a minute after I texted him. He basically said that if the work order showed they did an oil change, that they must have done the oil change. My question is this-
#1 Could the tech have put the wrong amount of oil in? Would a dealership have a record showing the amount of oil that was taken from a tank and added to the car? Does a human measure it out manually?

#2 If the correct amount was put in when they did the oil change (I think it's 9 quarts) is there any reasonable situation that would occur where the car would burn that much oil, or would I definitely have a serious issue?

 

[rubberduck]

Maybe the tech monkey thought it was a V6 and put 6 quarts in. If it was my car I would start over and replace the oil and filter. Start with a known baseline. It’s 9 quarts. If you can, do all the fluid changes yourself.

 

[Artgluck99]

I was hoping it would be that. Last night it went through 2.5 quarts in 68 miles. Something serious is happening unfortunately. I texted the salesman, ill follow up tomorrow once they get back to me.

Maybe the tech monkey thought it was a V6 and put 6 quarts in. If it was my car I would start over and replace the oil and filter. Start with a known baseline. It’s 9 quarts. If you can, do all the fluid changes yourself.

 

[F1Scamp]

It's leaving a trail on the ground? Eating 2.5 quarts in 68 miles would have to show some serious evidence? Smoking exhaust, oily residue on rear bumper, exhaust smell?

 

[Artgluck99]

It's leaving a trail on the ground? Eating 2.5 quarts in 68 miles would have to show some serious evidence? Smoking exhaust, oily residue on rear bumper, exhaust smell?

F1Scamp- I don't see any evidence of any oil falling on the ground. I put cardboard under the car last night, there wasn't anything on it this morning. The exhaust doesn't look or smell like anything unusual, there isn't a white or blue smoke. The dash doesn't have any codes. The picture is the dipstick after adding 2.5 quarts then driving 68 miles, the one on the right is this morning when I added 1.5 quarts. Yesterday when I added the 2.5 quarts it was mid level on the dipstick. I'm not a mechanic, but there's a problem here.

 

[Artgluck99]

I did the white rag test, which I completely understand is hardly scientific. The exhaust coated a white rag in thick black carbon, or whatever might build up. The dealership is doing an "oil consumption test" currently. Ill post what they come back with

 

[blkout]

Really sounds like the dealership didn't add enough oil and didn't check it before it left.

 

[Artgluck99]

Really sounds like the dealership didn't add enough oil and didn't check it before it left.

BLKOUT - The dealership has been all over this since I dropped the car off. I dropped it off sunday night, they called me monday morning (and every day since) and explained what they were going to do. So far they have done two oil changes and run the car 108 and 112 miles. They haven't found any oil loss after measuring the oil, and they haven't found any evidence of a leak. To your point, which I very much hope is correct, it still doesn't explain why after I added 2 1/2 quarts then drove 68 miles that it was off the dipstick again when I got home. That's the one aspect I can't explain away as much as I would like to.

 

[ngoni]

it still doesn't explain why after I added 2 1/2 quarts then drove 68 miles that it was off the dipstick again when I got home. That's the one aspect I can't explain away as much as I would like to.

Not sure about the 5BW, but the 4BW manual says to check after the engine has been off for two hours. Because you probably didn't wait that long, it could be why you either didn't add enough when you were out or why you may have gotten a misread when you got home. It's really frustrating to have to wait two hours to know where the real oil level is.

 

[Artgluck99]

Not sure about the 5BW, but the 4BW manual says to check after the engine has been off for two hours. Because you probably didn't wait that long, it could be why you either didn't add enough when you were out or why you may have gotten a misread when you got home. It's really frustrating to have to wait two hours to know where the real oil level is.

Ngoni - Thanks for the suggestion. I definitely did not know that, hopefully that was the case. Once I get the car back I will try checking after two hours and report back.

 

[rubberduck]

EV driver?

 

[blkout]

BLKOUT - The dealership has been all over this since I dropped the car off. I dropped it off sunday night, they called me monday morning (and every day since) and explained what they were going to do. So far they have done two oil changes and run the car 108 and 112 miles. They haven't found any oil loss after measuring the oil, and they haven't found any evidence of a leak. To your point, which I very much hope is correct, it still doesn't explain why after I added 2 1/2 quarts then drove 68 miles that it was off the dipstick again when I got home. That's the one aspect I can't explain away as much as I would like to.

If you lost 2 1/2 quarts in 68 miles, you would absolutely notice an oil leak like that. It can't be oil burning either because if it was 2 1/2 quarts in 68 miles, the car would be smoking like a freight train.

 

[blkout]

Not sure about the 5BW, but the 4BW manual says to check after the engine has been off for two hours. Because you probably didn't wait that long, it could be why you either didn't add enough when you were out or why you may have gotten a misread when you got home. It's really frustrating to have to wait two hours to know where the real oil level is.

That's WAY overkill, it won't take 2 hours for the oil to drain back to the pan. 5-10 minutes is more than sufficient to get an accurate measurement,

 

[ngoni]

That's WAY overkill, it won't take 2 hours for the oil to drain back to the pan. 5-10 minutes is more than sufficient to get an accurate measurement,

They do caveat the two hours with a 15 or 30 minute wait if you're in a hurry. I'm not sure how much more accurate it is waiting two hours but like everyone has said that much oil would be very noticable leaving the car no matter the path. I offer a different hypothesis that could explain the measurement differences.

 

[Artgluck99]

I guess the next question is, if the oil was filled to 7 quarts should I be concerned about damage having been done? IF that is what happened, and I were concerned what would I ask of the dealership at this point?

 

[blkout]

I guess the next question is, if the oil was filled to 7 quarts should I be concerned about damage having been done? IF that is what happened, and I were concerned what would I ask of the dealership at this point?

In my opinion, I think you're probably ok. It wasn't low on oil for very long, and as long as you weren't hammering on the car every day.

 

[rubberduck]

I not sure we ever knew if it was actually low (I don’t have much faith in the dummy lights). There is no reason to be in a hurry to check the oil level. I just do it before I use the car and it’s been sitting overnight. Been doing it that way for many decades. If there’s a massive oil leak it’s pretty obvious. The rest is just periodic checks. I would never let anyone touch my oil except me, let alone a weed smoking high school dropout.

 

[Artgluck99]

I not sure we ever knew if it was actually low (I don’t have much faith in the dummy lights). There is no reason to be in a hurry to check the oil level. I just do it before I use the car and it’s been sitting overnight. Been doing it that way for many decades. If there’s a massive oil leak it’s pretty obvious. The rest is just periodic checks. I would never let anyone touch my oil except me, let alone a weed smoking high school dropout.

Based on the dipstick the oil was low when I pulled over originally, it was off of the dipstick. I added 2 1/2 quarts to get almost to the middle of the dipstick/honeycomb pattern section between the high and low tabs. The possibilities as I see them, solely due to the people on here suggesting ideas that I am pulling form who know more than me, is that the dealer put too little oil in originally or something exceptionally weird is occurring. When you say we don't know if it was actually low, I now have 4 empty quart bottles of mobil 1 that went into an engine that was run at most 80 miles. I'm not sure how you say we don't know if it was actually low

 

[ellteefour]

#1 Could the tech have put the wrong amount of oil in? Would a dealership have a record showing the amount of oil that was taken from a tank and added to the car? Does a human measure it out manually?

At dealers and high-volume independent chains, they typically use a dispenser, where the type/viscosity and amount are selected before dispensing into the engine. Could the wrong oil or amount be dispensed? Absolutely, it’s still a tech doing the selecting.

But the amount should also be clearly indicated on your invoice, as you are typically charged by unit. If they indeed charge you for 9 qts., that’s another discrepancy to resolve…

 

[rubberduck]

Based on the dipstick the oil was low when I pulled over originally, it was off of the dipstick. I added 2 1/2 quarts to get almost to the middle of the dipstick/honeycomb pattern section between the high and low tabs. The possibilities as I see them, solely due to the people on here suggesting ideas that I am pulling form who know more than me, is that the dealer put too little oil in originally or something exceptionally weird is occurring. When you say we don't know if it was actually low, I now have 4 empty quart bottles of mobil 1 that went into an engine that was run at most 80 miles. I'm not sure how you say we don't know if it was actually low

Trying to decipher the code here. When you first picked the car up, there were 8 miles on it after the oil change and then you drove it for 1080 miles for a total of 1088 miles the moment the oil light went on. That was the very first time you checked the oil. The engine was essentially at operating temperature (15 minutes after engine off). Since then after 68 miles 4 qts of oil have been added. There are a number of variables going on, and I suspect the likely answer is you may have been somewhat low (nowhere near 2 quarts or 4 quart) in combination with inexperience at using your dipstick properly. Losing nearly half the oil capacity seems very unlikely without some evidence of smoke out of the tailpipe or dripping on the ground.