LS2 with oil in intake manifold
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LS2 with oil in intake manifold Well, bad news bears. I had been burning oil since my cam install (1/4 qt in just a couple hundred miles), so my first thought was valve seals. Sure enough, it looked like I didn't completely press on the #7 exhaust valve seal. It didn't look damaged, so I tapped it on and thought I was good. Well, I decided to check my oil a few hundred miles after that, and I had burned another 1/4 qt, so I knew I was burning oil from somewhere else. Decided to pull my throttle body and check inside the intake...this is what I saw:
Attachment 725386
What is puzzling to me is the valve cover breather hose is bone dry, the PCV/valley cover hose is fairly clean inside. I ran a paper towel into the hose and it had some grime on it, but it wasn't completely soaked in oil. Also, if you look in the pic, you can see the PCV port in the intake and it doesn't look like a lot of oil is built up around it. Where is the oil coming from? I'm at a loss and starting to worry about the health of my motor.
Attachment 725386
What is puzzling to me is the valve cover breather hose is bone dry, the PCV/valley cover hose is fairly clean inside. I ran a paper towel into the hose and it had some grime on it, but it wasn't completely soaked in oil. Also, if you look in the pic, you can see the PCV port in the intake and it doesn't look like a lot of oil is built up around it. Where is the oil coming from? I'm at a loss and starting to worry about the health of my motor.
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The picture doesn't really do it justice, then. Remember, I've gone through 1/4 qt in only 300 miles or so. If I never checked my oil and just kept driving, I would've run very low before noticing the pressure taking a ****.
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Is this for your 07 cts v? if so there is a bulletin from GM #PIP4388A, Excessive Oil Consumption During Aggresive Driving - Replace Pistons And Oil Control Rings. Not sure if this helps you since you didn't have the issue til you cammed it but I figured I would let you know about it.
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Haha, that sure sounds like my issue. Replacing the pistons wasn't very high on my list of things to do. I've switched to Rotella T6 5w40 to see if that helps a little. I saw a 2-3psi bump in oil pressure at warm idle, so I'll see if it slows down consumption a bit.
You'll be surprised how much oil collects in the catch-can after you run it for a bit. Then think that all of that would be going and depositing on the inside of your intake or on on the backside of the valves. No bueno.
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Yeah, I came from the turbo 4 cyl world, where catch cans are an absolute must. I'm still surprised so many of you think this isn't an alarming level of oil consumption, though. 1/4 qt in 300 miles?? I just don't know how I could have hurt my motor so quickly, but anything is possible.
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This car won't be getting new pistons. My plan in about 4 years was to get a low mileage LS3, big boy cam, and ported heads. This is a bit sooner than 4 years, though. I'm just hoping this motor holds on for a little while longer while I hunt this problem down.
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Did you change valve covers? Some aftermarket covers do not have splash guards and the engine really sucks it in. Other than that, yep, get a catch can. The leaky valve seal will cause it to burn oil, but will not wind up in the intake.
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I did the homemade catch can on the CTS-V how-to site, so we'll see how quickly it fills up. It looks like it only holds maybe 6oz, but it will at least give me an idea of what's happening.
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