ls1 oil consumption
11-02-2010, 09:41 AM
#1
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ls1 oil consumption well i have a 99 camaro z28 with about 123k mies on it, give or take a few. i did an oil change on it about 1000 miles ago with mobil 1 and ever since then ive been burning oil, and it seems like it might only do it at WOT, but it could just be eating more that way because oil psi is at max at WOT.....now idk what exactly the problem is....whats the most common way for these motors to be burning oil? valve guide seals? rings? head gasket? ect? please help me out guys. thanks
11-02-2010, 11:22 AM
#2
PCV system, Check your throttle body and intake manifold on the inside. You should NOT have ANY oily residue. MOST if not all that retain the PCV system gets whats called a "Catch Can" do a search. Many vendors have them.
I collect a good amount through out the year.
I collect a good amount through out the year.
11-02-2010, 11:46 AM
#3
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How much oil are you burning (meaning, how much have you lost in this ~1000 mile period)? And did it just begin when you changed the oil last? Did you switch brands/weight of oil?
If it's significant loss that suddenly started, then I doubt it's the PCV system alone to blame. I've got the usual oil residue on the back of my TB blade as well, but no major loss of oil is ever shown on the dipstick. Worst I've ever seen is <1/2 quart after 3000+ miles.
If it's significant loss that suddenly started, then I doubt it's the PCV system alone to blame. I've got the usual oil residue on the back of my TB blade as well, but no major loss of oil is ever shown on the dipstick. Worst I've ever seen is <1/2 quart after 3000+ miles.
11-02-2010, 01:15 PM
#4
Are you sure it's burning oil? Or could it just be a leak?
If your engine has been running with conventional fluid up to this point, and you just switched to Mobil 1, you could have an oil leak problem caused by the synthetic oil's smaller/more uniform molecules and the fact that conventional oil can cause your seals to swell and the synthetic fluid takes this away, allowing for a greater chance of a leak to show up.
Maybe it's burning oil for sure, but this is always worth a look and worth asking, because the fix is usually a lot easier to fix (change your oil with conventional again) than if you're burning oil.
If your engine has been running with conventional fluid up to this point, and you just switched to Mobil 1, you could have an oil leak problem caused by the synthetic oil's smaller/more uniform molecules and the fact that conventional oil can cause your seals to swell and the synthetic fluid takes this away, allowing for a greater chance of a leak to show up.
Maybe it's burning oil for sure, but this is always worth a look and worth asking, because the fix is usually a lot easier to fix (change your oil with conventional again) than if you're burning oil.
11-02-2010, 01:46 PM
#5
That was a good point I forgot to mention is that depending if it effects the dip stick. I have seen 1 or 2 other LS1's burn oil due to valve seals and they had been above 130k on the odometer. It would though have the atypical blue smoke coming out of the pipes. Indicating oil was being consumed.
11-02-2010, 02:15 PM
#6
I'm not sure if you are aware but 99-00 LS1s had a TSB indicating an issue with the piston rings. To sum it up they Chevy used the wrong sized piston rings in these motors and it translates into oil consumption, especially with higher mileage motors. Yea they screwed us over 
.
I'm already looking into saving money to do a mild rebuild, block honed with correct size piston rings.
Just check you oil often, other than that these LS1s will keep going past 200k
.I'm already looking into saving money to do a mild rebuild, block honed with correct size piston rings.
Just check you oil often, other than that these LS1s will keep going past 200k
11-02-2010, 02:33 PM
#7
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I'm not sure if you are aware but 99-00 LS1s had a TSB indicating an issue with the piston rings. To sum it up they Chevy used the wrong sized piston rings in these motors and it translates into oil consumption, especially with higher mileage motors. Yea they screwed us over .
I'm already looking into saving money to do a mild rebuild, block honed with correct size piston rings.
Just check you oil often, other than that these LS1s will keep going past 200k
.I'm already looking into saving money to do a mild rebuild, block honed with correct size piston rings.
Just check you oil often, other than that these LS1s will keep going past 200k
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11-02-2010, 03:39 PM
#8
never heard of that before. Can you prove it ?
how bout I dont....however if your curiosity motivates you do a little research. After all what do I care. Sorry for the blunt response, but "can you prove it" evoked my answer.
As if I have something to gain from making this up...WTF.
Good luck.
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11-05-2010, 04:50 PM
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its probally the head gaskets, just checked the oil fill and now out of no where it has the tanish gunk built up so im leaning towards the head gasket
11-06-2010, 08:50 PM
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I would try switching your oil before I came to any drastic conclusions, my car would burn about half a quart every thousand miles when I was running valvoline syn power, now I'm running royal purple and have gone 2000 miles and am still right on full.
*typed on phone*
*typed on phone*
11-07-2010, 08:55 PM
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is it bad if you keep switching oil? the kid i bought the car from was kind of a dumbass and he said he always had the oil dealer done so he didnt know so i put mobil 1 sny, so if i were to try another, for example rp, can that have an effect?
11-07-2010, 09:40 PM
#17
Switching oil around isn't going to hurt anything.
The only time you can run into issues is switched to synthetic from conventional on higher mileage engines, as conventional oil has larger molecules than synthetic and can cause your seals to swell (the synthetic doesn't, so leaks can appear when seals contract). Even this can be reversed by switching to synthetic.
If you've always been using synthetic tho, switching brands around isn't going to hurt anything.
The only time you can run into issues is switched to synthetic from conventional on higher mileage engines, as conventional oil has larger molecules than synthetic and can cause your seals to swell (the synthetic doesn't, so leaks can appear when seals contract). Even this can be reversed by switching to synthetic.
If you've always been using synthetic tho, switching brands around isn't going to hurt anything.
11-07-2010, 10:35 PM
#19
You can always try it. I put synthetic in my 20 year old Oldsmobile with over 100k on it with no problems. I use conventional again, but I tried synthetic so I could keep it in for a bit longer when I started school (didn't know how much it would be sitting). It's worth a try, if it causes any leaks at all you can always switch back and it'll probably go away.
