New LS1 Owners - Newbie Tech Basic Technical Questions & Advice
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:

oil usage normal??

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 06-23-2004, 01:21 PM
  #1  
Teching In
Thread Starter
 
mattv3's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default oil usage normal??

i have a 2001 SS and i run valvoline 5w30 synthetic and after 1900 miles i changed the oil and it was about 1.5 quarts low. the car only has 55000 miles and it is conserning me. is this normal or should i sell sell sell thanks for the help matt
Old 06-23-2004, 01:28 PM
  #2  
TECH Junkie
iTrader: (10)
 
chupr0kabra's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Pearland, TX
Posts: 3,779
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

That's way too much oil in a short time. I would try switching to a heavier oil (10W30 or the German Mobil1 0W40) and see if your consumption is reduced. Also, when was the last time you checked your PCV valve?


-Mike
Old 06-23-2004, 01:54 PM
  #3  
11 Second Club
 
Humvee z28's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Fort Greely, Alaska
Posts: 936
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

like he said change to a heavier weight oil, but fear not my car went through 1 quart after 3k miles, it could just be ur vehicle getting used to having a full synthetic oil in it. but accodring to GM its not abnormal for a vehicle to go through a quart of oil every 3k miles.
Old 06-24-2004, 12:47 AM
  #4  
Banned
 
99PontTA's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Pocono Pa
Posts: 246
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

my 99 uses oil and slaps with 40 thous miles on it.......runs great though......uses about 1qt every 1000 miles .......i never see any smoke out the tail pipes....maybe someone is stealing my oil???? seriously i think yer fine..unfortuneatly oil usage is the LS1's sore spot.....i find with mine the harder you drive it the more it uses.....something else you might want to consider is,does your car run on the rich(fuel) side......this can wash the oil down very quickly causing higher oil consumption.Lots of short trips can do this also.
Old 06-24-2004, 05:21 PM
  #5  
Moderator
iTrader: (4)
 
davered00ss's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Plainfield, CT
Posts: 10,520
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

My car burns oil when I do a lot of WOT. If I drive normal, there is no usage.
Old 06-24-2004, 05:33 PM
  #6  
On The Tree
 
yellowbird's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: brighton mich.
Posts: 163
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

my 2002 trans am has 7800 miles on It ,so I ordered a can for it but hell,It doesent us a drop of oil so as they say :If it aint broke dont fix It.!!
Old 06-24-2004, 08:49 PM
  #7  
Banned
 
ricethis98's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 175
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

i go thru one quart every 2500 or so, seems like a typical ls1 thing
Old 06-24-2004, 10:22 PM
  #8  
Launching!
iTrader: (1)
 
Whitten's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Smyrna, GA
Posts: 252
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

I hate to tell you this but a high performance engine will use oil. Infact they are built "loose" so that they perform better with less resistance which has a side effect of using oil. My buds ZL-1 burns a quart about every 900 miles and shoots black smoke out the tail pipe at WOT. Also the LS based engines are notorius for having poor oil control rings that cause a large deal of oil consumption. Either way you are going to figth oil consumption whether it is bad rings, or just a high performance motor. There is alway a trade off to having highperfomance vehicles. Don't worry about it though, just keep tabs, and do what I do keep an extra quart with you at all times. By the way, try running 20W50 thin oils like a 5 w 30 is almost useless under high heat and stress conditons. I find that in these engines and in almost any performance engine that sythetic is not really necessary. In many cases if you have been running regular, swithc to syn, and then back to regular....then consumption is eneveitable. Better off running a regular oil and just changing every 2000 miles.
Old 06-25-2004, 12:30 AM
  #9  
Teching In
Thread Starter
 
mattv3's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

thanks guys keep the posts coming. it was the first oil change seince i have had the car so i was having lots of fun with it. 10-12 passes in the 1/8 plus 15-20 times at WOT showing it off to the friends and countless number of times for the fun of it so everyone thinks i should be okay? in the last 1000 miles no oil loss lots of freeway driving no track time or not near as much WOT time. guess i should stay out of the gas LOL thanks for the help

Matt
Old 06-25-2004, 02:33 PM
  #10  
Launching!
 
70 TA's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 222
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

I have 2 vehicles with GEN 3 engines. Neither seem to use abnormal quntities of oil and I beat on both relentlesly. No piston slap issues either perhaps I got lucky?

2002 GMC has the 5.3 and 55000 km (35000 mi). Runs on 5w30 Dino

2002 SS I bought 3 months ago with 1900 km and have put about 4000 km so far. This car sees WOT everytime I take it out. I'm talking redline shifts several dozen times everytime I take it out if I have open road My last oil change was about 2000 km ago, 5w30 Mobil Syn. I have been checking it regularly and it only seems to be down a tiny bit from where it was filled on the dipstick at the change. Only thing I noticed is the oil has gotten a bit darker. For the next change I have 0w30 German Castrol Syn ready to go.

Don't worry about staying off the throttle, I think these cars enjoy getting beat on as much as we enjoy beating them




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:27 AM.