To those familiar with the GM 2.4L Twin Cam

[ThirdeYe]

Does anyone know why these motors are known to consume some oil more than engines? My girlfriend recently got a '99 Grand Am and it's been consuming about 1 quart per 1,500-2,000 miles. I've heard of other Twin-Cam owners commenting on oil usage as well. The main reason why I ask is I'm debating whether or not I should switch to a high-mileage oil to see if it will curb consumption or if it's something that a high-mileage oil won't help with. Thanks

 

[addyguy]

The PCV valve is usually a prime suspect.

If it's good, then I think these engine are know for somewhat weak valve guides that leak.

Give a HM oil a try - it can't hurt! Castrol GTX 10W-30 advertises the lowest amount of burn-off of all convnetional/Hm oils in tests.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Rotella T 10w-30 CJ-4; Everything else is just (GF4) OIL.

 

[daves87rs]

Yes, it's quite common on the J cars with the 2.4...


they also tend to go through waterpumps too....


Yep, HM will work....

 

[mechanicx]

I'm mostly quessing but it could be because they use an air/oil seperater for PCV that draws more, or also it could get clogged up. Could also be due to having hydraulic tappets over the valves.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Does anyone know why these motors are known to consume some oil more than engines?


I don't know. It's not inherent to the design because the one in my mother's '99 Sunfire does okay (143k miles). The last OCI was 7800 miles on Supertech 5W-30 and total consumption was under a quart.

 

[occupant]

Another reason is folks who order the 2.4 do so in sporty models (Cavalier Z24, Cobalt SS, Sunfire GT, ION Redline) and they may drive generally harder than most.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: occupant
Another reason is folks who order the 2.4 do so in sporty models (Cavalier Z24, Cobalt SS, Sunfire GT, ION Redline) and they may drive generally harder than most.


The 2.4 with the Delta plats (Cobalt,Ion) use the Ecotec engine, which is different from the J's old 2.4....

These old 2.4s are well known oil burners (most known in the J and N bodies), but still have no problems getting high milage if taken care of, a replace a water pump once in a while.....


And while it does come in some of the sportier models, it also came in uplevel Cavalier sedans, which still burns the same amount of oil....

 

[mrsilv04]

Try MaxLife 5w-30. That's what I run in my 2000 Grand Am 2.4.

Oil consumption is down.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Try MaxLife 5w-30. That's what I run in my 2000 Grand Am 2.4.

Oil consumption is down.


+1

 

[ThirdeYe]

Thanks for the help, I think I will give MaxLife a try. I've used it with good results before on leaking applications, just not with consumption issues. The car appears to be well taken care of, but it's strange how some of them don't consume and some of them do. She used to have another 1999 Grand Am SE (identical to this one, just a different color) before this and it had 164,000 miles on it and as far as I know it didn't consume any oil, yet this one with 110,000 miles on it burns oil.

 

[shpankey]

On a related note, I have this car too. A 96 Cavalier Z24 w. 2.4l DOHC ("quad 4") engine. I've been to the dealer and Oreillys and AAP and none of them have the PCV valve. Where can I get one of these? It has 215k miles on it.

 

[JustinH]

rockauto seems to sell a pcv "tee", it looks like a connector that would attach to some kind of a rubber hose. I have no idea if this is the actual valve with a checkball in it.

Too bad that this car is OBD2, running a breather filter instead of a PCV valve may cause a lean condition and set a check engine code.

I still might play with the idea of buying one of those mini K&N style breather filters..

Something like this, but a generic version for cheaper.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/K-N-KN-BR...sQ5fAccessories

 

[shpankey]

Yea I had already looked at rockauto also. That's just some kind of connector thingy, not the PCV. But the Chilton's manual I have for the car says it does have a PCV valve on it, I will look for it tonight on the engine. But GM dealer and 2 autoparts stores said that there wasn't one.

btw I have my own ODBII and ABS scanner tool... I think it allows me to delete a code and make it never come back. I think.

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: shpankey
Yea I had already looked at rockauto also. That's just some kind of connector thingy, not the PCV. But the Chilton's manual I have for the car says it does have a PCV valve on it, I will look for it tonight on the engine. But GM dealer and 2 autoparts stores said that there wasn't one.

btw I have my own ODBII and ABS scanner tool... I think it allows me to delete a code and make it never come back. I think.

It just clears it for that event. It will come back eventually unless the problem is fixed.

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: shpankey
Yea I had already looked at rockauto also. That's just some kind of connector thingy, not the PCV. But the Chilton's manual I have for the car says it does have a PCV valve on it, I will look for it tonight on the engine. But GM dealer and 2 autoparts stores said that there wasn't one.

btw I have my own ODBII and ABS scanner tool... I think it allows me to delete a code and make it never come back. I think.


I have this engine in my 1997 grand am. Although there is no pcv valve, there is an oil/water separator tank that sits under the intake manifold. The hose that comes out of the timing chain cover goes into it, and a hose comes out of this tank and goes into that big intake box.

Im actually having an issue with mine as we speak... every winter i get a lot of moisture that accumulates in the crank case, and doesn't disappear until the weather warms up. Last winter it happened because my pcv hoses were clogged with that frothy oil/water mix. Tomorrow im taking the hoses off again to see if that is again the case. Last year they got so clogged that my oil dipstick blew out because of the pressure. i make lots of longer trips so my engine is at operating temperature most of the time, yet the moisture is still there. could my separator tank be possibly clogged? my dipstick hasn't blown out yet this winter, yet it was raised up about an inch the other night after i drove the car... i'm thinking clogged hoses again.

oh and for the record, my car is making starts in zero degree F weather with no problem with the GC!

 

[Slick17601]

I had a '99 Z24 that never used a drop of oil. Had 90,000 miles when I sold it.

 

[steve20]

it's all in the break in..........

 

[JustinH]

I don't think the older obd2 ECU's monitor the PCV valve. For a car like this, I would put a breather filter right on the valve cover, and call it a day.

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: Slick17601
I had a '99 Z24 that never used a drop of oil. Had 90,000 miles when I sold it.


Mine has 156,000 miles on it, and burns maybe a quart every 4,000 miles. Im using synthetic too.