Sudden Oil Consumption

[The Critic]

I recently started driving the Saturn in a hilly terrain.

I last checked the engine oil about 2 weeks and 200 miles ago, and the level was registering between the low and the full marks.

Earlier tonight, I checked the oil level and there was nothing left on the dipstick.

Since the oil already had 5600 miles on it, I took the car to the local Sears Express Service and had them do an oil/filter change with Valvoline 5w-30 bulk. Prior to turning over the keys, I dumped in a full bottle of Amsoil Engine Flush and revved the engine at ~ 2200rpm for 20 minutes to loosen any contaminates in the engine. The oil does seem to be quite clean after the oil change (it usually gets dirty quite quickly), so perhaps the engine flush did do something.

Can anyone speculate as to why I suddenly lost 1/2 qt of oil in 200 miles? The old oil had 5600 miles on it and 600 miles of those were with 1/2 qt of MMO. Usually, my consumption is about 2/3 qt for the first 3,000 miles, then it increases to 1 qt/2,000 miles. I have NEVER seen the car lose 1/2 qt in only 200 miles.

Could the cause of the oil consumption be from the new environment, that is, the hilly terrain? And despite the high level of consumption, I have not seen any smoke or visible oil leaks.

I'm a bit puzzled, to say the least.

 

[rogan]

Was the car completely level when you checked ?

 

[Hootbro]

Could be just because it is a Saturn. They are known to be oil users when exceeding the 100K mark.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: rogan
Was the car completely level when you checked ?

Funny you asked. There was a huge "dip" in this new parking lot and I parked the car so that the dip was in the center of the car. That way, I'm quite certain that the overall car was level so the oil reading should be accurate.

 

[PandaBear]

add oil and see if you see puddle from loose bolt or filter / double gasket leak, etc.

If it didn't drop anymore then it is not filled up right and measured wrong, that happen once in a while. My friend once put in 2.5 qt in a 4.5 qt sump and though he filled it up to full.

 

[rogan]

Assuming it was level (both checks) something must have happened.
I would keep a very close eye on the oil level daily.

 

[Gary Allan]

Driver abuse

Rig a Gary Allan signature series self draining maintenance free de-velocity chamber in the PCV line to see if the condition goes back to normal.

 

[CourierDriver]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Driver abuse

Rig a Gary Allan signature series self draining maintenance free de-velocity chamber in the PCV line to see if the condition goes back to normal.


My teeth got tangled up in my tongue, what is de velocity thingy???????????????

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
add oil and see if you see puddle from loose bolt or filter / double gasket leak, etc.

If it didn't drop anymore then it is not filled up right and measured wrong, that happen once in a while. My friend once put in 2.5 qt in a 4.5 qt sump and though he filled it up to full.

I already got the oil changed at the local Sears. So everything is OK for now.

 

[demarpaint]

It could have been the change in the driving conditions, especially hilly terrain. The ups and downs can cause blow-by in an older engine, especially if it has a MT and you engine brake going down hills, or the engine is shifted into a lower gear to climb. See what happens next OCI since there still could be some residual flush in the engine. There could have been sticking rings and the flush will free them up. JMO

OTOH where you parked could have given you a false reading.

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
add oil and see if you see puddle from loose bolt or filter / double gasket leak, etc.

If it didn't drop anymore then it is not filled up right and measured wrong, that happen once in a while. My friend once put in 2.5 qt in a 4.5 qt sump and though he filled it up to full.

I already got the oil changed at the local Sears. So everything is OK for now.


A catch can that lets go

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
add oil and see if you see puddle from loose bolt or filter / double gasket leak, etc.

If it didn't drop anymore then it is not filled up right and measured wrong, that happen once in a while. My friend once put in 2.5 qt in a 4.5 qt sump and though he filled it up to full.

I already got the oil changed at the local Sears. So everything is OK for now.


A catch can that lets go

You have a link to pictures of this? Thanks

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint

You have a link to pictures of this? Thanks


Scroll down to Gary's post with photo

Bill

 

[Gary Allan]

Make your own. adapt to a bigger hose and coil it around like a snake if you need to ..adapt back down. Just make it so that it has to climb uphill at some point before it reaches the intake. Vacuum and low velocity will only lift so much vertical column. At worst ... you get a percolator.

 

[chad8]

dirty clogged pcv ,cracked vacuum hose, bad oil rings. Its a saturn what did you expect. they all burn some oil at 100K. Most 1.9s are cooked by 150 unless they had exceptional care and/or the owner got lucky. Go on craigs list and see all the saturns with bad motors for sale.

 

[Virtuoso]

My old SL1 burned the most oil when there was lots of vaccum in the manifold. It would suck large amount of oil into the engine and then burn it off when load was applied to the motor again.

I would bet it's because of the hilly terrain you are driving.

Is this a manual trannied Satty by chance?

 

[CharBaby]

Well, just keep an eye on this OCI. The first 3000 miles or so may be just fine and after that, the consumption may start slowly to and beyond the 5000 mile mark. I had an engine like this! It was a Honda. The first 3K to 4K of an OCI was fine, depending on the brand of oil and how much highway driving I was doing. After that, there was slow consumption from there on. But, then it was time for an oil/filter change. Also, this Honda would use a qt of oil in 1500 miles of highway use but not in 3000 miles of city use. This was all after the first 100K. I ended up putting on 340K before selling it. There wasn't much change in consumption to the 340K but, the oil did get really black really fast at that point. Oh Well!

 

[Cutehumor]

step up to 15w40. I've been using 15w40 in my sunfire as a blend the past two years. the oil consumption has slowed down dramatically. with 15w40 and your hot kali climate, should not be a problem.

 

[mechtech2]

MMO is thin, and should be compensated for by using a thicker oil - maybe a qt or two . This surely has a part n it.

Hilly terrain would decrease gas mileage and increase engine loads. This would result in more oil used, primarily from blowby and burning past the rings/lands.

When conventional oil gets a lot of miles, it will start to use more. Some engines more, some less. I had a BMW 3201
that did not use appreciable oil until about 2,000 miles on the OCI. Then it was like a switch was turned on, and it started to use oil .

Plus, your car is a Saturn - a known oil eater.

 

[Patman]

As I mentioned on your Facebook status, if it continues to consume oil like this, just find the cheapest oil you can find and stop doing oil changes, just change the filter every 5k.