Switching to HM Oil to fix consumption; Didnt work

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Hi all,

I am curious to know whether switching to High Mileage oil fixed anyones consumption problem, OR if anyone who is having minor oil consumption issues like me (1 quart burned every 5,000-7,500 miles) switched to high mileage oil and found that HM oil did NOT fix their consumption problem...

---back story---

My 04 Silverado with 170,000 miles started burning a small amount of oil around 130,000 miles or so.

With 5w30 it would burn around 1qt in 5,000 miles. With 10w30 it seems as of now i'm burning 1 qt in about 7,500-8,000 miles.

I like to do 6,000 mile conventional OCI's and 10,000-12,000 mile synthetic oil change intervals (i mostly use synthetic but stopped since the oil burning started becaise i cant get the full 10-12k out of the OCI like i'd like to)

GM's position is that 1qt of oil consumed every 2-3k is normal, but MY position is that if a vehicle is burning oil something is wrong.

I'm trying to hunt down the cause of the problem and I noticed immediatley that switching to 10w30 (OEM reccomends 5w30) slowed down the consumption considerably.

I also put a inexpensive PCV catch can on the truck to see if perhaps the oil is going out the PCV line into the intake. I know from removing the intake for a repair that some oil is definitely going there because it was very sticky and dirty with oily residue.

When changing the water pump i found that a very small amount of oil/grime had caked up around the front crank shaft seal/timing cover

In a pinch on my second previous OCI I was down about a quart so i threw in 1 quart of generic high mileage oil, drove it for maybe 500-900 miles then changed to 10w30 conventional to get a baseline for current oil consumption...its still consuming oil at the same rate mentioned above.

Am I a candidate for high mileage oil or any type of oil that stops oil burning really...is what im after.
 
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1 quart in 5000 miles is not burning oil in my book for that Chevy..Its normal for every engine to use something especially at that mileage.
I would drive it and enjoy it if you want to fix that problem that really is not there it will turn into something. Don't have the if it aint broke im going to break it bug.
 
That's not bad at all!

Our first (and last) GM product burned a quart every 1,000~ miles and the car was only 18 months old.

You can research and experiment with Kreen... many members have had good luck with it.
 
1 quart every 5K at 170,000?? I can't remember seeing a SB (or BB) Chevy with any real mileage (like 75K or above) that did that GOOD! You're in Toyota country already!
 
170K miles and burning a qt. of oil/1,000 miles. You have nothing to worry about.
 
If you realize how an engine works.. even 1qt in 3000miles seems miraculous.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
If you realize how an engine works.. even 1qt in 3000miles seems miraculous.


Agreed- the fact that oil lubricates, sealing the rings and removing heat from the piston and ring pack without burning through more than a few ounces over and OCI amazes me.
 
My 05 Silverado I had burnt about 1 quart every 3k. I asked a guy at the dealership about it and he agreed it was normal.
My Dad has an 03 Silverado with about 300k on the clock and it burns a little over 1 quart every 3-5k but I think it is also leaking some. He has mentioned a leak around the valve cover somewhere.

My Silverado and my Dad's had the 5.3l V8.
 
Man, you guys are making it seem miraculous that my 183k mi 4Runner requires no top-up between oil changes. I didn't realize it was so common. None of my Toyotas have had any noticeable oil consumption, so I just assumed any oil usage was an indicator of a problem.
 
My '95 E320 with 290k miles doesn't burn a drop of oil in 5k OCI... but 1 or 2 qts I'd be fine with. My M3 uses about 1 qt every couple of thousand miles during very-spirited driving.
 
Originally Posted By: TexasTea

GM's position is that 1qt of oil consumed every 2-3k is normal, but MY position is that if a vehicle is burning oil something is wrong.



I'm with GM on that one. although a quart in 3k is probably the upper limit of my "normal." A quart in 5-6k? That's an extremely healthy high-mileage engine.

ALL piston engines burn oil. Period. If they truly didn't burn any oil, the compression rings would fail in short order, that's the only lubrication that the top compression ring receives. Lots of factors affect oil consumption, and not just condition of the engine. Number of cylinders, and cylinder bore size play a big part- bigger-bore engines with more cylinders inherently consume more oil than small-bore 4-bangers. That's why the majority of people who (wrongly) claim "my engine doesn't burn a drop of oil" aren't the ones driving larger-bore V8 engines. Given that sump sizes are generally the same 5-7 quart range for gasoline engines whether they're 4 or 8 cylinders, of course it makes less difference on the dipstick with a 4-banger than a big-block Chevy.

As engines age, other factors like valve stem "umbrella" shields come into play. As those deteriorate and harden, the valve stems receive a higher oil flow and more goes past them. Oil control rings wear, and more oil gets past the ring pack.
 
High Mileage oils only reduce oil loss if the source of your oil loss is leaky valve stem seals (which by the sound of it, you don't have).
If 10W30 works better than 5W30 then your problem is oil volatility. Assuming you can't move up to a 20W50, try a full PAO synthetic 10W30, preferably one that doesn't have the Oil Conserving logo on the label. The oil should have a very low Noack volatility and drop you oil consumption another notch.
 
Originally Posted By: SonofJoe
High Mileage oils only reduce oil loss if the source of your oil loss is leaky valve stem seals (which by the sound of it, you don't have).
If 10W30 works better than 5W30 then your problem is oil volatility. Assuming you can't move up to a 20W50, try a full PAO synthetic 10W30, preferably one that doesn't have the Oil Conserving logo on the label. The oil should have a very low Noack volatility and drop you oil consumption another notch.


I've not found that the volatility makes any difference.

My car drinks 5w20 at 1qt/2000 miles. It drinks 5w30 at less than half that rate. Thinking volatility, I tried Pennzoil platinum 5w30 because of its low advertised volatility. The result was drinking 1qt/2000 miles again.

True that 10w30 usually is less volatile than 5w30, but your 5w's usually hug the low end of the 30wt scale while your 10w's hug the top; Much like Pennzoil platinum vs Castrol. I think it is more viscosity related and volatility is far behind.
 
My 99 Dodge Dakota was burning a quart every 3,000+ miles at 100,000 miles and the mechanic said it wasn't anything to worry about other than to check the level often. Truck ran fine until I traded it in for the 2014 Ford. Enjoy your ride and be happy.
 
If you are concerned about oil consumption, dry and wet compression tests, and a leakdown test are what you need to do. Stuff from a bottle won't rebuild your engine.

Having said that, it seems your oil consumption is excellent for a high-mileage engine. Nothing to worry about, at least for now.
 
For what its worth, My 06 Milan 177,000 miles presently was using over a quart between 5000 oil change intervals. I switched to Valvoline 5w20 high mileage synthetic blend around 140,000 miles. The usage issue did not go away immediately but got better. I have not added any oil for the last 3 intervals but it about a half quart low when I change it at 5000 miles.
 
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