in my reading, in seems it is common for my 98 Rodeo 3.2L to burn oil. Does anyone have some suggestions and stopping/slowing this?
Is it as common as I read?

Yep. 1) Clean your EGR & PCV systems to reduce cylinder temperature & crankcase pressure, 2) try a few overnight cylinder soaks with a cleaner type product (seafoam, marvelsMO, etc...) to clean the piston ring packs & oil drain-back ports. 3) always run a quality oil & never stretch an oil change interval past 3Kmi on this engine :nono: , run the highest viscosity your climate allows per your owners manual.

As a band-aid fix, you can run a HEAVY oil to reduce consumption. Isuzu specs that a 20w-50 oil can be used in temps above 10degF :eek: .
G/luck
Joel

I just purchased a '99 with 73K miles on it. I run it on the interstate a couple of hours twice a week and the rest of my miles are around town. Total is 400-500 miles per week. In the three weeks I've owned it, I've put seven quarts of 10W30 in it -- five when I changed the oil and two more to replace what has disappeared in about 1200 miles.

I hear switching to synthetic can slow this down but there is the potential for creating new leaks that weren't there before. Opinions?

Haven't tried the SeaFoam yet. Where can you get this stuff? AutoZone? Advance Auto Parts? Should you use this right before an oil change or put it in with new oil? Think that doing a power flush would be a good or bad idea? Seems like getting rid of the sludge that's already in there would be a good idea?

Any advice fron you veteran Rodeo owners would be greatly appreciated.

JWS

Read my FAQ for some help.

-Ryan

replace your PCV valve every 15,000 miles it will make a big difference

I cleaned my PCV valve (yeah, I know I should have just bought a new one because they are only $4) and this seemed to help some. But I did 500 miles on the interstate this past Saturday after 150 miles on Friday and on Sunday morning there was no oil on the dipstick -- scary!

Why is it that the interstate miles are so much harder on the oil than town miles? Is it the high speed, temperature, or both?

I'm no expert on engines but I have a co-worker who is. When I was lamenting to him the other day about the high oil usage on this truck, I mentioned that one of the alleged reasons was that there were fewer drain holes in the rings. He said rings don't have drain holes as this would be counter to creating compression.

What he said made sense. Where are these oil drain holes that the 2000-current 3.2's have more of than the 98-99? Anybody have a picture of one these rings?

I'm due to change the oil in about 500 miles. I will be driving this on a business trip tomorrow. I've been using 10W-30. Maybe I'll try switching to 20W-50 for one oil change. And I will try to get a new PCV valve tonight before I make that 500 mile trip tomorrow. We'll see how it turns out.

Thanks!
JWS

I would highly recomend that you pour a 1/2 bottle of sea foam into the oil, and the other 1/2 into your gas tank. This will help to clean out the rings. Also, you will need to pull the EGR off and clean it too.

Only cleaning 1 of three isn't going to help slow down the oil useage.

my 2 cents.
-Ryan

http://www.geocities.com/endre_rl/isuzufaq.htm#faq4

As for Oil useage, I was reading my CD manual last night, and it stated the following reasons for increased oil consumption: 1. Dirty EGR (system) 2. Dirty PCV 3. Carbon up piston rings 4. Long highway trip 5. Towing

Follow-up

What is considered a 'long highway trip'?

I find the write-up on cleaning the EGR a little hard to follow. Is there a better one somewhere?

Sea Foam website recommends pouring it directly into PCV or brake booster vacuum line. This won't do anything for the EGR will it?

Are the drain holes in the rings actually in the pistons on the crankcase side of the rings? This would make more sense. If this is the case, the Sea Foam in the oil is probably gonna help more than that in the gas or intake.

Thanks!

JWS

JWS- I have not seen one of these pistons or ring packs out of a 3.2 yet, but it is my understanding that the oil drain back holes/grooves (or lack thereof) are actually machined into the piston, in the oil control ring area. The "new" design with more holes is a different piston, not just a new ring pack. I'd try an overnight cylinder soak with a product like sea foam, marvels mystery oil, etc.. followed by an oil change to see if that helps. Definately make sure your PCV, breather and EGR ports are free & clear as well.
G/luck
Joel

Ryan - can you tell us what kind of CD manual you have and where one can get one like it? Does it give more detailed info than a Haynes or Chilton's manual? I have the Haynes and they don't do a very good job of explaining a lot of things (IMO).

Thanks
JWS

the piston has three rings top compression second compression and oil scraper ring the oil scraper ring land (groove) has oil drain back hole in the piston which get plugged causing oil consumption i've reringed to many of these motors under warranty for isuzu i would trade your isuzu off and get rid of the headache

You may want to check your valve cover gaskets to see if they are leaking. I thought I was burning oil on my 94 V6, but it turned out most of it was leaking due to bad gaskets. I first noticed it when I changed spark plugs - a number of them were soaked in oil on the exterior (the insulator). I had the valve cover gaskets replaced and oil consumption seems to have diminished. I'm not sure if your engine is any different, but replacing valve cover gaskets on my 94 cost about $500.

Just purchased a 2004 rodeo and had previously owned a 1998. The vehicle has 1927 miles and has already burned 2 quarts of oil. I took it to the dealership and was advised that it is well documented that Isuzus burn 1 quart per 1,000 miles. If the vehicle begins using a quart per 500 miles, then the dealership is allowed to address the issue, per Isuzu procedures. I never had that problem with the '98. What gives??? My son purchased a 2004 Ascender the week after I bought my Rodeo. Of course he isn't having this problem because the Ascender has the GM Vortec engine.

I have a 99 Trooper with 91K miles. Does anyone have any recommendations, or insights in servicing troopers?I had the excessive oil consumption too. About a quart every 500 miles. Luckily I check my oil at least once a week. I remidied it by cleaning the engine with sea foam, and an engine oil flush cleaner. I also used another product called Greased Lightning engine cleaner in the fuel. The oil consumption seems to have gone away. I had changed the oil in the truck every 4-5k miles up to now. I am going to start changing it every 2-3k from now on and keep a close eye on consumption.

Another good link:

http://www.geocities.com/endre_rl/isuzufaq.htm#faq4

I cleaned my PCV valve (yeah, I know I should have just bought a new one because they are only $4) and this seemed to help some.

Try $15 from my local Isuzu dealer (for 02 3.2L). Anyone know where I can get these cheaper, by the way?

I love my Rodeo, but the fact of the matter is NO ENGINE should burn 1 quart every 1K miles. It's ridiculous, and should have been a problem they fixed a long time ago with a simple redesign of the combustion chamber/lower end.

Another quick question/tip for you all: I got my oil changed at the dealer merely b/c i had it in there to get my "thump" fixed under warranty. They overfilled the oil by about a quart, which I am going to assume alot of dealer service techs do b/c of the increased oil assumption.
So my tip is: check your oil if you get it changed at teh dealer.

Question is:, I've always been told that this decreases your gas mileage greatly (mine has gone from 20 to 17.5 since!), correct?? I KNOW that is doesn't exactly do wonders for your bottom end b/c it makes the engine work harder to do its job, any other consequences of over filling i should know about? I was going to just let it burn off and suck up the extra few bucks for gas, but should i take action and drain off that extra court before it burns off?

Drain it out! At least I would, I learned that the hard way. I have the older model, which is not an oil burner, and upon moving back to Colorado had a hard time coming up with time to do my own change. So I took it to the dealer, sure enough same thing as you. Only I didn't feel I should "need" to recheck their work, so I didn't. Two weeks later when I started seeing oil drops, figured I'd better check the oil and find the leak.

Long story short, had almost a full qt extra and she popped a valve cover gasket - which may have been going anyway. But I will NEVER again have anyone else do my oil.

I think the possibilities that can happen are foaming and blowing a seal/gasket from the pressure. I would not take the chance - it'll be much less $$$ to just check that oil often.

yup that extra qt of oil is a bad thing. crack the drain plug and drain out the extra.

In addition to everything else that has been said concerning oil burning / leakage, I'd like to put valve guide seals on the list. Like any rubber exposed to oil and heat, they age and harden. I can tell mine don't seal like they should. If the Rodeo has been sitting for a few days or more, I can smell oil burning on startup- then it goes away. When the common chamber (plenum) was removed, I could see oil glistening on the valve stems and with 24 total valves on the engine, I'm sure it adds to the problem.

Just my 2 cents...

Dale