burning oil

Hi Guys:

I have a 2001 Impala with 53K on it. I have been fairly happy with the vehicle except that I keep burning oil. I use a quart every change or about 3K miles. I have built engines and never had one that was put together right burn oil. one went 270K before the body gave out and still not burning oil. I change oil and filter every 3K.

Chevy is tellling me that a quart at a 2k is normal. Any ideas.

Andy

Hi Guys:

I have a 2001 Impala with 53K on it. I have been fairly happy with the vehicle except that I keep burning oil. I use a quart every change or about 3K miles. I have built engines and never had one that was put together right burn oil. one went 270K before the body gave out and still not burning oil. I change oil and filter every 3K.

Chevy is tellling me that a quart at a 2k is normal. Any ideas.

Andy
Information on Engine Oil Consumption Guidelines
All 1998-2006 Passenger Cars and Gasoline Powered Light Duty Trucks Under 8500 LB GVW
The accepted rate of oil consumption for engines used in the vehicles referenced is 0.946 liter (1 qt) in 3200 km (2000 mi).
Important: This rate does not apply to vehicles that are driven in an aggressive manner, at high RPM, high speeds, or in a loaded condition (for trucks). Oil consumption for vehicles driven under these conditions will be more.
Many factors can affect an owner's concern with oil consumption. Driving habits and vehicle maintenance vary from owner to owner.

yeah I was going to say the same thing, I noticed that too, but I just figured it was normal, mine is always low when I change it or check it after a while.

A quart every 3K miles is considered to be acceptable but I don't. Something is giving way in your cylinders but not enough to be concerned about. Most cars I've had mayl use about a pint or less every six thousand miles. Crankcase oil do not evaporate. You lose oild either thru leaks or burn. Cars with manual transmission tend to use a bit more oil because of the high cylinder vacuum during deceleration.

if your car makes blue smoke (which when burning that little oil probably doesn't happen) then you can determine the problem.....

1. If it burns oil on acceleration, you have bad piston rings and blowby gasses are burning the oil.

2. If it burns oil under heavy vaccuum (high rpm slowly decelerating) then the valve seats are bad....

of the 2 the valve seats are the easiest to fix, but they are by no means easy to fix if you don't know what you're doing.

Either way the head/s wll have to come off.

only if you're going to fix it......i would figure out whats wrong and personally i would just sell the damn thing instead of not having a car for a week or 2....My :2cents:

when you fill up your car with oil, do you start it before you check it?

remember, the oil filter takes a hefty chunk out of there too.

My friend was pissed that his car was burning oil, and he found out that he wasnt checking the oil after he started it to see that he was low a half quart because of the filter.

Use mobile 1 to help stop engine wear from getting worse. I had a 3.4 that sounded like a diesel when it started, GM said it was piston slap which was normal. After I traded it in for my Impala the same GM guy said using mobile 1 will help prevent the premature engine wear. He said that is why vets come from the factory with it in it. I hope I dont get the piston slap or head gasket problems with my 3.8. I will change oil every 3k with mobile 1 and flush the coolant every year....Oh yeah the 3.4 head gasket blew 10k miles after I had the lower intake gaskets done...At least it made it to the dealer for a trade in....

My impala after every oil change was never a quart low, it was always full. A quart of oil in 3,000 miles is an awful lot to burn.

My impala after every oil change was never a quart low, it was always full. A quart of oil in 3,000 miles is an awful lot to burn.

My Impala has slow leaks at the oil-pan and intake and doesn't even burn a quart between oil changes (granted it gets changed every 2-3 weeks)