ve calais burning heaps of oil..

[calais06]

Hey,

I bought my 2006 ve calais a month ago from a dealer, who did a service + filter (i checked oil, and was new when i picked it up). They were reluctant to stamp the log book, but i got them to.

It had 86,000km when i bought it, it now has 91,000km, mostly highway driving and the oil was almost fully empty, took over 5L of oil..

Took off the intake and there is some old oil sitting on throttle body+ inside of air intake.

Any ideas what this could be? Any ideas?

[nemesis_adrasteia]

i suggest you take it back to where you bought it. if you have used 5 litres of oil in 5000 KMs something is VERY wrong. how long was it driven low on oil? was it making bad noises? i would assume being run with such a low oil level has done some damage.

[calais06]

Im not sure, I hadnt thought to check it cos the service interval is 15,000km and i've had it 5,000km (a month), only noticed a small noise when cold on startup, otherwise it seemed/seems fine.
Calling the dealer tomorrow.
Thanks.

[m1lky]

Oil venting back to the intake isn't that uncommon, usually the breather hose off the rocker cover.

I'm surprised it ran when it needed 5l of oil! That must have done damage. Did they tighten the sump plug?

[calais06]

Ok thanks, i saw that tube from the rocker cover, the bit that got me worried was how the oil got there if it was running so low.

Well i havent seen any oil leaks at all, thats the odd thing, im checking/recording the level each time i drive and kms now.

Calling the dealer and seeing what they say

[gossie]

Another reason to check fluids every fuel fill up.

[RiCeY]

You sure they even serviced it? Did you check the level after you picked it up?

Edit: I see you did.

Theres definately no leaks?

[calais06]

Yeah it was overfull when i got it (oil).

Just put penrite 10w/50 in, im assuming the dealer used some cheap dodgey oil, so im going to keep an eye on it now, would crap oil burn excessevly?

Couldnt see any leaks around engine, and no spots on my driveway or garage floor.

[VK SL 3800]

Crap oil will burn like theres no tomorrow, does it blow smoke?

[calais06]

I hadnt noticed any when i got it, got my dad to follow me on the way back from the dealer and there wasnt any smoke, ill get someone to follow me today to see if there is any smoke with the new oil.

[VYMAD]

Even crap oil won't burn five litres in 5,000 k's!

[wing_nut]

She is Fadookered

[calais06]

Anyone got ideas of what it may be/what I can check for?

[dredrum]

If it was burning that much oil...you would notice the smoke and it would run like a bitch.
If there's no visible leaks, I'd be inclined to think it wasn't checked properly or filled up correctly.
I know that sounds like I'm calling you a retard, but it just not possible for a modern low km engine to use that much oil without smoking or a leak.

[nemesis_adrasteia]

if its burning oil you should see smoke. especially 1 litre every 1000 ks.

have you got under the car and checked for leaks?

[calais06]

Thanks for the help guys,

Im gunna jack it up tomorrow and have a look underneath for leaks, couldnt see anything from the engine bay at all..

I hadnt noticed any smoke when driving, and its either on my driveway or in the garage and there is no oil leaks on the ground there.

I checked it today (about 500km after putting in 4.75L of oil, didnt change filter or drain it cos I was at a servo) and its already really dark colour. The oil cap is dark/looks caked on with oil/burnt on, looking in the oil filling hole it looks like the cams are dark aswell (dunno what they are like normally on these cars).

At this stage im just hoping it is somehow leaking as that would be better than burning it..

Most of my driving is at 110+ km/h on highways, taking off quick at lights and using the gears down mountains to slow down, would this contribute to excessive oil consumption?

[RiCeY]

Ahh sounds like you bought a sludger, engines farked.

Report the sludged engine immediately while its under stat warranty and say u want a refund or a new/recon engine.

[dredrum]

Yep there it is...good condition engines don't turn oil black even after 10000kms. Sorry to say mate but it's time for a recon, id be straight back to the dealer.

[Darcon666]

Was it even Engine oil they put in???

As many have said take it back to the dearler and I'm afraid RiCeY could be right you bought a sludger.

You could get an engine oil flush put through the engine a few time to see if it helps... otherwise an engine oil flush could make it worse and really show the engine is farked.

Not good either way, sorry man.

[RiCeY]

Problem with flush is it can dislodge chunks of sludge and block the oil pickup resulting in oil starvation and seized engine.

That being said we've had a few badly sludged engines where they were willing to take the risk so filled them with clean oil in threw in a few bottles of engine flush and idled for an hour or so with no issue. Drained and refilled with clean oil and it did make an improvement.

In your case you should still have stat warranty so Id be demanding a recon engine.

[calais06]

Problem with flush is it can dislodge chunks of sludge and block the oil pickup resulting in oil starvation and seized engine.

That being said we've had a few badly sludged engines where they were willing to take the risk so filled them with clean oil in threw in a few bottles of engine flush and idled for an hour or so with no issue. Drained and refilled with clean oil and it did make an improvement.

In your case you should still have stat warranty so Id be demanding a recon engine.

Ok thanks heaps, how much oil should the engine use if its running normally?

It going to the dealer monday to be looked at.

[RiCeY]

In 5000kms it shouldn't use any!!

[gossie]

Modern engines use zero oil if in good order.

Is it all oily and greasy when you run your finger in the exhaust pipe? As said though using as much oil as you say you would have to have a pall of blue smoke behind you and the EPA chasing you. Sump on the outside should be perfectly clean and dry too.

[calais06]

Modern engines use zero oil if in good order.

Is it all oily and greasy when you run your finger in the exhaust pipe? As said though using as much oil as you say you would have to have a pall of blue smoke behind you and the EPA chasing you. Sump on the outside should be perfectly clean and dry too.

The tailpipes just have the usual black soot-like deposits, not oily or greasy though.

Looked under the car today, looked like there was just a little oil, possibly from when i was filling the oil without a funnel and a bit missed lol. Not 5L worth of oil though, probs just a couple of spills on my behalf.

Its under the stat warranty so hopefully it will get sorted

[Darcon666]

Modern engines use zero oil if in good order.

Ok, wow... you can believe what ever you want however what is the PCV system on our engines for then?