hey all
I recently bought a vy s series 2 with the 3.8l v6. After about 3000 k's the oil warning light would come on during heavy braking. I checked the oil and added 2.5 litres of Valvoline SAE 15w40. Another 1500 k's later it needed another 500ml.
Is this usual or should i get it checked??
Do people wait for an oil warning light to appear now before they check their engine oil levels?
Yes your engine needs to be checked out.
1. The entire system in the V6 takes approx 5.6 litres of oil so if you had to add 2.5 litres to get it back to full then you have been running the engine seriously low on oil.
2. 500ml of engine oil for 1500 kms (if that is the latest rate of consumption) is excessive oil consumption for a healthy engine. If you have a high km car and the oil changes have only been done every 13-15000 km intervals or more ( insufficient when using standard oils) then you may have very worn piston rings and the engine will likely burn excessive oil. Then there is possible damage from potential intermittent lubrication starvation from running the engine with about 3 - 3.5 litres of oil in the sump.
3. Check for any obvious external engine oil leaks. Does your engine drop oil on the floor when parked. It should not drop any. If so get it checked and if it is other than a very minor leak it will need to be rectified soon.
4. Check your radiator fluid (when COOLED) and see if there is any evidence of oil in the cooling system fluid. If there is you probably have engine oil blowing into the cooling system via a faulty/blown head gasket . Also check for evidence of cooling system fluid in your engine oil. This is also a sign of a faulty head gasket. If there is any cross contamination in either then get it checked out.
5. Check all the oil and fluid levels in your car weekly (more often when doing long km trips ). You will need to set aside a whole 5 minutes for this once a week so it's really taxing.
These are:
engine oil - GMH recommends 10W/30 grade oil for these engines
cooling system fluid
power steering fluid
brake fluid
auto trans fluid when hot (or clutch fluid for manual transmissions)
battery fluid if it is not a sealed type battery.