170,000mi. 2000 Olds Intrigue Oil Question ??

[Borat]

I have an Olds 2000 Intrigue with 170,000+ miles on it. I have owned it since the odometer had 70,000mi. on it (i have no clue what the maint. on the car before I got it). I have changed the oil every 4 to 6k miles with Castrol or Havoline conventional 10w30 oils predominantly since I have owned it. Now for my question......This vehicle has the 3.5 liter shortstar engine which are notorious for using oil and this one is no exception. Ever since I owned this car she uses a quart every 1500mi. in town and a quart every 1000mi. on the road like clock work. The car runs great and is in really good condition. I have read on some other forums that these engines are bad about developing excessive carbon caking on the oil control rings on the pistons.
I don't know if that is the case with this motor or not. I thought about trying some GC 0w30 but this stuff can be a little pricey. I have tried lucas oil stabilizer once or twice and didn't seem to help matters much. Should I try treating the engine with autoRx or do i have excessive mileage ?? What oils would you recommend for this motor (factory asks for 5w30 on the oil filler cap). I live in Georgia USA.
Any suggestions would be great.....I would like to keep this car another 100,000mi. if she'll run that long....
TIA,
David Blackmon

 

[Pablo]

Triple AutoRx treatment. Stat.

 

[ekpolk]

Yeah, I'd certainly give the ARX a try. If the engine has an issue with getting rings gummed up, the ARX may well help that. Remember to be patient with the process; it's not an instant fix product. How does the inside (if you can see it) look? Clean?

 

[Lost1]

If it was sitting in my driveway what I'd do is start using Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic Blend 5w30 or 10w30 in it and that's about it. If it's still running good with that many miles on it it'll most likely pass the 200k mile mark even if you change nothing from your current maintenance plan.

On a good running car with 170k+ miles on it that doesn't smoke I'd rather add a quart or two of oil between OCI's than use chemical treatments that may or may not work.
But that's just me...

(BTW- where in GA are you? I'm originally from Columbus...)

 

[Whimsey]

If you're not leaking the oil but burning it I'd really try the anything to stop the burning. Because the burning of the oil is contaminating your catalytic converter. And if you have state emission inspections you could fail. Cat's aren't cheap. The AutoRX is a lot cheaper.

Whimsey

 

[oilboy123]

Auto-RX at least 2x

 

[oilboy123]

Welcome as well!

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Triple AutoRx treatment. Stat.


LOL!!!

 

[Borat]

The inside of the engine looks amazingly clean for what little can be seen through the oil filler hole. I think I'm gonna do the autoRx treatment. I don't expect miracles ...but if I could slow the oil consumption down a bit I think it would be better for the engines remaining life. What oil would you all recommend after I finish with the treatments ?? I'd like to use one of the readily available synthetics and go on an extended drain interval assuming I could get consumption down to around a quart every 2000-2500mi..
The engine sounds tight and runs good considering its age. If you put your foot in it...it will get up and go, though I tend to not wind it out much unless I am passing somebody. I am very sure the engine is not leaking oil. lost1...i am from athens ga....

DB

 

[Merkava_4]

Quote:
What oil would you all recommend after I finish with the treatments ?? I'd like to use one of the readily available synthetics and go on an extended drain interval assuming I could get consumption down to around a quart every 2000-2500mi..

 

[Pat in Kentuckiana]

+1

My stepdaughter's '95 Prizm with 170k was consuming about 1qt per 1K miles, which I've read is fairly typical of a Toyota 4AFE engine. Back in October I put in MaxLife 5w30 full syn, changed plugs, PCV valve, and what do you know....1800 miles later the consumption is nil. And no, there's no way she could've added any....afterall, she's a 20 year old art student who didn't have the car smarts last week to know she had 8psi in her front tire (bent rim). 'nuff said.

Not sure if it was the oil or maybe the PCV valve, but something ceased its consumption. Of course the consumption could've had something to do with what was in there, which I think was Mobil Clean HM 10w30 that a shop put in it when she was visiting her father in CT.

 

[Drew99GT]

I'd for sure consider Maxlife in 10w30; it has cut my oil consumption from a quart every 1,500 to nil as well (94 Corolla). I've read here and elsewhere that the synthetic version helps even more.

 

[coffee]

I agree with everyone on MaxLife! I just bought the Full Synthetic MaxLife 10w30 at WalMart for $18 a 5qt. jug and that is a great deal. Either full or blend MaxLife is the way to go for you.

 

[Panzerman]

I would just keep changing oil as you are, Valvoline maxlife may help with the oil cnsumption. I dont think Id go with the autoRX, it does not sound like you re have any oil related problems such as knockin or oil lights. If it aint broke dont fix it. I had a 2000 Olds Intrigue, we really liked that car, they do run excellent and get great fuel milelage. We traded it at 95,000 on a Lincoln Continental. It only used about 1 qt every 3000or oil change. I used Mobil 10w30. Another suggestion is to use a more robust oil such as a 15w40, that would cut your oil use to nil and clean the engine out, as diesel oils carry more detergents. But, the manual followers will freak at that suggestion.