3.3L Dodge recommendations

[spinfire]

I have a 1994 Dodge Grand Caravan with the 3.3L V6 engine in it. The van has 167k miles on it right now, and it is beginning to burn around a quart and a half every 3000mi change period. 5w30 is recommended in the owner's manual.

Recently I've used Quaker State Higher Mileage 10w30, Valvoline Maxlife 10w30 and Valvoline conventional 5w30. I'm not interested in an expensive oil for this vehicle, but I am curious for a recommendation of a good basic $1-2 a quart oil. Are the higher mileage oils usually worth it?

 

[Pluto5]

I can't answer your question directly but I have the same vehicle/engine and run Walmart brand 5w30, 80 cents a qt. so adding some between changes is not a concern. Your piston rings are probably worn plenty so you cannot eliminate the oil burning.

 

[Ken2]

Another reason for oil consumption could be piston rings stuck in their ring grooves with carbon or slow leakage through seals.

A good, thorough, gentle, slow internal cleaning of your engine would not hurt and might help a lot. Auto-Rx and Schaeffer's #131 Neutra each work very well. Check the Site Supporter's page for the Auto-Rx and call Mills Outdoor Power Equipment at the number at the top of this page for Schaeffer. I've used both and have had good success. I'd also recommend Auto-Rx in your transmission, and a flush 1000-1500 miles later--might defer a breakdown. If you decide on the Neutra, use 1 oz. per quart of engine oil and 1 oz. per gallon of fuel. Change your oil & filter after 300-500 miles (crankcase cleaning instructions are on the bottle).
http://www.schaefferoil.com/data/131.html
http://www.auto-rx.com
http://www.auto-rx.net


For your engine, 5w30 in those NH winters and a thicker 10w30 in the summer is probably a good choice.


Ken

[ March 25, 2003, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: Ken2 ]

 

[spinfire]

Thanks. I haven't run a compression test, but the engine seems to be in very good condition.

I switched to the Valvoline 5w30 because of the winter, and as of now I'm just exhausting my case of 5w30. The Higher Mileage engine oil did seem to prevent some consumption, but the reduced compression could also be due to the differing viscosity.

I haven't seen much regarding the additive treatments, except general advice against them. Auto-RX looks good. I'll look around for some more independant data.