These engines have the same basic design philosophy of the Northstar, though I don't know which design came first. They are in fact designed to burn some oil. This is mostly due to a very heavy crosshatch pattern left behind during the honing of the pistons. The reason this is done is to promote very VERY good lubrication of the rings. If you want to design an engine that will run over 150,000 - 300,000 miles without ring wear, they had better be WELL lubricated. Unfortunately, this design was rolled out to a public that expected much lower oil consumption. Most of us (and I include myself) were under the MISTAKEN impression that an engine that burns (some) oil is a bad thing. It's NOT! A few things can happen to foul up GM's brilliant design. 1) Hone stones, when new leave a VERY sharp pattern..inversely, hone stones when worn will leave a less agressive pattern, so you end up with varying degrees of oil comsumption. The guys that end up with the big oil eaters start trying wierd stuff to stop the oils usage, like using an oil with a LOT of VII's. This is the WRONG choice since burning high amounts of VII's actually promote ring sticking. Ovefilling the crankcase with excessive amounts of oil also contribute to the oil consumption problem. As the link points out, the engine oil should be checked HOT and after it has set for 5 minutes on a LEVEL surface. Once you have a percieved problem, you need to figure out the best course of treatment. The ring cleaning solvents are a good choice, but that will not work in EVERY case. That depends on several factors including the original hone pattern of the cylinder walls. Best advice is to follow the GM procedures if you feel the need, then to ONLY use the type and weight of oil called for in your owners manual. After the most recent developements in oil technology are finally available to all the public, the oil useage problem should diminish. Looks like the GF-4 Drive Clean will be an outstanding and economical choice.
