Changing oil makes engine burn it faster?

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Mar 15, 2021
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Hi everyone, I have a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am with the 3400 V6 engine with about 270,000 km's (167,000 miles) on it currently. In 2018 I had some engine work done by my mechanic, I had both heads port polished with the oil valleys opened a bit wider for more oil flow, new head gasket, new valve cover gaskets and new upper and lower intake manifold gaskets.

At the time of the engine work I was using Mobil 1 advanced full synthetic 5w-30 oil, I did not really like this oil at all as it only lasted 5000 km's in my engine and it was smelling pretty bad when it got dirtier.

In the same year 2018, I then switched to the Castrol Edge synthetic oil 5w-30 (in the black bottle) and ran that oil up until 19,000 km's (11,806 miles), until it started to smell bad then I changed it after. In those 19,000 km's I only had to add 2.5 quarts of oil in my engine for the time being. I was absolutely amazed and astonished that I finally solved my engine burning issues as I didn't have to add too much oil in my engine.

In 2019 after using the Castrol edge in the black bottle I then switched to the Castrol edge extended performance 5w-30 (in the gold bottle). After a month of using this new oil I noticed that I had to add a quart once a month in my engine every time. Even though I had to add more oil I sticked with this new oil as it has titanium and it lowers the frequency of my engine's idle which no oil had ever done before.

In 2020 I used the same oil with the same burning issues but sticked with it anyways all the way though the year. I took more notice in my issues last year. I topped up my oil to the fill mark, whenever I would run my engine hard it would burn from the 4th hole to the 3rd hole on the dipstick.

I then changed my oil again after running that one up to 5000 km's thinking that I received a bad batch at the store.

I used the same oil in the gold bottle and only put about 1600 km's since my last oil change and had to put 700mL of oil in my engine.

I did notice that I had a slow leaking drain plug which may be contributing to my oil loss, and I also noticed a little bit of blue smoke upon start up but it goes away after a few seconds.

When my engine was taken apart I looked inside all of the cylinders and noticed that there's no cross-hatch on the cylinders anymore, which also maybe why I'm losing oil also.

Why would switching the oil sub brand make my engine lose the oil faster than the previous one? Would my engine being high mileage be the reason why I'm losing oil?

I also cannot go faster than 180 km's in 4th gear full throttle at 4000 rpm's on steep inclines. The speed gets stuck there and my car does not go any faster. Plus this is where mostly I lose oil from.

Any input or feedback will be greatly appreciated,

Thanks!
 
I sticked with this new oil as it has titanium and it lowers the frequency of my engine's idle which no oil had ever done before.

I am intrigued by this statement.


I also cannot go faster than 180 km's in 4th gear full throttle at 4000 rpm's on steep inclines. The speed gets stuck there and my car does not go any faster. Plus this is where mostly I lose oil from.

That is a lot to ask of that old Pontiac. It sounds like new rings might be in order among other things. She sounds worn out.
 
I am intrigued by this statement.
Yeah I noticed those silly statements as well, but the post was so full of such things that I had a hard time even comprehending how to reply. We've had new users join with similar statements in the past, such as oil additives lowering the set point of the thermostat and other oddities.

At least he sticked with it and as of yet no Power Bait has been dropped into the fill hole. I wonder what the frequency of the idle is?
 
Yeah I noticed those silly statements as well, but the post was so full of such things that I had a hard time even comprehending how to reply. We've had new users join with similar statements in the past, such as oil additives lowering the set point of the thermostat and other oddities.

At least he sticked with it and as of yet no Power Bait has been dropped into the fill hole. I wonder what the frequency of the idle is?


I’m not a mechanic but if the oil valleys (?? I think he meant galleys) were widened, how would that affect oil pressure? I couldn’t keep up either.
 
I am intrigued by this statement.




That is a lot to ask of that old Pontiac. It sounds like new rings might be in order among other things. She sounds worn out.

Yeah I noticed those silly statements as well, but the post was so full of such things that I had a hard time even comprehending how to reply. We've had new users join with similar statements in the past, such as oil additives lowering the set point of the thermostat and other oddities.

At least he sticked with it and as of yet no Power Bait has been dropped into the fill hole. I wonder what the frequency of the idle is?

My engine was installed in 2006 by Milzy Motorsports in Ohio, the engine is not stock or original to the factory engine at all, here are the mods:

.556/.560 lift (222/226 110 LSA)/Stage II Heads:Race Valve Job (9-angle Intake, Radiused Exhaust)/LS6 Valve Springs w 1/2" guides/Chrome Molly Rods/10:1 Compression Ratio/P&P Upper and Lower Intake Manifolds/36lb GTP Injectors/65mm Port Matched TCE TB/S&S Headers/2.5" Custom Exhaust

Even with all those mods and power I still get stuck on big inclines at 180 km/h's...I figured it could be either valve seals or piston rings because of the high mileage of the engine.

I don't really have anything to measure the frequency of my idle, I do have a big cam in this engine which already makes it deeper than stock but no other oil besides the gold bottle castrol will lower the idle frequency even more than stock. I've even tested it out when I had to top up my oil and used a quart of castrol GTX which raised the frequency back to normal again, only the gold bottle lowers the idle after a few months of regular driving/use.
 
I’m not a mechanic but if the oil valleys (?? I think he meant galleys) were widened, how would that affect oil pressure? I couldn’t keep up either.

Sorry for being all over the place, I tried to make it understandable as possible.

I do not know how much the oil galleys were widened but all I know from my mechanic is that the machine shop that he took the heads to, they told him that they widened it a little more for more flow though them. Assuming that they know what they're doing because they have over 20 years experience doing machine work, etc.
 
Even with new spark plugs with me properly gapped all of them, fixed an exhaust leak I had on my header flange, tires all at the proper psi's, alignment done after new tire install, and even a retune using the hptuners program I still lose power on steep inclines.

4th gear on my transmission is a really tall gear, (180 km/h's at 4000 rpm's and 260 km/h's at 5000 rpm's) and plus my car being heavier than stock with all the other mods too.

I'm not really surprised that I'm losing oil on a high performance, high compression engine with high mileage too, however I've been having this problem since I bought the car in 2012 noticing that I'm losing oil when driving my car hard.

Now that I've been having this problem for 2 years using the same exact oil is concerning to me after all the engine work being done to it in 2018 which is why I decided to post here and get some feedback.

Thanks
 
From what I understand, your car began to use/burn more oil when you switched brands of oil? If the Castrol Edge (gold bottle) gave you the best performance and no oil loss, I'd drain what's in there now, refill with Castrol Edge gold bottle, and keep on keeping on!! (y)
 
From what I understand, your car began to use/burn more oil when you switched brands of oil? If the Castrol Edge (gold bottle) gave you the best performance and no oil loss, I'd drain what's in there now, refill with Castrol Edge gold bottle, and keep on keeping on!! (y)

You were almost correct there. When I switched from the black bottle to the gold bottle I noticed more oil loss. I've always had oil loss in this engine when going hard on it since I bought it in 2012.

The only time I never lost that much oil was when I had the engine work done in 2018 (new head gaskets, new valve cover gaskets, new intake gaskets and port polished heads).
 
Vacuum leak somewhere?

I have no Idea if I do or not. I did replace the pcv valve just to be sure but still encountered the same problem. My air filter is cleaned using the k&n air recharger oil, I never over oiled the filter either because I don't have any problems with my MAF.
 
112 mph up hill??
Maybe your fuel pump is tired too

My mechanic installed a new fuel pump in my car in 2018 after I killed the original one because I was running my tank on low fuel constantly. I do not know what brand it is or the specs of it.
 
This may be a long shot, but would a good (thicker) high mileage oil help with the oil consumption?

That's what I was thinking.

If someone can correct me if I'm wrong but the gold bottle castrol is formulated for "new" engines that have tight clearances and won't make the engine burn it faster as opposed to my high mileage engine.

The only reason why I sticked to the gold bottle castrol is because it lowers the frequency of my idle.
 
You were almost correct there. When I switched from the black bottle to the gold bottle I noticed more oil loss. I've always had oil loss in this engine when going hard on it since I bought it in 2012.

The only time I never lost that much oil was when I had the engine work done in 2018 (new head gaskets, new valve cover gaskets, new intake gaskets and port polished heads).
Sorry about that! I re-read your original post and saw your correlation between the black bottle and gold bottle edge. (y)
 
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