Definitely using/losing more oil

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Originally Posted By: addyguy
Where you live, with a 3.8 using oil, a 10W-40 wouldn't be out of the question.


That`s what I use in my gf`s Olds w/3.8,dino 10W40.
 
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Time for 10w30?


My 2000 LeSabre has the same exact engine as his 2003 Park Avenue and my owners manual says 10W-30.
It's got over 103,000 miles on the engine and it doesn't burn a drop of oil. I don't use no exotic synthetic
oils in it because I don't see the need. I put 3000 miles on the clock per year and I change the oil twice a year.
 
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Update, all,

At the last change at 82K miles, I had a full 5 quarts of MobilClean 10W-30 put in -- the engine takes 4.5 -- which brought the oil up to the full line on the dipstick.


You can run a full 6 quarts in there and it won't hurt a thing. I've been running
6 quarts for the last 20,000 miles and the engine hasn't blown up yet.

Don't add any MMO to the oil unless you want your wear metals to go way up.
 
Some dangerous advice for sure. Wonder why there's a dipstick with markings? Nah, just pour it in until it comes out the cap!

It's your car, do what you want to it. But around here, where we routinely run engines until they die, all we do is watch the consumption. Then simply dial up the weight a notch, and the consumption usually stops. In decades of following this procedure I have only had one motor that continued to use excessive oil, and a dose of Kreen stopped it dead.

We are no longer brand loyal either. Use quality synthetic/filters and follow the OLM if equipped.
 
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I didn't see you mention this, but are you checking the oil level with the dipstick or just going by the idiot light on the dash?

I've seen those "check engine oil level" idiot lights go quite flaky with no actual oil level issues.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Some dangerous advice for sure. Wonder why there's a dipstick with markings? Nah, just pour it in until it comes out the cap!


Apparently I've been dangerous for 20,000 miles then...
 
Originally Posted By: cchase
I didn't see you mention this, but are you checking the oil level with the dipstick or just going by the idiot light on the dash?

I've seen those "check engine oil level" idiot lights go quite flaky with no actual oil level issues.

No, I mentioned that I checked the stick. I do that as well as monitor the oil level low message -- they're pretty well correlated, i.e., I don't see the message until the oil is right on the Add line on the dipstick.

The message appears, too, when the oil is almost that low if I park the car with the driver's side higher. Park it on the level, the message vanishes . . . but from experience I know it means the message will return within a few days even when the car is level.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Some dangerous advice for sure. Wonder why there's a dipstick with markings? Nah, just pour it in until it comes out the cap!


Apparently I've been dangerous for 20,000 miles then...


Luck is often mistaken for skill. Overfilling is something we did on track days back in the 70's. But never more than the amount that can be held up in the heads and such, usually that's about a quart or so. If the oil is in contact with the crank you will lose hp and mileage to a properly filled engine. Plus you can aerate the oil and accelerate wear in the pressure lubed portions of the block and heads.

Then there's the seals. I repeat, it's your car, you get to do anything you want, but you shouldn't hold that practice up as an example for others to emulate. They could wind up damaging their engine.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

Then there's the seals. I repeat, it's your car, you get to do anything you want, but you shouldn't hold that practice up as an example for others to emulate. They could wind up damaging their engine.


What I'm saying is 6 quarts is 100% safe for a GM 3800 V6. I'm not referring to any other engine. I've been running 6 quarts since 2005 when I bought the car from the original owner. Since then I've put 20,000 miles on the odometer with 6 quarts.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

Then there's the seals. I repeat, it's your car, you get to do anything you want, but you shouldn't hold that practice up as an example for others to emulate. They could wind up damaging their engine.


What I'm saying is 6 quarts is 100% safe for a GM 3800 V6. I'm not referring to any other engine. I've been running 6 quarts since 2005 when I bought the car from the original owner. Since then I've put 20,000 miles on the odometer with 6 quarts.


It's certainly not given you any problems so far. Whether it is safe or not is another issue. I'm with Steve on this one... an extra 1.5 qts is 33% more capacity than GM wants in there.
 
That's not enough oil consumption to be of any concern, when it drops to a quart per 600-800 miles its a problem. Some motors just use a bit of oil and will forever.
 
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Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
That's not enough oil consumption to be of any concern, when it drops to a quart per 600-800 miles its a problem. Some motors just use a bit of oil and will forever.

I was concerned because it happened so suddenly -- from 1 qt. in 2600 miles to 1 qt. in 1200, in the space of one oil change. However, the consumption has been slowing more and more, as I see looking back over this thread.

If it levels out at, say, a quart in 3500-4000, I'll be happy, especially since I change at 6 mos./4500 to 5000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: Boss302fan
Try a OCI with 5W30 or 10W30 Maxlife HM semi syn(red bottle)....


Yes I agree. He just needs to put some real oil in the engine and it'll be fine.
 
The Buick is at 2300 miles and the oil is still in the good range.

I have one more 5-qt. jug of Mobil Super 5000, and I'll use that in December. Next June, if the consumption still hasn't decreased, I'll try an HM oil.
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
Where you live, with a 3.8 using oil, a 10W-40 wouldn't be out of the question.


+1

Try a full synthetic 10W-40. That is a very conventional engine and it will perform quite well on a 10W-40. A synthetic will be quite thin in cold weather conditions, so no problems there either.

One other route you could try is Mobil 1, 5W-40 Turbo Diesel Truck. It's a very robust oil, with plenty of ZDDP and it is among the worlds best oils when it comes to UOA's and real world results back that up. VW PD engines have cam wear issues on VW oil, but not with M1 TDT. It's that good.
 
Years ago I had an issue with a 89 v6 chevy pickup drastically losing oil and I couldn't figure out why for a while. No evidence of a leak at the house or in my parking spot at work. Driving down the road one day some guy flags me to pull over pointing under my truck. He says I was squirting oil from underneath. Let it idle and watched. Sure enough it would gush out 1/2 pint or more of oil, stop, then do it again! Ended up being the dreaded double oil filter gasket that when pressurized would gush oil, my bad. Just a month ago I see my neighbors 2007 gmc pickup sitting in a pool of oil. He was shocked. I suspected my issue right away, he crawls under, the filter had spun loose! He checks his oil, nothing on the dipstick, no oil light! Just the other day his truck was doing it again, same thing. Now he uses a wrench to tighten the filter.
 
Update, all,

The "low oil" message appeared at around 3 months/2500 miles on the current fill, and the oil level was down to the ADD mark. I put in 3/4 qt. of some Formula Shell 10W-40 I had and 1/4 qt. of MMO to bring it up to FULL. So, 1 qt. used in 2500 miles, almost the same as 4 years ago when I bought the car.

Since I change at 6 months/ca. 4500-5000 miles, I may not need to top off again before I change. Mobil Super 5000 will go in for Jan. to June, and if I'm still using oil at that point, we'll see about an HM oil.
 
Benzadmiral,

I'm still driving around with 6 quarts of oil in my 2000 Buick LeSabre. Absolutely NO adverse affects at all ...
 
Update, all

The latest fill from July 2012, QS high-mileage 10W-30, has worked out well. I got to 3000 miles yesterday without seeing a "low oil" message on the instrument panel. Even when I'd first bought the car, the best I did with non-HM oil was 2800 miles. Nor has there been any measurable effect on gas mileage: This last 2-week period (no A/C but not cold weather either) gave me 22 mpg, 70% city driving, but I usually see around 21 anyway.

The oil was down to the last hair of the cross-hatched area. I popped in a quart of QS Enhanced Durability, which brought it up to full.
 
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