Oil Consumption

[yankees1]

My new 03 vette has 1700 miles on it. I first changed oil at 300 miles because I wanted to put Amsoil in it. Since then, the engine uses about one half quart every 500 miles! Are the rings not seated yet? Other vette drivers tell me I should go back to Mobile 1. My dealer says it is too early to tell and that I need more miles. What do you think?

 

[buster]

I'd take it to the dealer again. IMO, I would stick with Mobil 1. Check out the UOA's on this site and you will see it is every bit as good as Amsoil. Plus, you can have the dealer change it. Consumption varies with the oil and engine. Both Amsoil and Mobil 1 are very low volatile oils. I'd run M1 10w-30 if you stick with M1. The break in for this engine is 500 miles. I don't know about the rings being set in yet. I definitely think you changed it too soon. [ June 30, 2003, 08:43 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

 

[Amkeer]

Thats consumption! I would take it back to the dealer! I am not to up on the Vettes or the oil consumption but that does seem extreme. I have just about 2600 miles on my interval of M1 5-30 in my Taco and it hasn't moved off the full line. I get too many speeding tickets when I drive the sports cars so I gave up my Z28 in 1991. Daily Drives -2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner XtraCab, Impulse Red, Peppy 2.7 Liter 4 Banger, Running Mobil1 Synthetics SS 5W-30. ODO 3400 Miles. -1995 Toyota 4-Runner, Evergreen, 3.0 V6, Running Mobil1 Synthetic SS 10W-30. ODO 76000 Miles [ June 30, 2003, 08:41 PM: Message edited by: Amkeer ]

 

[JohnnyG]

Make sure you keep a good grade synthetic in it. These engines were designed to use synthetic oil because of it's high temp characteristics. This enabled GM to avoid the expense of an oil cooler in the design. Drive it HARD for a while, DON'T baby it! Try a few 2nd or third gear runs up to redline then let off with it still in gear. This will seat the rings correctly. This engine has low tension rings in it to improve CAFE fuel milage ratings. You only get ONE chance to break this engine in and that's when the crosshatch on the cylinders is still fresh and sharp. This engine also is designed to use a little oil. Make sure you put the amount specified in the owners manual, then mark your "FULL" mark on the dipstick. Do not overfill the engine with oil, it will be scavenged off by the engine breather rather quickly. This should be enough to get your consumption under control.

 

[Last_Z]

quote:

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Originally posted by JohnnyG: Make sure you keep a good grade synthetic in it. These engines were designed to use synthetic oil because of it's high temp characteristics. This enabled GM to avoid the expense of an oil cooler in the design. Drive it HARD for a while, DON'T baby it! Try a few 2nd or third gear runs up to redline then let off with it still in gear. This will seat the rings correctly. This engine has low tension rings in it to improve CAFE fuel milage ratings. You only get ONE chance to break this engine in and that's when the crosshatch on the cylinders is still fresh and sharp. This engine also is designed to use a little oil. Make sure you put the amount specified in the owners manual, then mark your "FULL" mark on the dipstick. Do not overfill the engine with oil, it will be scavenged off by the engine breather rather quickly. This should be enough to get your consumption under control.

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I have a 02Z and it doesn't seem to burn any oil....the SOB slaps like a cummins though, and runs like a scalded cat. Go figure.

 

[Gary Allan]

Seat the rings! You can do this in about 20 min. Warm engine. Find a piece of road that you can have to yourself. Select appropriate gear that will allow you a wide range of rpm range for the respective road. (for comparison: 3speed auto 2nd 5 speed stick 3rd - select similar range gearing for your particular box) Start at bottom of rpm range ...apply heavy throttle to upper rpm range ...let off gas pedal(high vacuum) ...coast to lower end of rpm range ...apply heavy throttle to upper rpm range ...coast ...etc...etc..etc. as long as practical. This is straight out of the Perfect Circle Dr. of Motors rebuild book. It is sometimes referred to as "shine 'em up ..and oil 'em down. Rings are now seated. Note future consumption. Personally I don't know why you changed the oil so soon from the factory fill. These engines do come with synthetic from the factory ..but is it the off the shelf stuff???? They must have some modified manufacturing technique to allow this to work.

 

[yankees1]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan: Seat the rings! You can do this in about 20 min. Warm engine. Find a piece of road that you can have to yourself. Select appropriate gear that will allow you a wide range of rpm range for the respective road. (for comparison: 3speed auto 2nd 5 speed stick 3rd - select similar range gearing for your particular box) Start at bottom of rpm range ...apply heavy throttle to upper rpm range ...let off gas pedal(high vacuum) ...coast to lower end of rpm range ...apply heavy throttle to upper rpm range ...coast ...etc...etc..etc. as long as practical. This is straight out of the Perfect Circle Dr. of Motors rebuild book. It is sometimes referred to as "shine 'em up ..and oil 'em down. Rings are now seated. Note future consumption. Personally I don't know why you changed the oil so soon from the factory fill. These engines do come with synthetic from the factory ..but is it the off the shelf stuff???? They must have some modified manufacturing technique to allow this to work.

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My vette is an automatic! [ July 01, 2003, 07:05 AM: Message edited by: yankees1 ]

 

[Al]

quote:

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My vette is an automatic!

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Well you can still use the gear position selector-which will keep it in one gear. Probably 2 nd. Unfortunately you are probably going to have continued consumption with this puppy

 

[CJH]

quote:

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Originally posted by yankees1: My new 03 vette has 1700 miles on it. I first changed oil at 300 miles because I wanted to put Amsoil in it. Since then, the engine uses about one half quart every 500 miles! Are the rings not seated yet? Other vette drivers tell me I should go back to Mobile 1. My dealer says it is too early to tell and that I need more miles. What do you think?

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General Motors will only consider this to be a borderline consumption problem, since they make the claim that 1 quart per 1,000 miles is an acceptable consumption rate. I have owned a number of new cars over the years, mostly GM, and I have never experienced or even known of anyone who experienced high consumption on a new engine due to rings not being seated (although it is common on rebuilds). Is this really the likely cause on a new factory engine? I am skeptical.

 

[Pablo]

The high consumption has everything to do with the engine/break-in and nothing to do with the oil. 1 quart per 1000 miles - well maybe GM would not consider that high consumption. Which oil did you put in? Amsoil is about as low volitility as you can find. The whole synthetic oil and no break-in is a bit of a myth, as is babying the car when new. I agree with the others, you need to drive the car hard and hopefully you didn't miss the break-in window.

 

[Patman]

The LS1 engine is a known oil burner, but this one sounds like it's on the excessive side. You should get your dealer to start a consumption test on it, and you'll most likely end up with a new engine out of it. One quart every 1000 miles is right around the point where GM admits there is a problem and will actually do something about it. If you burned one quart every 1500 miles though, they'd most likely do nothing.

 

[PaJohn]

Some engines do need time for rings to seat. My Audi S4 burned a qt in the first 1000 miles. Gradually decreased and stopped burning oil around 15,000. Have over 100,000 on it now and never add oil between 6-8k change inervals. YMMV. PS, So many PA folks on here!